"The Production of Post-Supernaturalistic "Mythopoesis" in Contemporary Nature Religion"
Worldviews
Format:
Journal Article
Publication Date:
Nov 30, 2011
Pages:
50
Sources ID:
35036
Notes:
ISSN 13635247; ISSN 15685357; ISSN 1363-5247 (print); ISSN 1568-5357 (print)
Collection:
Contemplation and Ecology
Visibility:
Public (group default)
Abstract:
(Show)
Are there new, emerging forms ornature reverencing religion? If so, what might these look like? This paper seeks to answer this question by drawing on both Bron Taylor's Dark Green Religion (and especially his nature religion schema found therein that includes the category of "Gaian Earth Religion") and the work of environmental philosopher Donald Crosby (and his category of "religion of nature"). I argue that science writers like Edward Wilson and Carl Sagan, along with ecopoets like Mary Oliver, are creating a new mythopoesis of postsupernaturalistic nature religion. I also look at the complex interaction of religion/science and the role reverence for nature plays in this dialogue. I argue that the nature religion schema put forth by Taylor and the "physisology" put forth by Crosby can help us better theorize emerging strands of post-supernaturalistic religious-like sentiments and narratives that continue to grow 150 years after Darwin's theory revolutionized both science and religion.