E-SUPPLEMENT TO THE JOURNAL FOR CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS THEORY
The United States likes to present itself as a global leader, yet, when it comes to tackling what is arguably the greatest crisis facing humanity, global climate change, we have fallen woefully short of that idea. The nation’s failure to adequately address the climate crisis is in part the product of an American vision of […]
When: Jan. 9-10, 2025 Where: Online Submission deadline: Nov. 20, 2024 Sponsored by the Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory in Collaboration with the University of Denver The Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory (JCRT) invites proposals for an online conference of Religion and Bioethics to be held Jan. 9-10, 2025. The proceedings will be […]
The following is the second installment of a two-part series. The first can be found here. Kinship with and Gratitude for Nature Many verses can be retrieved to prompt human beings to be thankful for the bounties of nature. For instance: “The One [who] gave you the invaluable air; The One gave you the priceless […]
The following is the first installment of a two-part series. Eco-philosophy, or ecosophy, offers insight into the relationship of living beings with their environment. The intersection of faith and eco-philosophy is known as religious environmentalism. This alliance of religion and ecology has been gathering momentum lately. Ikeke[1] notes that science and policy alone cannot tackle […]
Introduction In recent years, the world’s religions, including the Abrahamic faiths as well as Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and various indigenous forms of spirituality, have been increasingly turning their ethical gaze toward the intersection of social, economic and ecological justice issues. This gives me hope because I believe many environmental injustices persist because the values of […]
As early as 2014, governmental officials in the city of Flint, Michigan made a series of decisions that would prove to have deleterious effects on the people and environment of Flint. As officials sought to make room in the budget, they decided to switch the city’s water supply to the polluted Flint River without a […]
The influence of religions on human attitudes toward the non-human, whether beneficent or deleterious, has been the subject of serious scholarly debate since at least the publication of Lynn White Jr.’s important essay, “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis”[1] in the 1960s. This essay issued a near-wholesale condemnation of western Christianity for providing the […]
The article is published in two installments. The first can be found here. Humans from the Hummus – life as royal gardeners It is generally recognised that the Garden story is more environmentally friendly. As Jewish scholar Ziony Zevit observes, agricultural themes are clearer in the Garden story.[1]As we saw earlier, Habel identifies it as […]
The article is published in two installments. Agriculture and the Anthropocene Earth history has entered a new geological era known as the Anthropocene.[1] The commonly agreed origin of this era was the 1950s with the “Great Acceleration,” a period of rapid economic growth.[2] With its onset, several key elements of the Earth system which represent […]
On October 4, 2023, Pope Francis published the apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum (“Praise God”), an 8000-word document advocating for urgent action to counter climate change.[1] Its date of publication is significant on two accounts. First, it was released on the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, the thirteenth-century Italian mystic who is recognized as […]