Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future - Tapa dura

"This ambitious work seeks to set forth a new religious tradition characterized by its central concern for the fate of the planet."--Nova Religio: the Journal of Alternative & Emergent Religions "Dark Green Religion is intelligent, well-written, and very much worth reading."--Worldviews "Names levels of spirituality that are often unacknowledged, unattended to, or rejected, and demonstrates how a new global spirituality (DGR) is becoming a force for positive change on our planet."--Isle: Interdis Stds In Lit & Environ "Recommended."--Choice

In this innovative and deeply felt work, Bron Taylor examines the evolution of 'green religions' in North America and beyond: spiritual practices that hold nature as sacred and have in many cases replaced traditional religions. Tracing a wide range of groups - radical environmental activists, lifestyle-focused bioregionalists, surfers, new-agers involved in 'ecopsychology,' and groups that hold scientific narratives as sacred - Taylor addresses a central theoretical question: How can environmentally oriented, spiritually motivated individuals and movements be understood as religious when many of them reject religious and supernatural worldviews? The 'dark' of the title further expands this idea by emphasizing the depth of believers' passion and also suggesting a potential shadow side: besides uplifting and inspiring, such religion might mislead, deceive, or in some cases precipitate violence. This book provides a fascinating global tour of the green religious phenomenon, enabling readers to evaluate its worldwide emergence and to assess its role in a critically important religious revolution.