Caring for Creation: An Ecumenical Approach to the Environmental Crisis (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780300066456)

Many environmentalists believe that religion has been a major contributor to our ecological crisis, for Judeo-Christians have been taught that they have dominion over the earth and so do not consider themselves part of a biotic community. In this book a philosopher of environmental ethics acknowledges that religion may contribute to environmental problems but argues that religion can also play an important role in solving these problems--that religion can provide an ethical context that will help people to become sensitive to the environment and to elect leaders who are genuinely responsive to the ecological crisis.

Examining a broad range of Western religious traditions--from conservative Christianity and orthodox Judaism to Goddess feminism and nature religion--Max Oelschlaeger provides a sociolinguistic analysis of their creation stories and finds environmentally positive aspects in each of them. He asserts that religious discourse in the public arena can offer a way for such environmental issues as biodiversity, pollution, and population to be addressed outside the realm of special-interest politics. And he urges local churches to make "caring for creation" a theme for worship in their services; the majority of Americans, says Oelschlaeger, will discover an environmental ethic only through their religious faith.

Author: Max Oelschlaeger
ISBN-10: 0300066457
ISBN-13: 9780300066456
Publisher: Yale University Press
Language: English
Published: 02/21/1996
Pages: 296
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 9.13h x 6.05w x 0.85d