This book explores how religious groups work to create sustainable relationships between people, places and environments. This interdisciplinary volume deepens our understanding of this relationship, revealing that the geographical imagination―our sense of place―is a key aspect of the sustainability ideas and practices of religious groups. The book begins with a broad examination of how place shapes faith-based ideas about sustainability, with examples drawn from indigenous Hawaiians and the sacred texts of Judaism and Islam. Empirical case studies from North America, Europe, Central Asia and Africa follow, illustrating how a local, bounded, and sacred sense of place informs religious-based efforts to protect people and natural resources from threatening economic and political forces. Other contributors demonstrate that a cosmopolitan geographical imagination, viewing place as extending from the local to the global, shapes the struggles of Christian, Jewish and interfaith groups to promote just and sustainable food systems and battle the climate crisis.
Author(s): Steven E. Silvern, Edward H. Davis
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 391
City: Cham
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
1 Introduction: Religion, Sustainability, and Place
Organization of the Book
References
2 By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them: Religion as Practice
A Short Introduction
Decolonizing Western Bias
Community Religions
Universalizing Religions
The Trajectory of Universalizing Religions
Religion as Methodology
The Basic Recipe
Religion, Science, and Sustainability Today
References
3 Finding/Revealing/Creating Judaism’s Indigenous Core
Introduction
The Land That Drinks from the Heavens
Sustainability
Indigenousness and the Israelite Religion
Strangers in the Land
Creation-Centered Religion
The Political Complexities of Indigeneity
Decolonizing Judaism
Strangers in a Strange Land
After Exile
Intercession and Theurgy—Kabbalah
Revealing the Divine Flow—Hasidism
Conclusion
Works Cited
4 Water Law in Muslim Countries Revisited: A Study of the Qur’an
Caponera’s Water Laws in Moslem Countries (1954, 1973)
Spiritual Essays on Water in Islam
Reading the Qur’an with Water in Mind: Three Experiments
Sura al-Fatiha (the Opening)
Sura al-Baqarah (the Cow)
Reading for Water (Ma’) in the Historical Revelatory Sequence
Reading the Canonical Arrangement and Reflecting on Water Laws for Muslim Countries
References
5 Emerging Places of Repair: A Sustainable Urbanism Approach to Living in and with Cities—Inspired by Vine Deloria, Jr.’s Agent Ontology of Place
An Agent Ontology of Place, Matter–Energy, Solidarity, and Sacred Places
Place as Relationship
Matter–Energy in a Living Universe
Solidarity and the Sacred
Sacred Places
The Emergence of Places of Repair
Welcoming the Camas, Drawing the Line: Places of Repair as a Principle for City Living and Design
Welcoming the Camas, Repairing Relationships: The Native Gathering Gardens at Cully Park in Portland, Oregon
Creating Sacred Place in Momentary Urban Space: The Lummi Nation House of Tears Carvers Totem Pole Journey
To Conclude, We Must Begin
References
6 Saving Mount Shasta’s Sacred Water: The Spiritual Campaign Against Crystal Geyser
Mountain Metaphysics: Defining Sacred Water
A Brief Profile of Ascensionist Esoteric Spirituality
Spiritual Commerce and Water in Mt. Shasta: A Brief History
Water Activism Past and Present
Bibliography
7 Land Cover Change in a Ghanaian Sacred Forest
Introduction
Study Area Landscape
Sacred Natural Sites in Ghana
Governance of Sacred Landscapes in Ghana
Forest Policy in Ghana
Forest Cover Change in Ghana
Forests and Livelihood
Land Use Classification
Results of Land Cover Classification
Forest Cover Change
Conclusion
Appendix
References
8 Role of Faith-Based Social Groups in Promoting Sustainable Food Security in Nigeria
Introduction
Nigeria: The Giant of Africa
Addressing Food Insecurity
Social Groups as Catalysts for Food Security
The Financial Services Euphoria
Pressure for Self-Reliance
Conclusion
References
9 Protecting Ethiopia’s Church Forests: The Disconnect Between Western Science and Local Knowledge
What Is the Ecological Significance of Church Forests?
How Long Have Church Forests Existed, and Are They Remnants of a Vast Native Forest?
How Have Forest Conditions Changed Through Time, and Are They in Danger of Disappearing?
Why Does the Local Community Value the Forest and Take Steps to Protect It?
Why Is There Variability in Church Forest Conditions Today?
In the Face of Potential Factors in Their Degradation, What Steps Should Be Taken, and by Whom, to Bolster Church Forest Protection?
Degradation Narratives and Received Wisdom
Sacred Spaces and Sustainability
References
10 Religion and Spirituality in Hungarian Eco-Villages
Introduction
Eco-Villages
Radical Rural Locality—Place and Eco-Villages
Ecology and Religion
Religion, Faith and Spirituality in Hungarian Eco-Villages
The Role of Faith
Conclusion
References
11 Resource Nationalism and Spiritual Pathways to Sustainability in Kyrgyzstan
Environmental Nationalism in the Soviet Union
Resource Nationalism and Ecological Sustainability in Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan
Religion, Ecology, Nationalism
Conclusion
Bibliography
12 Grounded in Community: Christianity and Environmental Engagement in Scotland
Religion and Ecology
Research Method and Context
Linking Religious Traditions and Environmental Sustainability
Justice
Stewardship and Creation Care
Creation Spirituality
Grounded in Community
Conclusion
References
13 Christian Ideas Influencing US Food Movements
Introduction
Food Safety
Vegetarianism
Organic Farming
Food Justice
Local Food Movement as the Integration of Other Movements
Conclusion
References
14 The Jewish Food Movement: A Sustainable and Just Vision for Place, Identity, and Environment
Introduction
The Alternative Food Movement
Sustainable Food Spaces: Spaces for Jewish Renewal
American Jewish Farming and Post-Earth Day American Jewish Environmentalism
The Jewish Food Movement
Actors and Organization
Hazon: Hub of the JFM
Other Actors and Organizations in the JFM
A Jewish-Sustainability Discourse
From Sustainability to Food Justice: Shmita
Geographical Imagination of the JFM: Scales of Concern
Conclusions
References
15 A Womanist and Interfaith Response to Climate Change
Introduction
Case Study: Virginia Interfaith Power & Light
Values: Constructing a New Theology
Challenges Faced
Misinformation, Rejection of Science and Politicization
Urgency of the Climate Crisis
Viewing Climate Change as a Moral Issue
Connecting Public Policy and Charity
Standing up to Powerful Polluters
Organizational Sustainability
Intersectionality of Leadership’s Identity
Successes Achieved
Conclusion
References
Index
