Thinking Green — The New Religion
By _R. Albert Mohler, Jr._
(http://www.christianpost.com/author/r-albert-mohler-jr/) , Christian Post
Guest Columnist
January 13, 2010|1:18 pm
The human species is inherently and resolutely religious. The Bible and
the Christian tradition affirm this truth, even as we know that the religious
impulse can so easily transform itself into idolatry.
Even the most cursory look at the world's _culture_
(http://www.christianpost.com/topics/culture/) s will indicate the religious
fervor that
characterizes humanity. The only observers who seem shocked by this universal
phenomenon are the secularists and the prophets of secularization theory who
were
absolutely certain that religious faith and religious fervor would
disappear in the modern world.
Needless to say, it hasn't turned out that way. The theory of
secularization is a shadow of its former self. Leading proponents like Peter
Berger of
Boston University now acknowledge that the secularization thesis was not an
accurate predictor of the fate of religious belief in the modern world. The
modern world is not secularized. Indeed, many of the most heated conflicts
around the world today involve conflicting faiths. As Berger has
commented, it turns out that a few European nations and the American
intellectual
elites are the exceptions, rather than the rule.
And yet, the intellectual elites are not so secular as they believe
themselves to be. As it happens, their religion may not be theistic, but it is
a
religion all the same.
That fact is confirmed in a recent article in The Chronicle of Higher
_Education_ (http://www.christianpost.com/topics/education/) . Stephen T.
Asma,
a professor of philosophy at Columbia College Chicago, argues that the new
religion of many secular folk is ecology. As Asma explains, many secular
types suffer from "green guilt."
In "Green Guilt," he writes:
Now the secular world still has to make sense out of its own invisible,
psychological drama-in particular, its feelings of guilt and indignation.
Environmentalism, as a substitute for religion, has come to the rescue.
Nietzsche's argument about an ideal God and guilt can be replicated in a new
form: We need a belief in a pristine _environment_
(http://www.christianpost.com/topics/environment/) because we need to be
cruel to ourselves as inferior
beings, and we need that because we have these aggressive instincts that
cannot be let out.
Asma rightly notes that Friedrich Nietzsche, the nihilist who famously
declared that God is dead, understood that religion was not dead at all. He
"was the first to notice that religious emotions, like guilt and indignation,
are still with us, even if we're not religious."
These "religious emotions," including guilt, explain why so many people
seek _relief_ (http://www.christianpost.com/topics/relief/) by therapy or
treatment of some sort. Therapy replaces _theology_
(http://www.christianpost.com/topics/theology/) ; the analyst replaces the
minister; psychotropic
drugs become the sacraments; and confessing one's misdeeds on Oprah
substitutes for the confession of sin. Some of the most obviously religious
individuals on earth are those who genuinely insist that they are free from
any
religious beliefs at all.
Asma is not the first to note the deeply religious character of radical
environmentalism, but his analysis of the structure of this religious system
is truly insightful.
He explains:
Instead of religious sins plaguing our conscience, we now have the
transgressions of leaving the water running, leaving the lights on, failing to
recycle, and using plastic grocery bags instead of paper. In addition, the
righteous pleasures of being more orthodox than your neighbor (in this case
being more green) can still be had-the new heresies include failure to
compost, or refusal to go organic. Vitriol that used to be reserved for Satan
can
now be discharged against evil corporate chief executives and drivers of
gas-guzzling vehicles. Apocalyptic fear-mongering previously took the shape
of repent or burn in hell, but now it is recycle or burn in the ozone hole.
In fact, it is interesting the way environmentalism takes on the
apocalyptic aspects of the traditional religious narrative. The idea that the
end is
nigh is quite central to traditional Christianity-it is a jolting wake-up
call to get on the righteous path. And we find many environmentalists in a
similarly earnest panic about _climate change_
(http://www.christianpost.com/topics/climate-change/) and global warming.
Interestingly, Asma begins his article with an anecdote about his
six-year-old son, who scolded his father for letting the water run too long.
The
boy is clearly "stressed and anxious" about the "sins of environmentalism."
The boy had obviously been indoctrinated into the religious system of
environmentalism -- something common to many of today's children and
adolescents.
Stephen Asma's essay is important for multiple reasons. It is an excellent
analysis of the religious character of environmentalism, complete with a
set of comprehensive doctrines and religious practices. It is also an
excellent consideration of the religious nature of human beings. Asma
understands
the pretensions of the secular mind, and he also sees the religious impulse
working its way to the surface in the modern obsessions with health,
fitness, and an ever-expanding set of "secular" sins.
At the same time, he writes from an apparently secular perspective -- at
least warning that we do not need yet another "humorless religion." He is
also identified as the author of Why I am a Buddhist. He seems above all to
desire a bit less religious fervor from the environmentalists. He writes,
"Let us save the planet, by all means. But let's also admit to ourselves that
we have a natural propensity toward guilt and indignation, and let that
fact temper our fervor to more reasonable levels."
We are left without a clue about what Asma would see as "more reasonable
levels," but his essay offers a rare glimpse into the religious character of
the rather new faith of environmentalism, complete with its "potential for
dogmatic zeal and obsession." His essay puts an intelligent spotlight on
the new religion of green.
--
Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community
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