A Greener Faith

In a time of darkening environmental prospects, frightening religious fundamentalism, and moribund liberalism, the remarkable and historically unprecedented rise of religious environmentalism is a profound source of hope. In A Greener Faith , Roger S. Gottlieb chronicles the promises of this critically important movement, illuminating its principal ideas, leading personalities, and ways of connecting care for the earth with justice for human beings. He also shows how religious environmentalism breaks the customary boundaries of "religious issues" in political life. Asserting that environmental degradation is sacrilegious, sinful, and an offense against God catapults religions directly into questions of social policy, economic and moral priorities, and the overall direction of secular society. Gottlieb contends that a spiritual perspective applied to the Earth provides the environmental movement with a uniquely appropriate way to voice its dream of a sustainable and just world. Equally important, it helps develop a world-making political agenda that far exceeds interest group politics applied to forests and toxic incinerators. Rather, religious environmentalism offers an all-inclusive vision of what human beings are and how we should treat each other and the rest of life.

Gottlieb deftly analyzes the growing synthesis of the movement's religious, social, and political aspects, as well as the challenges it faces in consumerism, fundamentalism, and globalization. Highly engaging and passionately argued, this book is an indispensable resource for people of faith, environmentalists, scholars, and anyone who is concerned about our planet's future.

Readership: Students and scholars of religion and environmental studies

Roger S. Gottlieb, Professor of Philosophy, Worcestor Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA

""Roger S. Gottlieb has written a seminal book examining the emerging debate on environmental ethics among the world's great faith traditions and what that means for the future of environmental stewardship."" - Carl Pope, Executive Director, The Sierra Club

""This should be vital reading for anyone who thinks they know what the future of the environmental movement is. Gottlieb will show many people worlds they didn't even think existed! A timely book; a wonderful collection of stories; and some hard questions. Excellent."" - Martin Palmer, Secretary General of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation

Introduction: Religion and the Human Meaning of Environmental Crisis
1: Religion, Nature, Environment
2: Religious Environmentalism and Secular Society
3: Sustainable Religion
4: Religious Environmentalism in Action
5: Environmentalism as Spirituality
6: Opening the Heart: The Ritual Life of Religious Environmentalism
7: Five Faces of Religious Environmentalism
8: Obstacles, Prospects, Hope