Editor’s Introduction

Toward a Robust Scientific Investigation of the ‘Religion’ Variable in the Quest for Sustainability

Authors

  • Bron Taylor University of Florida

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v5i3.253

Keywords:

Religious studies

Abstract

Despite signi?cant progress in the development of the religion and nature ?eld, there is still far too little data available to evaluate conclusively hypotheses regarding the ‘greening of religion’, regardless of whether the traditions in focus are large or small, longstanding or recently emerging. The ?eld needs to move beyond anecdotal information and wishful thinking and develop a much more complex and robust, mixed methods social science to explore the religious dimensions of the quest for environmental sustainability and conservation. Only then will we be able to assess more accurately whether it is possible for such phenomena to contribute strongly to efforts to create a more equitable and environmentally sustainable world. Scholars interested in pursuing historically and empirically such questions are invited to contact JSRNC editors in order to establish a task force to pursue these questions.

Author Biography

  • Bron Taylor, University of Florida
    Bron Taylor is the editor of the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture.

References

Barna Group. 2008. ‘Evangelicals Go “Green” with Caution’, 22 September. Online: http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/13-culture/23-evangelicals-goqgreenq-with-caution?q=environment.

Dietz, Thomas, Amy Fitzgerald, and Rachael Shwom. 2005. ‘Environmental Values’, Annual Review of Environment and Resources 30: 335-72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.energy.30.050504.144444.

Nash, James A. 2009. ‘The Bible vs. Biodiversity: The Case against Moral Argument from Scripture’, JSRNC 3.2: 213-37.

Northcott, Michael. 2009. ‘Loving Scripture and Nature’, JSRNC 3.2: 247-53.

Proctor, James. 2006. ‘Religion as Trust in Authority: Theocracy and Ecology in the United States’, Annals of the Association of American Geographers 96.1: 188-96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8306.2006.00508.x.

Stroink, Mirella, and Teresa DiCiccio. Forthcoming 2011. ‘Culture, Religion, and the Underlying Value Dimensions of the Metapersonal Self-construal’, Mental Health, Religion & Culture. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2010.536979.

Taylor, Bron. 2010a. Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future (Berkeley: University of California Press).

———. 2010b. ‘Civil Earth Religion versus Religious Nationalism’, The Immanent Frame, 30 July. Online: http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2010/07/30/civil-earthreligion/.

———. 2011a. ‘Interview with Bron Taylor’, Sacred Tribes Journal 6.1. Online: http://www.sacredtribesjournal.org/stj/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68&Itemid=71.

———. 2011b. ‘It’s International Mother Earth Day, Ready or Not’, The Huffington Post, 21 April. Online: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bron-taylor/earth-andmother-earth-da_b_852147.html.

Zaleha, Bernard Daly. 2009. ‘James Nash as Christian Deep Ecologist: Forging a New Eco-theology for the Third Millennium’, JSRNC 3.2: 279-89.

———. 2011. ‘ “Our Only Heaven”: An Investigation into the Spread and Significance of Nature Venerating Religion’, unpublished article draft dated 6 June (cited with author’s permission).

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Published

2011-10-18

Issue

Section

Editorial

How to Cite

Taylor, B. (2011). Editor’s Introduction: Toward a Robust Scientific Investigation of the ‘Religion’ Variable in the Quest for Sustainability. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 5(3), 253-262. https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v5i3.253