Ecological ISSN 2515-1967 a Peer-Reviewed Journal Citizen
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The Vol 3 No 1 2019 Ecological ISSN 2515-1967 A peer-reviewed journal Citizen www.ecologicalcitizen.net CONFRONTING HUMAN SUPREMACY IN DEFENCE OF THE EARTH IN THIS ISSUE Focus on religion Twelve pieces explore different facets of religion in relation to the natural world AN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL No article access fees | No publication charges | No financial affiliations About the Journal www.ecologicalcitizen.net The An ecocentric, peer-reviewed, Ecological free-to-access journal EC Citizen ISSN 2515-1967 Aims Copyright 1 Advancing ecological knowledge The copyright of the content belongs to 2 Championing Earth-centred action the authors, artists and photographers, 3 Inspiring ecocentric citizenship unless otherwise stated. However, there is 4 Promoting ecocentrism in political debates no limit on printing or distribution of PDFs 5 Nurturing an ecocentric lexicon downloaded from the website. ‘Breaking Through’ Paul Moran Content alerts Translations Sign up for alerts at: We invite individuals wishing to translate www.ecologicalcitizen.net/#signup pieces into other languages, helping enable the Journal to reach a wider audience, to contact Social media us at: www.ecologicalcitizen.net/contact.html. Follow the Journal on Twitter: www.twitter.com/EcolCitizen A note on terminology Like the Journal on Facebook: Because of the extent to which some non- www.facebook.com/TheEcologicalCitizen ecocentric terms are embedded in the English language, it is sometimes necessary Editorial opinions for a sentence to deviate from a perfectly Opinions expressed in the Journal do not ecocentric grounding. The ‘natural world’ necessarily reflect those of each member of and ‘environment’, for instance, both split the Editorial Board. humans from the rest of nature but in some cases are very difficult to avoid without Advertising creating overly complex phrases. For usage No money is received for the placement of notes relating to terms such as these, when advertisements in the Journal. they appear in the Journal, along with other language considerations, please visit: Finances www.ecologicalcitizen.net/lexicon.html. The Journal is run with minimal costs by a staff of volunteers. The small costs that do Typesetting exist are covered by small, unrestricted, The Journal is typeset in Merriweather private donations. There are no charges for and Merriweather Sans, both of which are publication and no fees to access any of the typefaces with an Open Font Licence that content. have been designed by Eben Sorkin. “When service to people is paramount, disservice to everything else in the world follows close behind.” Stan Rowe 2 The Ecological Citizen Vol 3 No 1 2019 www.ecologicalcitizen.net Contents The Ecological Citizen | Vol 3 No 1 2019 For a listing of Friends of the Editorial Journal, please Religion and the natural world 5 see page 32 Patrick Curry Reflections Alignment 13 Lisa A McLoughlin Snapshots The Catholic Church and human relationships with nature 19 Joseph Blay The potential of Buddhist environmentalism 25 Susan M Darlington Against piety: The planet, the Pope and Laudato Si’ 27 Ray Keenoy A bestowed trust: The perception of nature and animals in Islam 33 İbrahim Özdemir Ecocentric Paganism 39 Michael York Judaism responds to the environmental crisis 41 Hava Tirosh-Samuelson Interviews The Anglican Communion and the natural world – an interview with David Shreeve 52 Buddhism and the natural world – an interview with Ringu Tulku Rinpoche 56 Exchange Christianity and nature 59 Nigel Cooper and Patrick Curry Long articles Religion and environmental behaviour (part one): World religions and the fate of the Earth 71 Bron Taylor Animism and ecology: Participating in the world community 79 Graham Harvey How should ecological citizens think about immigration? 85 Philip Cafaro and Jane O’Sullivan Featured artists In memoriam This issue also features artworks by Belen Deborah Bird Rose (1946–2018): A personal reflection 93 Cerezo, Joseph Walsh, Freya Mathews Kate Paxman, Matthew Krishanu, Michele Fletcher, Poetry section Nastassja Simensky, Works by Robinson Jeffers, Keats Conley and Jo Gates 95 Paul Moran and Stephen Selected by Victor Postnikov McGuiness. The Ecological Citizen Vol 3 No 1 2019 3 Editorial Board www.ecologicalcitizen.net Editor-in-Chief Oussou Lio Appolinaire Vanja Palmers Patrick Curry Practitioner of Earth Jurisprudence Buddhist Teacher promoting Animal Rights Writer and Scholar Avrankou, Benin Lucerne, Switzerland London, UK María Valeria Berros Alessandro Pelizzon Researcher in Rights of Nature Researcher in Earth-Centred Law Santa Fe, Argentina Lismore, NSW, Australia Associate Editors David Blackwell John J Piccolo Eileen Crist Educator and Nature-lover Associate Professor