ABSTRACT
The essays in this volume call out religious strategies of avoidance of our living present amidst accelerating carbon emissions. They proceed to explore in bold and creative ways material contributions that religions make in affirmation of our status as earthlings on a fragile planet. The understanding of religion in these essays is often expansive, pressing beyond the standard boundaries that delimit our appreciation of religion and instead drawing on minority and counter-traditions in established religions. Matter matters in and to the religions, and that commitment may press religious traditions in poly/heterodox directions. Such a renewed emphasis on matter, itself not a pure concept, means that the new materialisms both question and beckon religions. What fresh energy is released through this critical attraction, and what new possibilities?
