Is there a new-ancient ecologically-centered spirituality erupting into different spheres of life around the world? Professor Bron Taylor's decades of research suggest that, yes, a diverse spiritual movement that values and experiences a spiritually informed and often infused connection with nature is rapidly growing. In this conversation, we look at many dynamics of this movement, from the global environmental milieu to surfers to scientists to indigenous activists and intellectuals.
1:55 - Getting to know Bron
7:20 - Bron's early work with the park service and thinking about organizational change and organizational development
11:57 - How Earth First inspired him to think about religion and the climate crisis differently
15:16 - How looking at social and ecological activists were working with and cultivating an eco-spiritual lens
18:58 - Global patterns of spiritualities of belonging and connecting with nature
20:15 - "Dark Green Religion"/Spiritual-ecology through the lens of science, popular media, and art
29:20 - How terms and definitions are changing
32:15 - Can global religious traditions become 'green' (as many people want them to be?)
46:00 - Where do you see the ideas and actions around decolonization intersecting with the dark green religious movement? (Which gets us into a conversation about animism)
55:20 - What does it mean to go deeper and learn the spiritual path of 'Dark Green Religion
1:06:17 - Language, Identity, Appropriation, and Practice
1:12 - There is going to be awkwardness, and it's okay.
About Bron Taylor:
Dr. Bron Taylor is one of the leading voices and academics tracking the intersections of religion/spirituality and nature. For several decades, he has been tracking the rise of what he sees as an international spiritual/religious movement, arising in many different places and across multiple traditions and positions. His book Dark Green Religion has been translated into multiple languages, often serving to help the eco-spiritual communities see themselves and each other in a broader perspective. He currently is the Samuel S Hill Ethics Chair at the University of Florida, where he anchors the world's first graduate pram focusing on religion and nature. He founded the Journal for the study of Religion, Ecology, and Nature edited the Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, and helped found the International Society for Religion, Nature, and Culture.
Taylor's youth was spent on and in the ocean in southern California. While simultaneously working in the park system, he earned his academic degrees, including his Ph.D. in Social Ethics from the University of Southern California (in 1988). His contributions to writing about the spiritual dynamics of surfer culture have been much appreciated. Along the way, he engaged in social and environmental activism and took on his most important role as a husband and father.
Website: www.brontaylor.com
Insta: @Bron.Taylor
Books:
Avatar and Nature Spirituality
Affirmative Action at Work: Law, Politics, and Ethics
Learn more about Sara Jolena Wolcott and Sequoia Samanvaya
Music Title: Both of Us
Music by: madiRFAN
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