in Writer and Teacher Halifax, NS, Canada Environmental and Life Sciences Blacksburg, VA, USA Susana Borràs Pentinat Karlstad, Sweden Adam Dickerson Lecturer in Public International Law Coyote Alberto Ruz Buenfil Writer and Gardener Tarragona, Spain Environmental and Social Activist Gundaroo, NSW, Australia Tom Butler Huehuecoyotl Ecovillage, Mexico Joe Gray Writer and Activist Vandana Shiva Field Naturalist and Eco-activist Huntington, VT, USA Scholar and Environmental Activist St Albans, UK Nigel Cooper Delhi, India Ian Whyte Chaplain and Biologist Steve Szeghi Field Naturalist Cambridge, UK Professor of Economics Ottawa, ON, Canada Paul Cryer Wilmington, OH, USA Conservationist Bron Taylor Hillcrest, South Africa Professor of Religion, Nature Art Editor Cormac Cullinan and Environmental Ethics Stephanie Moran Environmental Attorney and Author Gainesville, FL, USA Artist and Librarian Cape Town, South Africa Andrew Walton London, UK John Davis Bioregionalist Wildways Trekker Birmingham, UK Poetry Editor Westport, NY, USA Haydn Washington Victor Postnikov Alan Watson Featherstone Environmental Scientist Poet, Essayist and Translator Founder and Visionary – Trees for Life and Activist Kiev, Ukraine Findhorn, UK Sydney, NSW, Australia Mumta Ito Rachel Waters Consulting Editors Lawyer, Zoologist and Academic and Advocacy Journalist Sandy Irvine Founder – Nature’s Rights Brooklyn, NY, USA Political Activist Forres, UK Fiona Wilton Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK Marjolein Kok Programme Coordinator Ted Mosquin Environmental Activist and Researcher – Gaia Foundation Naturalist Utrecht, the Netherlands Colombia/Uruguay Lanark, ON, Canada Helen Kopnina Doug Woodard Environmental Anthropologist Environmentalist Publicity Advisor Leiden, the Netherlands St Catharines, ON, Canada Monica Carroll Joseph Lambert George Wuerthner Writer Researcher in Earth Jurisprudence Photographer, Author and Activist Canberra, ACT, Australia Brighton, UK Bend, OR, USA Sandra Lubarsky Peter Jingcheng Xu Art Advisor Scholar in Sustainability Researcher in Literature Salomón Bazbaz Lapidus Flagstaff, AZ, USA Beijing, China Director – Cumbre Tajín Festival Michelle Maloney Mersha Yilma Papantla de Olarte, Mexico Lawyer and National Practitioner of Earth Jurisprudence Convenor of AELA Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Editorial Advisors Brisbane, QLD, Australia Suzanne York David Abram Alexandra Marcelino Director – Transition Earth Cultural Ecologist and Geophilosopher Jurist in Environmental Law San Francisco, CA, USA Upper Rio Grande Valley, NM, USA Lisbon, Portugal Melinda Alfano Maria Carolina Negrini Graduate in Water Resources Lawyer New York, NY, USA São Paolo, Brazil 4 The Ecological Citizen Vol 3 No 1 2019 www.ecologicalcitizen.net EDITORIAL Religion and the natural world elcome to the fifth issue of or complete, religion is ultimately Patrick Curry The Ecological Citizen, which is unavoidable. Slightly more exactly, W mainly dedicated to religion some sort of sacrality, which grounds About the author and the natural world. The context for its it, whether tacit or explicit, is present Patrick is a writer and contents on that topic is threefold: the in all known human societies, now and scholar based in London, subject itself, our remit as a journal, and throughout history. Thus even when UK, with his works my own particularities as editor. Let me religion has been banned, traditional including Ecological Ethics: An Introduction (Polity take each in turn. forms survived, and official ‘secular’ Press, 2018). He is Editor- I take ‘religion’ to mean a relationship equivalents with dogma, ritual, worship in-Chief of The Ecological with the sacred, together with others, (etc.) developed. Life under Soviet Citizen. whether past or present, sustained and Maoist communism is an obvious through practising certain rituals within example. This is not surprising. Everyone Citation particular traditions. And by ‘sacred’, has some kind of ultimate values, even Curry P (2019) Religion I mean values that are taken to be (if they are honest) atheists. and the natural world. The Ecological Citizen 3: 5–9. ultimate, bedrock, and cannot be further This brings us to the second point, grounded or justified. Also present here is our own ultimate value and concern: Keywords ‘spirituality’, which overlaps with religion ecocentrism. (By ‘our’ I mean those Religion; worldviews a good deal but applies more to views and who make this journal, both editors and practices which tend to be individual, most contributors, and many, at least, private or personal. They sometimes of its readers.) Here it must be said that extend to small groups or associations in an Earth-centred perspective, most but lack the heft (both for good and for ill) religion looks mostly, if not decidedly, of institutionalized religions. problematic. Stan