ABSTRACT
How do religious worldviews affect perceptions and experiences of the natural world and shape actions within it? This question defines the academic subfield of religion and ecology, which was launched in 1967 by Lynn White, Jr.’s groundbreaking article in the journal Science, “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis” (1967). Drawing on his expertise in medieval history, White argued that the Western Christian view of nature as a resource created by God solely for the benefit of human beings has been instrumental in fostering attitudes towards the natural world that legitimate unchecked exploitation. White decried the philosophical dualism of the dominant theologies of the West, which attributed spirit to human beings alone, consigning animals, plants, forests, mountains, stars, and rivers to the status of inert matter. In his search for new theologies that would support a more sustainable ecological ethos, White saw room for hope in the religions of Asia, inspiring generations of scholars to seek theological, mythological, and symbolic resources for an ecological ethos in Asian religions, including Hinduism.
