The Emerging Alliance of Religion and Ecology

Abstract

The role of the world's religions may be crucial in rethinking the relationship of humans to the natural world in a mutually enhancing manner. I first acknowledge, although briefly, the scale and complexity of the environmental crisis. Next, I suggest the need for seeking common grounds to work toward a resolution of the crisis. Then I highlight the call for the co-operation and action of the world's religions from particular sectors such as environmental groups, the United Nations, political leaders, scientists, and ethicists. Finally, I document some of the responses and the resources of the world's religions in evoking new attitudes toward nature.

The Promise of the Discourse of the Sacred for Conservation (and its Limits)

“…Recent analyses of relationships between religion and nature underline the resurgence of 'nature spirituality' as a search to reconnect with the 'sacred' in nature, often emphasizing in particular an interdependence with the natural world similar to the intimacy of indigenous traditions and ecology (Grim 2001;Gottlieb 1996;Sponsel 2001;Taylor 2005;Tucker 1997;Tucker and Grim 1993). This idea is also represented in a number of Western environmental movements (often influenced by European and American Romanticism, and diverse world religions) that emphasize a search for transformational experiences in nature as they increasingly mobilize 'nature-as-sacred' beliefs to express their spiritual connections and religious claims to natural places (Taylor 2001a(Taylor , 2001b.…”

Subjectivity, ecology and meditation – Performing interconnectedness

“…There is currently a growing body of literature on Thich Nhat Hanh, including his efforts to tackle and reverse the global ecological crisis (Tucker, 1997;Khisty, 2006;Gregory and Sabra, 2008;Manga, 2008;Noy, 2008;Tam, 2008). Much of this literature has focused on the ontological assumptions supporting his project, indicating a symmetrical and decentred perspective on human-non-human couplings.…”

Meditations on Systems Thinking, Spiritual Systems, and Deep Ecology

“…These ominous reports leave us concerned about our future, and many of us keep searching desperately for ways to understand our 'connections' with nature. These ecological crises that happen, predominantly as a result of human neglect, ignorance, apathy, and greed, have been well documented in the last fifty years in its various interconnected aspects, ranging from resource depletion, species extinction, pollution growth and climate change to population explosion and over consumption (Tucker and Grim 2001). As long back as 1992, the Union of Concerned Scientists, consisting of over one hundred Nobel laureates in science and sixteen hundred other distinguished scientists from 70 countries warned us of the deepening ecological crisis caused by human activities on this planet.…”

“…A fundamental question of our time, therefore, is whether we can individually and collectively develop attitudes of respect, reverence, responsibility, and care for the natural world with the ability to develop environmental integrity for creating the conditions for a sustainable future. For this attitude to develop we need a new sense of humility to assess what we have achieved, what we have destroyed, and what we can still salvage in the years to come (Tucker and Grim 2001).…”

“…They are an orientation to the cosmos and our role in it. Spiritual systems are in a way closely connected with ecological systems and this combination has resulted in spiritual ecology, which embraces a cultural awareness of kinship with and dependence on the natural environment for the continuity of all life (Tucker and Grim 2001). Buddhism, one of the world's great spiritual systems, offers a well-developed philosophy of our connection with nature, and this system will be described in some detail in this paper.…”