Bear Wild
Well-Known Member
Nature religions – There are religions referred to as nature religions where nature is a central focus of belief. Some of these many Pagan religions, Indigenous religions, Pantheism, Animism and Religious Naturalism. In the last example there has been an attempt create a metaphysical and philosophical structure to a religion of nature and includes such philosophers as early as Baruch Spinoza in the 1600s to modern philosophers such as Karl Peters, Henry Wieman, Donald Crosby, Usrula Goodenough, Willem Drees and Jerome Stone are examples. We portray many of the earliest religions to be centered around the natural world and this seems consistent with the few remaining indigenous religions we know about.
When I look at religions with respect to the change relationship to the non-human natural world it seems that the more separated humans became from the rest of the natural world it there is a shift to human centered religion. As people began to control their environment more depending less and less on the wilder aspects of the natural world their religious views seem seems to change reflecting a new outlook on god in relationship to humans. As social groups grow and become more complex it seems the god changes again into a more personal god. With increasing political strength, we see religious movements that support a religious hierarchy in a which then works to eliminate more tolerant religious ideas in the advance of a dominant monotheistic religion supporting the political power. Yet as successful as these monotheistic religions had been to exert the view of a single way of believe there developed a diversification of the beliefs which could not be controlled.
One of these diversifications was the return of religions with nature as the central or even sole aspect of belief. Despite the claims of a one true religion, what factors lead to this diversification and in particular to a of focus to Nature? Why did some of these nature oriented religious movements develop or return as important in a world in which a monotheistic human centered religious was so dominant?
When I look at religions with respect to the change relationship to the non-human natural world it seems that the more separated humans became from the rest of the natural world it there is a shift to human centered religion. As people began to control their environment more depending less and less on the wilder aspects of the natural world their religious views seem seems to change reflecting a new outlook on god in relationship to humans. As social groups grow and become more complex it seems the god changes again into a more personal god. With increasing political strength, we see religious movements that support a religious hierarchy in a which then works to eliminate more tolerant religious ideas in the advance of a dominant monotheistic religion supporting the political power. Yet as successful as these monotheistic religions had been to exert the view of a single way of believe there developed a diversification of the beliefs which could not be controlled.
One of these diversifications was the return of religions with nature as the central or even sole aspect of belief. Despite the claims of a one true religion, what factors lead to this diversification and in particular to a of focus to Nature? Why did some of these nature oriented religious movements develop or return as important in a world in which a monotheistic human centered religious was so dominant?