The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Nature: The Elements (Bloomsbury Handbooks in Religion)

Divided into four parts—Earth, Air, Fire, and Water—this book takes an elemental approach to the study of religion and ecology. It reflects recent theoretical and methodological developments in this field which seek to understand the ways that ideas and matter, minds and bodies exist together within an immanent frame of reference. The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Nature focuses on how these matters materialize in the world around us, thereby addressing key topics in this area of study. The editors provide an extensive introduction to the book, as well as useful introductions to each of its parts. The volume’s international contributors are drawn from the USA, South Africa, the Netherlands, Norway, Indonesia, and South Korea, and offer a variety of perspectives, voices, cultural settings, and geographical locales. This handbook shows that human concern and engagement with material existence is present in all sectors of the global community, regardless of religious tradition. It challenges the traditional methodological approach of comparative religion, and argues that globalization renders a comparative religious approach to the environment insufficient. Cover page Halftitle page Bloomsbury Handbooks Title page Copyright page CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Introduction THE (RE)TURN TO IMMANENCE THE NEW MATERIALISMS PART ONE Earth CHAPTER ONE Backyard Gardens as Sacred Spaces: An Ecowomanist Spiritual Ecology TRACES OF BEAUTY AND BARE HANDS: MEMORIES OFGRAND MOTHER’S SMILE, ROSES, AND NEIGHBORS SPIRITUAL ECOLOGY THE ECOLOGICAL HERITAGE OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN THE UNITED STATES SPACING THE SACRED IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN GARDENS THE SACRED SPACING OF GARDENS AND EARTH AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS CONCLUSION CHAPTER TWO In a Body on Wheels in Touch with the Earth: Cycling as Religion and Response OUTDOOR EXPERIENCES AS RELIGION “I WANT TO RIDE MY BICYCLE, I WANT TO RIDE MY BIKE.”14 THE SHRINES OF CYCLING “WE WERE LIKE GODS FOR THE SPECTATORS”25 CYCLING AS AGENT OF SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CONCLUSIONS: I STILL WANT TO RIDE MY BICYCLE CHAPTER THREE Pressure, Gestures: Sacral Work: Bodies Poetics PRESSURES—BREATHE WE START WHERE WE ARE GESTURING EXPERIENCE SACRALITIES OF/WITH/IN BODIES CHAPTER FOUR Blood in the Soil: The Racial, Racist, and Religious Dimensions of Environmentalism THE WHITE RACIAL FRAME, ECOLOGICAL BURDEN & BEAUTY ECOLOGICAL BURDEN OF WHITE ENVIRONMENTALIST LOGIC ECOLOGICAL BURDEN OF BLACK EMBODIMENT THE ROLE OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY FROM ECOLOGICAL BURDEN TO ECOLOGICAL BEAUTY CONCLUSION CHAPTER FIVE To Eat or Be Eaten? That’s the Question1 FOOD AS FUEL EATING AS A DEMONSTRATION OF HUMAN (OR MALE OR WHITE) SUPREMACY THE ASCETIC VISION HEDONISTIC CONSUMPTION CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION EATING AS RECYCLING PROVIDING FOOD FOR OTHERS THROUGH KENOTIC LOVE EATING AS SUPERFLUOUS JOY EATING AND THE ECSTASY OF INTIMACY: A PROVISIONAL, MODEST PROPOSAL PART TWO Air CHAPTER SIX The Personhood of Air: The Ammatoans’ Indigenous Perspective AMMATOANS’ ADAT ECOLOGY THE “AIR” AS A SIGNIFICANT OTHER BEING THE “AIR”: MEDIATING THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF THE WORLD CONCLUSION CHAPTER SEVEN Changing Atmospheres of Religion and Nature RELIGION, NATURE, AND AN IMPOVERISHED WORLDVIEW THE FIELD OF RELIGION AND NATURE AS INTERPRETING ATMOSPHERES CONCLUSION: CHANGING ATMOSPHERES AND HUMAN FLOURISHING CHAPTER EIGHT Eco-Dao: An Ecological Theology of Dao ECO-DAO: DAO ( 道;WAY)1 AS ECOLOGICAL ROOT-METAPHOR THE GREAT ULTIMATE (太極 ; T’AEGŬK/TÀI JÍ )7 AS ONTOCOSMOLOGY KI/QI (氣)24 AS METACOSMIC ENERGY BREATHING AS SPIRITUALITY KI -SOCIOCOSMIC BIOGRAPHY OF THE EXPLOITED LIFE AS A HERMENEUTICAL KEY ECO-DAO AND LAUDATO SI’ CHAPTER NINE Remembering the Air: Aesthetic, Ethical, and Spiritual Dimensions of Wind Energy THE FORGOTTEN AIR WIND AESTHETICS SIGHTS UNSEEN HEAVENLY AND HELLISH ENERGY WIND AND SPIRIT CHAPTER TEN Con-spiring Together: Breathing for Justice RUACH : THE BREATH OF LIFE, THE AIR WE BREATHE I CAN’T BREATHE BAD AIR TAKE A DEEP BREATH PART THREE Fire CHAPTER ELEVEN Recovering/Uncovering Animality A MODERN RE-EMERGENCE INTO THE REALM OF OTHER ANIMALS—COMPANION ANIMALS ON FIRE COMPANIONS MADE FOR EACH OTHER? CHALLENGING THE SEPARATION NARRATIVE OUT OF THE FIRE AND INTO THE FRYING PAN—DOMESTICATED FOOD ANIMALS HUMAN EXCEPTIONALISM—“USING THEM AS WE SEE FIT” REIMAGINING BIOLOGY GOING WILD BRINGING TOGETHER TWO PATHS EXHORTATIONS TO SELF-ACTUALIZATION CONSTRUCTIVELY CHALLENGING HUMAN-EXCEPTIONALISM CHAPTER TWELVE Feral Becoming and Environmentalism’s