"Today, one of the most powerful religions in the Western World is environmentalism. Environmentalism seems to be the religion of choice for urban atheists."
-Michael Crichton, Environmentalism as a Religion, Speech in San Francisco, California (15 September 2003)

As I have previously written here and here, there are many religions that aren't quite as recognizable to those who consider major religions Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism. Enviromentalism, as author Michael Crichton states in that quote, is one of them. Here is how I summed up enviromentalism as a religion in my previous post "Got Faith?":

In enviromentalism, there is the faith of those who, for whatever reason, choose to believe that mankind is a parasitic organism when it comes to reasources and "Mother Earth." There are several other doctrines in the enviromentalist religion, including sustainable development, global warming, the ozone hole, and the holier-than-thou "we know the truth" characteristic of any strong doctrine of faith.

Late last night, I got an e-mail from someone from Washington State who wishes to remain anonymous (fine by me). He sent a link to an activity from a Community College Biology class. A very hippie activity, fine for those who wish to get in touch with nature, but for a science class, more than slightly absurd. Here is the most ridiculous excerpt:

STEP 3. Thoughtfully try to know the natural place or thing that you choose in a non-verbal way, similar to how Earth and nature knows it. You may accomplish this by focusing your words and thinking to the word "attraction." A variety of natural attractions are what hold the Earth community ecosystem together in balance. Say "attraction" over and over again while touching, smelling, hearing, and viewing whatever attractive natural colors, sounds, shapes, motions, smells and sensations are present in this natural area. Do this with your eyes closed as well as open. Then chose one special thing that feels most attractive in this moment, otherwise choose any natural attraction that is present: a vibrant leaf, breeze or view; a delightful smell, flower or shape, a captivating bird, sound, motion or texture.

Now that just sounds loony, but when coupled with this, from the introduction to the activity:

Although we are part of Earth and it is part of us, the global life community does not exhibit our runaway personal, social and environmental problems. The Earth community knows how to communicate and relate in ways that sustain an optimum of life, diversity and beauty without producing our runaway garbage, war or abusiveness. The activity below lets Earth communicate with you and share its wisdom. It is from the book "Reconnecting With Nature" by Dr. Michael J. Cohen and is used by permission.

That sounds like he's never seen two animals fight, or any type of natural disturbance like lightning, fire, flood, etc. This whole thing is just sad when you think about this being for a college class, as the professor is obviously making a value judgement, which is not his job.

Posted by Ryan S. on Tuesday, January 10, 2006 at 2:42 PM | Permalink |