June 26, 2012
By: James Miller
In an online report on Religious Innovation for Sustainable Future (no longer available), Nina Witoszek (Oslo University) surveys a "pastoral renaissance" taking place across the globe. [caption id="attachment_619" align="alignright" width="300"] Image from www.ceres21.org[/caption] This renaissance, she declares, is "not just...
Read the full post »
December 2, 2011
By: James Miller
Should environmentalists support conservation projects that also serve to bolster right wing nationalist agendas? This was one of the questions that was discussed last month at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion, in San Francisco. I spoke on...
Read the full post »
December 19, 2010
By: James Miller
In a fascinating article on metaphors for progressive politics, George Lakoff summarizes succinctly the message that progressives need to be communicating as regards the issue of sustainability: The economic crisis and the ecological crisis are the same crisis. It has...
Read the full post »
June 17, 2009
By: James Miller
[caption id="attachment_248" align="alignright" width="200" caption="A Taiji quan performance at a Daoist temple in Sichuan"][/caption] There is hardly a truth more sacred to the contemporary American imagination than that religion must be free from interference by the state and that the...
Read the full post »
April 3, 2009
By: James Miller
I have just finished teaching my undergraduate course on religion and the environment. Most of the students are in engineering or environmental science, and the course fulfills a humanities requirement for them. It's been fascinating teaching scientists about religion, as...
Read the full post »
February 23, 2009
By: James Miller
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Sustainability Salute from the Green Olympic Volunteers"][/caption] I'm teaching a course in religion and the environment this term, and my students are preparing to debate this very question: is democracy good for sustainability? By way of...
Read the full post »
January 29, 2009
By: James Miller
[caption id="attachment_219" align="alignright" width="300" caption="A collapsed building in Dujiangyan, close to the epicentre of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake."][/caption] China's massive system of hydroelectric dams and water distribution has come under fire once again. Right after the devastating Sichuan earthquake of...
Read the full post »
January 19, 2009
By: James Miller
Here's three reasons why China's traditional religions and cultures will play an increasingly important role in the East Asian political scene. In mainland China, more people than ever are turning to religion. An interview with Arrianna Liu, who works in...
Read the full post »
January 8, 2009
By: James Miller
[caption id="attachment_194" align="alignright" width="300" caption="An artist's rendering of the Dongtan eco-city"][/caption] There has been much news lately that the project to design a massive eco-city on Chongming Island near Shanghai may finally have fizzled out. The project, designed by the...
Read the full post »
December 22, 2008
By: James Miller
By James Miller Christmas, as we all know, is the grand festival of the religion of consumerism. We pay homage to our saviour Santa Claus in the vast cathedral of the shopping mall. There we make a sizeable donation to...
Read the full post »
