This paper is born from the premise that the desacralisation of nature is a significant contribut... more This paper is born from the premise that the desacralisation of nature is a significant contributor to our current environmental crisis. The first section examines how I arrive at this assertion, beginning with a sampling of societal structures and major developments in humanity’s history accompanied by an assessment of the intersection of religious belief and environmental praxis in each of them. It provides a brief review of societal and religious factors that have shaped Western culture, focussing on those aspects that specifically influence how we relate to the natural environment. The paper then turns to the resacralisation of nature and how it may influence environmental praxis in the future. It explores emerging spiritual movements and revisits Christianity, evaluating how their belief systems define the human/nature relationship and how these relationships translate into environment awareness, practices and activism. A literature review was accompanied by interviews with residents of Wakefield, Quebec, a growing rural community that attracts people of all ages who choose to embrace environmentally sustainable lifestyles, often based on spiritual or religious foundations. My research concluded that while adherents of emerging spiritual movements typically embrace a deep sense of interconnection with the natural world, and consider themselves to be living within a sacred natural environment, this is oftentimes manifested in ritual activity rather than positive environmental action. For those who do exhibit positive environmental behaviour, it appears to be based on a shared ontology that defines a respect and reverence for nature. Many of my research participants chose to define this ontology in spiritual or religious terms, insisting on the presence of the divine in the natural world. However, this was not universal: those participants who did not identify as religious or spiritual shared both the ontology and the positive environmental praxis.
This paper is born from the premise that the desacralisation of nature is a significant contribut... more This paper is born from the premise that the desacralisation of nature is a significant contributor to our current environmental crisis. The first section examines how I arrive at this assertion, beginning with a sampling of societal structures and major developments in humanity’s history accompanied by an assessment of the intersection of religious belief and environmental praxis in each of them. It provides a brief review of societal and religious factors that have shaped Western culture, focussing on those aspects that specifically influence how we relate to the natural environment. The paper then turns to the resacralisation of nature and how it may influence environmental praxis in the future. It explores emerging spiritual movements and revisits Christianity, evaluating how their belief systems define the human/nature relationship and how these relationships translate into environment awareness, practices and activism. A literature review was accompanied by interviews with residents of Wakefield, Quebec, a growing rural community that attracts people of all ages who choose to embrace environmentally sustainable lifestyles, often based on spiritual or religious foundations. My research concluded that while adherents of emerging spiritual movements typically embrace a deep sense of interconnection with the natural world, and consider themselves to be living within a sacred natural environment, this is oftentimes manifested in ritual activity rather than positive environmental action. For those who do exhibit positive environmental behaviour, it appears to be based on a shared ontology that defines a respect and reverence for nature. Many of my research participants chose to define this ontology in spiritual or religious terms, insisting on the presence of the divine in the natural world. However, this was not universal: those participants who did not identify as religious or spiritual shared both the ontology and the positive environmental praxis.
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Papers by Heidi Honegger