Primal Future REWILDING THE SELF AND PLANET A PRIMAL FUTURE AND THE PRIMITIVE SKILLS MOVEMENT LIVING LIGHTLY ON THE LAND: WILD ROOTS HOMESTEAD THE FRAUGHT PRACTICES AND AMBIGUITIES OF REWILDING BURNING RAGE AND BURNING PROPERTY CHAPTER THIRTEEN From Refiner’s Fire to Refinery Fires: Reflectionson the Combustive Element of Fire BURNING BRIGHT ELEMENTAL CHEMISTRY—SACRED ALCHEMY ENTANGLEMENT AND THE ELEMENTS AS “SENSIBLE TRANSCENDENTALS” FIRE AS ENERGY WATER IS LIFE—KILLING THE BLACK SNAKE (#NODAPL)28 OILED UP GREASING THE WHEELS EXTREME UNCTION: DYING TO PETROLEUM, LIVING TO THE COSMOS? ANOINTING TOWARDS DIFFERENT ECONOMY: FROM CRUDE TO WATERY SACRAMENTAL FIRE ANOINTED WITH OIL CHAPTER FOURTEEN Fire, Religion, Nature, and Shona Culture WOMEN AS AGENTS OF KNOWLEDGE SUSTAINABILITY, RELIGION AND SOCIAL JUSTICE CHANGING IDEAS ABOUT FIRE ALTERNATIVE MODERN SHONA GOD-TALK ON LIVING WITH DEATH CHAPTER FIFTEEN Protective Occupation, Emergent Networks, Rituals of Solidarity: Comparing Alta (Sápmi), Mauna Kea (Hawai‘i), and Standing Rock (North Dakota) INTRODUCTION: SACRED FIRES AND SMOKE SIGNALS THE ALTA CASE STANDING ROCK MAUNA KEA PROTECTORS NOT PROTESTERS CAMPS AND CONNECTIONS RELIGION AND RITUALS FIRES STILL BURN PART FOUR Water CHAPTER SIXTEEN Buddhism, Bodhisattvas, and the Compassionate Wisdom of Water1 THE ARCHETYPE OF THE BODHISATTVA AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF WISDOM AND COMPASSION THE SEVENTEENTH KARMAPA, THE BODHISATTVA, AND WATER THE ECOSATTVA AND THE AQUASATTVA CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Mountains of Memory: Confronting Climate Change in Sacred Mountain Landscapes INTRODUCTION ALPINE GLACIER DECLINE MOUNTAIN DEITIES, RITUALS, AND MEMORY GLACIERS AS EARTH’S MEMORY CONCLUSION CHAPTER EIGHTEEN At the Mercy of Sacred Waters: Sanctification, Fetishization, Permeation, and Responsiveness WATER AS ROOT-FORCE WATER IN MOTION WITHIN A RESPONSIVE WORLD SANCTIFYING COSMIC WATERS FETISHIZED AND COMMODITIZED WATER WATER RECLAIMING ITS FORCE IN RESONATING SPACE CHAPTER NINETEEN Water from a Stone: Dams, Deserts, and the Miracle of Moses in the Modern World LYNN WHITE AND OUR ECOLOGICAL CRISIS BIBLICAL SUBSTANTIATION AND ORDAINED STEWARDSHIP WATER IN THE [DISAPPEARING] WILDERNESS CHAPTER TWENTY Conclusion: Thinking with the Elements THE EMERGING HOPE NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX Divided Into Four Parts-earth, Air, Fire, And Water-this Book Takes An Elemental Approach To The Study Of Religion And Ecology. It Reflects Recent Theoretical And Methodological Developments In This Field Which Seek To Understand The Ways That Ideas And Matter, Minds And Bodies Exist Together Within An Immanent Frame Of Reference. The Bloomsbury Handbook Of Religion And Nature Focuses On How These Matters Materialize In The World Around Us, Thereby Addressing Key Topics In This Area Of Study. The Editors Provide An Extensive Introduction To The Book, As Well As Useful Introductions To Each Of Its Parts. The Volume's International Contributors Are Drawn From The Usa, South Africa, Netherlands, Norway, Indonesia, And South Korea, And Offer A Variety Of Perspectives, Voices, Cultural Settings, And Geographical Locales. This Handbook Shows That Human Concern And Engagement With Material Existence Is Present In All Sectors Of The Global Community, Regardless Of Religious Tradition. It Challenges The Traditional Methodological Approach Of Comparative Religion, And Argues That Globalization Renders A Comparative Religious Approach To The Environment Insufficient. Edited By Laura Hobgood And Whitney Bauman. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "Divided into four parts Earth, Air, Fire, and Water this book takes an elemental approach to the study of religion and ecology. It reflects recent theoretical and methodological developments in this field which seek to understand the ways that ideas and matter, minds and bodies exist together within an immanent frame of reference. The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Nature focuses on how these matters materialize in the world around us, thereby addressing key topics in this area of study. The editors provide an extensive introduction to the book, as well as useful introductions to each of its parts. The volume's international contributors are drawn from the USA, South Africa, Netherlands, Norway, Indonesia, and South Korea, and offer a variety of perspectives, voices, cultural settings, and geographical locales. This handbook shows that human concern and engagement with material existence is present in all sectors of the global community, regardless of religious tradition. It challenges the traditional methodological approach of comparative religion, and argues that globalization renders a comparative religious approach to the environment insufficient."--Bloomsbury Publishing.