economyDifferent ecological issues are raised by Native American peoples such
as the Mitassini Cree, a hunting, trapping, and gathering culture located
around James Bay in northern Canada. For the Cree, animals live social
lives similar to humans. It is important to establish a rapport with the ani-
mals and their spirit masters; otherwise the animals will not give themselves
to the hunter. A similar type of respect for animals is evident among the
Northern Saulteaux people, who respect the bears that they hunt by address-
ing the animal using specific names, apologizing to the animal for killing it,
giving reasons for the killing, dressing the animal after its death, hanging its
parts on a pole, and making offerings to it. Alaskan Eskimos express a
similar spirit towards animals in their bladder festivals, at which the blad-
ders of game animals, which symbolize their souls, are inflated, painted, and
hung in the men’s society house to honor the animals. These kinds of atti-
tudes and behaviors invite an ecological investigation of such religions.
Within the context of an environmental crisis and as a response to the
harmful behavior of humans toward nature, a new emphasis called “deep
ecology” represents an ethical and religious attitude toward nature as valu-
able and spiritually vital. Although “deep ecology” is defined differently
by authors, there is a general agreement that ethics is important, nature is
valuable for its own sake, and different philosophies of nature are permis-
sible in an attempt to create a platform of basic values to spur new kinds
of environmental activism. In addition, deep ecology concentrates on
wholeness, views humans as interrelated with nature, stresses an intuitive
and sensual communion with nature, and promotes humility toward nature
and a spirit of letting nature be without superimposing human designs
upon it. Finally, there is encouragement for people to view nature as sacred
and to be open to learning lessons from other religious cultures.
Further reading: Barnhill and Gottlieb (2001); Callicot and Ames (1989); Kinsley
(1995)ECONOMY
This concept is rooted in Greek culture where it refers to members of a
domestic household. At the present time, economy refers to a broader
concept that includes production of goods and services, exchange, distri-
bution, consumption, profit making, price setting, and market forces.
The ancient Babylonians develop forms of economics with laws govern-
ing transactions and courts to adjudicate disputes. The subsistence farming
nature of ancient economies is evident in the use of the Shekel, an ancient