Relgion and Ecology 2021

I grew up in a Christian (Methodist) household and have stood with this religion for numerous reasons. However, since this course, I've been trying to understand the importance of nature in relation to Christianity. There are numerous examples when nature is included in parables throughout the Bible, however, I began to wonder how my personal religious journey incorporates nature. The first thought that came to my mind was prayer. Typically, when I'm in a time of prayer, I tend to immerse myself in nature and examine all of God's creations (whether that be the land, animals, plants, etc). Although this is just my personal preferred location of prayer, I do know that nature and religion differ for every individual. I'm curious to learn how Christianity incorporates or how specific Christians incorporate nature in their personal journeys.

 I've read "Walden" in numerous courses and personally enjoyed Thoreau's journey into the wilderness/wildness. My favorite concept in Thoreau's reading was the generational aspect to it, for example, Thoreau mentions in his novel that we are often too confined to material possessions that we forget to appreciate our surroundings. So often, we view ourselves as separate from our surroundings even though we need to take care of our surroundings. With no nature/environment/landscape, there will be no way we can live a sustainable life or live at all. I'm curious to know how our connections with religion could possibly improve this situation. Could religion emphasize that we do not need material possessions and instead need land?

 In my English 393 course with Dr. Rose, we read a book known as "Odds Against Tomorrow" by Nathaniel Rich. This novel was essentially about Mitchell Zukor (the main character) who suffered from future anxiety disorder but was consumed by the unknown (particularly natural disasters and other environmental concerns). This known reminded me of our course for it emphasized the importance of establishing a relationship with nature. Although this specific novel did not touch on religion, I do believe it relates to the course with the interconnection of human and non-human. Mitchell was so consumed by worrying about these storms and attempted to emphasize (to his peers) the importance of establishing a relationship with nature/ your environment. 

 During class, we discuss the interconnection between humans and non-humans but also the constant interactions between the two groups. One major (and simple) concept we talked about in class (that I never considered) was the difference(s) between the human and non-human. The major difference Dr. Redick emphasized was the fact that we create worlds/groups/cultures through language whereas non-humans (animals) do not. This really stood out to me because language is such an important concept in our everyday lives and therefore impacts our everyday lives. Language causes us to form social groups but also a variety of cultures. How does our language differ (besides the obvious) to animals/non-humans communication methods?

 Blog Post 6 - Topic of My Choosing 2 Week 6           For this blog post I’m going to be writing my second post about the topic of my choosing, which is: comparing how different religions interact with nature and the ecology that surrounds that followers of each religion. The religion that I’m writing about this week is paganism, and I chose this because in class on Thursday (Feb 25) Dr. Redick talked about ancient pagans in the context of nature.           I think it’s particularly interesting how this ancient paganism differs from modern neo-paganism. I will be writing a blog post about a modern neo-pagan religion in a later blog post, and I will compare and contrast that religion with this one.           There is also more background information about Greek creation myths in my third blog post, as well as a link to further reading.            In class Dr. Red...

 Blog Post 5 - Topic of My Choosing 1 Week 5           For this semester I decided that the topic of my choosing will be comparing how different religions interact with nature and the ecology that surrounds that followers of each religion. Obviously I can’t do all religions, and so I’m just going to pick five that stand out to me and pique my interest. I will add a link to a pdf if anyone's interested in some more reading, I used pages 207-223. The first religion that I chose, and it’s interaction with nature, is Jainism. I chose this one to look into and write about first because we talked about it in class, and how the people that follow Jainism are unable to cook food for themselves. In class we talked about how they believe that they are killing the organism when they cook it, and that they cannot eat food raw because that also would be killing it. I thought that was really interesting because it’s a similar thought to what (some) vegans and vege...

Blog Post 4 - Class Readings 2 Week 4      This blog post is going to be about chapter three of From Nature to Creation by Norman Wirzba. I found this chapter particularly interesting because it talks about the problems of perception. Our lives are so intertwined with technology that we’ve lost touch with our true reality. We have started to believe that your perception can be changed, and that there is a perfect way to be perceived. Humanity, for the most part, has lost the part of us that is deeply connected to a specific place. In this day and age people don’t see the value in being rooted in one place, and having a personal connection with your environment and community.      Wirzba writes about how we have to perceive god’s existence and energy in the world. That humans have changed with the technological boom of the past few decades and we believe now that we are allowed to, and deserving of, manipulating our technological reality to be surrounded wit...

