ecology
interaction between organisms and their environment. The application of the
notion of ecology to religion is a more recent construction. Grounded in the
work of American researchers in the field of cultural ecology, an investiga-
tion into the ways that the natural environment is affected by culture, this
newly constructed field is also concerned about the interrelationship between
an ecosystem and culture and how the environment is mediated by culture.
Whereas cultural ecology wants to stress the investigation of the interaction
between nature and culture, the so-called ecology of religion is more con-
cerned with a group’s adaptation to a particular kind of natural environment
and the kind of religion that is produced by certain kinds of environment,
such as a jungle forest, desert, mountainous region, or open plains. Therefore,
ecology of religion tends to be a comparative and cross-cultural discipline
in a search for the ways that different cultures in diverse locations adapt to
their environment and how it affects the religion.
The ecology of religion should not be confused with a historically
earlier notion called Naturism associated with the work of German schol-
ars Max Müller and Wilhelm Schmidt. Müller focuses on the powerful
feelings and emotions of people evoked by natural phenomena, such as
thunder, lightning, rain, flood, scorching sun, and excessive heat. Schmidt
argues that the terror and wonder induced by natural forces causes some
people to personify nature by means of a misuse of language and to attri-
bute these powers to spiritual beings. Ecologists of religion should be
distinguished from these types of reflections on nature.
Ecologists of religion begin with human beings in their natural envi-
ronment, in order to examine how people relate to other animal species
and plant life with respect to responsibilities and to what extent human
destiny is intertwined with other species. The ecology of religion is con-
cerned with issues about either accepting or conforming to the natural
environment, or whether it is best to attempt to improve it by taking a
more active approach by altering, shaping, and developing it with the
long-term hope of perfecting it.
According to some theorists, some religions invite an ecological
approach because such themes are already present in the religion. The
Buddhist’s emphasis on non-violence toward all living creatures, for
example, possesses ecological implications. The Buddhist and Hindu
notion of rebirth into possible lower or higher forms of life also raises
important ecological issues. Within Japanese Shinto, nature is generally
conceived as sacred and a source of spiritual fulfillment. Chinese Daoism
advocates living harmoniously within the flux of yin and yang, which are
respectively conceived as female and male principles that alternate, and
allows nature to manifest itself in the harmonious interplay of the two
polar principles that are considered complementary.