ABSTRACT
The environment has become a political issue of enormous importance. Moreover, the new eco-religion has moved beyond the traditional religious realm. Combined with the activism of established denominations is a growing quasi-paganistic movement in which environmentalism itself seems to have become a competing religion and the earth has replaced God as an object of worship. A significant amount of today's religious fervor for the environment is coming from established denominations, particularly Christian ones. The growth of spiritual environmentalism is having an impact on government policy and thereby on the lives of Americans, whatever their religious views. The new religious environmentalism poses a more esoteric, but still serious, problem. Those who take their religious faith seriously must recognize that neo-paganism or deep ecology—essentially spiritual environmentalism, whether or not God is officially mentioned—is a separate, hostile faith that threatens to infiltrate Jewish and Christian practice and theology.