  Blog Post 3 - Outside Readings 2 Week 3           This blog is going to be about the readings/research that I did in order to write my explanatory essay on a creation myth and how it connects to the surrounding ecology. For my paper I wrote about the creation myth from the pagan Greek pantheon. I’m going to quickly summarize the myth, but there are much longer, more in depth versions on the internet. I added a link to a good short reading on the myth at the bottom on this blog. The myth starts by talking about how in the beginning there was nothing but Chaos. From Chaos came Gaia, Tartarus, and Eros. Then Chaos created Erebus and Nyx. From Nyx came Aether and Hemera, and then thirteen other children. Gaia created three Cyclopes, three Hundred-Handed Hecatoncheires, and the twelve Titans. From the Titans came the Gods. I didn’t translate the names of the deities in this blog, but they are available online if you are interested. The choices in the lang...

Blog Post 2 - Assigned Class Readings 1 Week 2 This blog post is about Dr. Redick’s paper, Feet Forbidden Here. It’s a paper that argues that by limiting the interstate highways to only motor vehicles, they are alienating people from existential and mythical dimensions of the lived experience. I summarize the general idea of the paper, and then I add some of my own thoughts and opinions. This means that because the highway system only allows vehicles, and not people walking on foot, biking, etc., it is separating humans from the nonhuman environment. As well as the interstate being a fast and convenient way to travel vast distances causing people to lose touch with each other and the natural environment that we would have traveled through prior to the interstates. This is also creating a loss of culture that is tied to an individual place, because we are able to get from place to place without experiencing all of the areas in between. The interstates have separated humans from the nonh...

Blog Post 1 - Outside Readings 1 Week 1      This blog post is about the research I did on Helen Keller for class on Jan 28th. First of all, I had done a lot of research on Helen Keller when I was younger, and so I already had a bit of a background. I ended up looking up what the Tadoma Method is, because Helen used that method to understand others when they would speak, and this method is actually really interesting. It’s a language of its own, like reading a live person as if they’re a book.     I had read Helen’s autobiography, The Story of My Life, a long time ago, and had remembered her story of the day she learned that things had names. Then when we went over it in class it made me see her experience in a different way. When I originally read her book, I imagined it more like when kids learn to read, where it opens up a new world; but when we discussed it in class it made me think about it differently. She talks about how learning that things have nam...

If you had a wonderful 90’s childhood, like myself, then you have viewed FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) on more than one occasion in your youth (in my case, at least 10 times each summer until I was 12 years old). However, I recently rewatched this early 90’s classic on a whim (read: I was bored and not writing my blogs) to discover that it is heavily laden with deep ecological viewpoints and much of the same themes that we have covered in our class. If you had a horrible 90’s childhood (or just didn’t get to experience that golden age as a child), I’ll take a moment to catch you up on the plot. FernGully spins a tale of the magical inhabitants of the last rainforest on earth. The movie opens with the spiritual matriarch forest sprite, Magi Lune, telling the creation story of the rainforest. She states that once upon a time, the fairies and humans lived together in complete harmony, providing lovingly for each other’s needs… until bad weather (yes, seriously, just bad weather) s...

In postmodern philosophy, we studied Merleau-Ponty’s dialogue on the body, which was one I found fascinating and proved to be one of my favorites we studied all semester. I find his thoughts more concrete than that of others, which tend to be more abstract and not as easily apprehended. In the introduction to Eye and Mind, the author writes that Ponty declares that the facets of our being usually thought of as aphysical and abstract “can be shown to unfold from our condition as beings physically immersed in the world”. Ponty calls the body a “body schema” and describes it as a “framework of intentionality”. It is by means of this body schema that we open onto the world around us and engage with our surroundings. The author goes so far as to say “the body is my very means of entering into relation with all things”. He then brings up the reciprocal nature of flesh, writing that it is “the mutual application of seeing upon being seen” and this, he interestingly submits, is what animates t...

