Religious institutions have been identified as important conduits in shaping social attitudes toward nature and the environment. Using Lynn White's historical thesis that Judeo-Christianity has cherished the domination of nature ('dominion' belief) by humans as our frame of reference, this article examines the impact of religion, specifically Abrahamic and Judeo-Christian beliefs, on environmental attitudes in Britain. Based on the 1993 British Social Attitudes Survey, a nationally representative sample of the adult population in Britain, the multivariate results of this paper suggest that: (a) there is no significant difference between Christians and non-Christians concerning environmental attitudes; (b) Roman Catholics are the most sceptic toward nature among Christian denominations; and (c) irrespective of religious identification, the two most notable and consistent factors in determining pro-dominion attitudes in Britain are educational attainment and particularly levels of scientific knowledge about the natural environment.
This essay discusses the deep perceptual and social changes that the advanced applications of biotechnology could bring in the West. It examines the probable collapse of a fundamental perceptual bipolarity on which the Western mind and social mobilization have been based since its inception in the West: Athens-Jerusalem. This collapse will quite possibly radically reshape Western perceptions of self and nature and will remodel established constellations and modes of social mobilization and social organization. The radical collapse of the preceding established feature of Western modernity is due to take place in the field of biotechnology, since the latter promises to produce a deliverable perfection of flesh and an equally corporeal personal bliss. I call this promise "eutopia," an actual and tangible utopia-"a laboratory on the hill."
The article explores rational and irrational trends in the environmental movement. In this vein, environmentalism is divided between anthropocentric and ecocentric trends. While the former is considered as rational, in that it employs a series of reflective means to serve the interests of the participants, or to defend the rights of those who suffer the consequence of environmental degradation, the latter is irrational in two ways. First, as an ideology, it asserts the superiority of intuition and nature over reason and humanity. Second, as a social movement, it defends nature not as a means to improve the human condition, but for nature's own sake. To the extent that social activists abide to ecocentrism, they deliberately exclude themselves from social praxis withdrawing into a 'heroic', yet futile struggle.
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