Jon P. Bloch

Southern Connecticut State University

Review of Religious Research, Vol. 40, No. 1 (September, 1998)

The relationship between religiosity and environmentalism has previ-
ously been examined by studying conservative versus liberal Christian
affiliation. This study explores environmentalist attitudes amongst per-
sons whose religiosity does not fit conventional patterns: the so-called
"alternative" or "countercultural" spiritual community (e.g, New Age,
Neo-Paganism). This network of individuals finds commonalty and soli-
darity not through organizational ties or a singular theology, but through
an overriding ideology that challenges the alleged rigidity and dualistic
dogma of mainstream society, and so suggests a new form of social move-
ment. Central to this critique of the mainstream is the notion that the
earth is just as sacred as the "heavens," and so by preserving the earth,
one is being "spiritual." Excerpts from in-depth interviews with 22 alter-
native spiritualists feature numerous key environmental/spiritual themes.
These excerpts indicate that issues such as religiosity, "liberal" versus
"conservative" affiliation, and environmental politics can take on differ-
ent meanings when explored outside of mainline Christianity.

Numerous studies have explored how attitudes toward environmentalism
might be related to religious belief. Much of this scholarship has utilized
White ( 1967 ) thesis that the Bible -- beginning with Genesis 1 -- states that
the environment is the proper "dominion" of humankind, and so rightfully can
be exploited. A number of studies have indicated at least some connection
between literalist, conservative church affiliation and anti-environmentalism,
and also between liberal and/or non-literalist identification and pro-environmen-
talism ( Eckberg and Blocker, 1989, 1996; Greeley, 1993; Guth, et al. 1993).
However, some of these studies also have speculated that the positions religious
individuals take on environmental issues is connected at least as much to over-
riding conservative/liberal political agendas as it is to religious beliefs as such
( Guth, et al. 1993; Eckberg and Blocker, 1996). Fowler ( 1995) notes that pro-
environmentalist liberal Protestantism has been criticized as emerging from
such flexible interpretations of scripture (as well as non-Biblical sources) that a
"Christian" worldview can come to mean virtually anything; the connection
between Protestantism and environmentalism arguably is tenuous. Kanagy and
Nelsen ( 1995 ) found that once demographic variables were controlled, religious
conservatism or liberalism per se were not reliable predictors of environmental
attitudes. Moreover, regardless of differences, collectively these studies suggest
that non-religious people are at least as likely -- if not more so -- to support
environmentalism. Therefore, the extent to which a liberal church orientation
instigates or facilitates a pro-environmental stance is unclear, even if a conserv-
ative orientation (possibly) promotes anti-environmentalism.

In sum, existing scholarship has both offered insights and raised new questions

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