Praying and Campaigning with Environmental Christians

Praying and Campaigning with Environmental Christians

Maria Nita Praying and Campaigning with Environmental Christians Green Religion and the Climate Movement

Maria Nita University of Wales Trinity St David ISBN 978-1-137-60034-9 ISBN 978-1-137-60035-6 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-60035-6 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016942675 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Nature America Inc. New York

For Owain and Marinca

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The completion of this book would not have been possible without the contribution of the participants in my study, particularly the Green Christian network, to whom I am immensely grateful. I am also particularly indebted to Dr Marion Bowman, Prof Graham Harvey, Dr Dominic Corrywright, Dr Paul-Francois Tremlett, Dr Philip Sarre and Sue Dennis- Jones for their insightful comments and suggestions. I owe a special thanks to my loving and supportive family, Alexandra and Christiaan Baaij, Octavian and Lucian Nita, Adi, Dan and Jana Calina, and particularly to my mother, Marinca Nita, and son, Owain Dennis-Jones, to whom this book is dedicated. Last but not least I would like to thank Phil Getz and Alexis Nelson of Palgrave Macmillan for their generous help and support. vii

CONTENTS 1 Introduction 1 2 Christian Environmentalism: Mapping the Field of Green Christianity 11 3 Methods for the Investigation of Christian Environmentalist Networks 39 4 Theoretical Models for Studying Christian Environmental Networks 65 5 The Green Movement: Climate and Transition 95 6 Christian Environmental Networks 117 7 Profiling Green Christian Activists: Merging Green and Faith Identities 137 8 Spiritual Exercises and Community Building 163 ix

x CONTENTS 9 Green Rituals: Moving Mountains and the Green Eucharist 187 10 Relating to the Planet: Green Prayer and Fasting for the Planet 205 11 Conclusions 227 Bibliography 243 Index 253

LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 5.1 Marching in the Wave, Global Day of Action, London 2009 99 Fig. 5.2 Religion affiliation among activists, London and Welsh climate camps 2009 104 Fig. 6.1 Christian climate activists marching, Kent 2008 121 Fig. 6.2 CEL members, praying through painting, Suffolk 2009 128 Fig. 7.1 Planet in a greenhouse, Global Day of Action, London 2009 144 Fig. 7.2 Two of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, G20 protest, London 2009 145 Fig. 7.3 Prayer tree at CEL conference on transition towns, Devon 2009 155 Fig. 7.4 Prayer tree with roots in the earth, Greenbelt festival, Cheltenham 2009 156 Fig. 7.5 Space for Life tree with roots in the planet, transition towns festival, Wells 2010 157 Fig. 9.1 Moving Mountains ritual, Suffolk, 2009 190 Fig. 9.2 On the way to the power station, Kingsnorth 2008 192 Fig. 9.3 Activists singing at climate camp, Kingsnorth 2008 193 Fig. 9.4 Christians praying at the gates of Kingsnorth power station, Kingsnorth 2008 194 Fig. 9.5 Altar from Christian Ecology Link annual retreat, Suffolk 2012 203 Fig. 10.1 Penguins prodding the gates of Kingsnorth power station, Kingsnorth 2008 222 xi