 A thought that has been circulating through my head for much of our discussions on tools is our placement among nature and ecology. Birk presented a definition of human beings that emphasizes our separation from nature by our own tools. To an extent I agree with this, but I don't believe that the tools are the root reason for our separation. So what is the reason for our separation? Our desire to improve upon our lives, by medicine or farming technology allowed for the human population to sky rocket. Our resistance to being controlled by natural selection or even carrying capacities, two natural mechanisms that regulate populations and balance ecosystems, has separated us from other extrahumans. Our exponential population growth has created incentives to explore new farming technologies, replacing farming tools that kept us rooted in nature with machines with the highest efficiency, and medical progress to fight any virus/disease that could possibly control our numbers. The Corona...

 Following our class discussions on myth and how they are not meant to be explanations but rather explorations of ideas/concepts that humans find sacred. I enjoyed writing an essay on a creation myth, as I often find those myths to be the most beautiful. There are many similarities in creation myths across cultures, for example, Greek and Maori creation myths both have mother (earth) and father (sky) figures that play in prominent role in creation of the world. Furthermore, both myths feature darkness as the original state of the world until light and love shined forth. If myths reveal the bond between man and what he finds sacred, the overlap between these two culture myths and many more reveal the themes that are sacred across cultures. Despite our advances as a species I believe that we will always have a fascination with creation, darkness/light, and love. Even if man inhabits Mars these are concepts will always enchant and enthrall mankind. Something that I have been thinking ...

 After watching the nature documentary in class, it's incredible that there is such power in technology and tools. In class, we talked about Prometheus (Titan god of fire) and the relation between technology, power, and Prometheus. Since Prometheus is the Titan god of fire, he "reveals the power of fire when manipulated by humans, the power to alter their habitat" (Australia's Twilight of a Dreamtime). Humans have such a unique talent of making something out of nothing, however with that, there comes destruction and evil. However, in this myth, there is an emphasis on the importance and goodness of tools and technology. The myth of Prometheus also emphasizes the "cultural awareness of the power of technology and its role in elevating humans from their natural state" (Australia's Twilight of a Dreamtime). However, I would argue that technology (in particular, over tools) can place a great evil on the world. Technology has caused so many benefits, however,...

In class, we have talked about how modern technology changes the human relation with habitat. This concept can be applied to the vehicles that technology creates, such as cars, planes, etc. This connection is drawn in Dr. Redick’s Feet Forbidden Here , in which he argues that technologically advanced travel has severed the human connection with the habitat and environment. How exactly has innovation in travel severed the human connection with ecology? The drivers on the highway lack a participation in the environment. In other words, there is no encounter by those in cars with the habitat around them. Instead of participating, those in the cars simply experience the environment they go through. This emphasis on the difference between experience and encounter lies in the definition. To experience something is to watch or listen to it happen, suggesting an experience to be a passive act. To encounter something is to participate in its existence by interacting with it, suggesting an enc...

     In class, we've talked about dwelling as "conducting oneself in accordance to a habit that draws meaning from the particularities of the environment" (Solar of Fierce Landscapes, 9). In order to draw meaning, you must have a good understanding of the environment. Part of building this understanding is existing in close proximity to the environment. As Prof. Redick argues in 'Feet Forbidden Here', driving alienates humans from their environment. From this alienation, people are unable to truly dwell because they aren't close enough to the environment to draw meaning from it.      A particularly powerful statement from 'Feet Forbidden Here' is "we transform our world as we couple with its flesh. Authentic transformation is cooperative and rooted in encounter; alienated transformation is isolating and rooted in experience" (Feet Forbidden Here, p. 11). Humans collectively have transformed the world by building and using major highways and i...

"In other words, for God to die, all that is necessary is for people to imagine and implement a world in which God is an unwelcome, unnecessary, or unimaginable hypothesis."      In Norman Wirzba's first chapter there is a parallel between God the  Creator and God's Creation. The parallel drawn is specifically that between the death of Creation and the death of the Creator. Wirzba, however, does not intend death to be taken in the literal sense of burials and graves. Rather, it is a metaphorical death brought about by the inability of a distracted mankind to interact with the Divine through nature. When the appreciation and care for Creation  diminishes, so does the presence of the Creator.      This connects to the concepts of Habitus and dwelling we have learned about thus far. Habitus is defined (for the purpose of this class) as "the ritualized way of perceiving reality" and it is done by dwelling. Dwelling   is defined for this clas...