Wow. It isn’t too often that the Chronicle of Higher Education echoes SHS, but an article on environmentalism becoming a religion comes very close. From the article “Green Guilt” by Stephen T Asma (my emphasis):
Instead of religious sins plaguing our conscience, we now have the transgressions of leaving the water running, leaving the lights on, failing to recycle, and using plastic grocery bags instead of paper. In addition, the righteous pleasures of being more orthodox than your neighbor (in this case being more green) can still be had—the new heresies include failure to compost, or refusal to go organic. Vitriol that used to be reserved for Satan can now be discharged against evil corporate chief executives and drivers of gas-guzzling vehicles. Apocalyptic fear-mongering previously took the shape of repent or burn in hell, but now it is recycle or burn in the ozone hole. In fact, it is interesting the way environmentalism takes on the apocalyptic aspects of the traditional religious narrative. The idea that the end is nigh is quite central to traditional Christianity—it is a jolting wake-up call to get on the righteous path. And we find many environmentalists in a similarly earnest panic about climate change and global warming. There are also high priests of the new religion, with Al Gore (“the Goracle”) playing an especially prophetic role.
We even find parallels in environmentalism of the most extreme, self-flagellating forms of religious guilt. Nietzsche claims that religion has fostered guilt to such neurotic levels that some people feel culpable and apologetic about their very existence. Compare this with extreme conservationists who want to sacrifice themselves for trees and whales. And teachers, like myself, will attest to significant numbers of their students who feel that their cats or whatever are equal to human beings. And not only are members of the next generation egalitarian about all life, but they often feel positively awful about the way that their species has corrupted and defiled the whole beautiful symphony of nature. The planet, they feel, would be better off without us. We are not worthy. In this extreme form, one does not seek to reduce one’s carbon footprint so much as eliminate one’s very being.
I don’t share Asma’s apparent coolness toward traditional religion, and I think he understates the depth of the nihilism unleashed by the modern isms, but bravo to him for noticing that proper environmental awareness has, in many quarters, crossed the line into both anti humanism and a distorted form of religious faith. Indeed, what we saw in Copenhagen was a failed attempt to create a Green neo theocracy.
January 14th, 2010 | 10:41 pm
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January 15th, 2010 | 1:03 pm
[...] Posted by jasondulle under Odds & Ends Leave a Comment Wesley Smith drew my attention to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education making the case that [...]
January 15th, 2010 | 1:28 pm
According to Dictionary.com
Religion –noun 1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
To me the inclusion of environmentalism as a religion opens the door to golf, fishing, exercise, reading, skiing etc as religions. The rituals of environmentalism, e.g., turning off unnecessary lights, composting, not wasting clean water, recycling, minimizing CO2 emissions actually serve a purpose that can be demonstrated, even measured. In the past we called it being thrifty. Remember waste not, want not?
as the author concluded: “Environmentalism is a much better hang-up than worrying about the spiritual pitfalls of too much masturbation. Even if it’s neurotic, it’s still doing some good. But environmentalism, like every other ism, has the potential for dogmatic zeal and obsession. Do we really need one more humorless religion? Let us save the planet, by all means. But let’s also admit to ourselves that we have a natural propensity toward guilt and indignation, and let that fact temper our fervor to more reasonable levels.”
Every activity or cause has a continuum of practitioners. I once knew a guy who traveled the world, working odd jobs for a month or two, researching the local streams, and fishing for trout or salmon at every stop. He was devoted to fishing, but I’m not certain it was a religion. For environmentalism, some live “off the grid” in shacks in the woods, raising their own foods, and likely consider a suburbanite like me an environmental pagan. Tough. But yet, even their extemism is grounded in the measurable reality of affecting the environment. If they’re not invoking some kind of magical phenomena (see Danny Glover, above) are they really practicing a religion?
I advise some caution here. When an environmentalist wanders too far ‘off-the-grid’ and starts invoking Gaia and that the earth is exacting revenge, you can safely consider they are practicing a religion. But if your agenda is to broadly paint all environmentalists, including climate researchers, as worshipping a new religion… you’ll need more evidence.
January 15th, 2010 | 2:49 pm
One major difference I would have liked to see him point out, though, is that honest Christians “know not when the master of the house is coming.” Any one of us claiming that the world is on a trajectory to end in ten or twelve years is easily exposed as a fraud by the Bible itself.
January 23rd, 2010 | 7:34 am
[...] Read the rest at Secondhand Smoke. [...]
February 14th, 2010 | 5:32 pm
While environmentalist are already behaving as though they have a religious movement, Al Gore, at this very moment is creating a true climate religion (via churches and even universities) – complete with prayer.
Here’s my blog post about just that:
http://aprilbaby.typepad.com/a_california_life/2010/01/new-religion-climate-change.html
Please go into the links on my post to read the Yale University site and Al Gore’s link.
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