Religion and violence against nature

Authors

• Lois Lorentzen University of San Francisco

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30674/scripta.67311

Keywords:

Violence, Environmentalism, Human beings -- Relation to nature, Nature, Disasters, Climatic changes, Global warming, Pollution, Environmental degradation, Green movement, Human ecology, Liberation theology, Ecofeminism, Religions -- Relations

Abstract

Most of us are well aware of the environmental crisis of our day. Yet, scholars of religion or peace studies rarely consider en­vironmental issues when theorizing about violence. Why think about religion when we ponder environmental degradation? Religion provides a framework by which we can understand a group’s relationship to non-human nature and to actions on behalf of the environment. As is the case with human-to-human violence, religious ideology may also either encourage or discourage assaults on the environment. Taking religious traditions and actors into account, deepens our understanding of the contemporary environmental crisis and environmental struggles and movements, as is argued in this article.