UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE

Auerbach Lecture | 04.11.2024 | 6 pm

Laurel Kearns (Sociology of Religion, Religion and Ecology, Madison, NJ): Overcoming “Otherworldly” Religious Worldviews. Multi-species worldmaking and other forms of religious environmentalism

in cooperation with MESH as part of the Green Shoots Lecture Series

This talk reviews some of the research conducted by Dr Kearns and Dr. Kate Rigby of MESH on ‘multi-species worldmaking,’ or as we have named it for Christian research participants, ‘creating communities of creation’. These early results will be put in the context of Laurel Kearns’ three decades of research on religious environmentalism and the variety of frames, values, concepts and actions that are used to “reenvision” or “reinhabit” religious traditions that are in their dominant expressions anthropocentric, and often otherworldly. As we wrote in our application: We focus on Christian traditions because of the long legacy of Christian conceptions of “the world,” particularly with negative valences, which have contributed to global ecological devastation and degradation. We propose to explore current initiatives that run counter to the tradition of Christian “other-worldliness,” in which earthly existence is discounted in favor of a heavenly beyond, as well as the prevalent secular mode of worldliness, within which the things of earth are construed as a mere means for human (pre-eminently financial) ends, namely as “natural resources” and “ecosystem services” that can be monetized, often whole-heartedly endorsed by Christians. If all sacred value is placed solely on humans, then all the other creatures with which we share this planet are devalued, or of utilitarian importance only. And if sacred value is located in another “world” whether it be beyond this world, or inner-worldly, then actions in this world may be devalued. The tasks faced by those working in the realms of religion and ecology are to help others in faith traditions realize that the most evident value is that of interconnectedness and interdependence, that the “world” is not the geo-political map with its nation-state boundaries, but rather a planet with vast interconnected systems upon which life depends.

Location & Time: Library Erich Auerbach Institute, Weyertal 59 (back building, 3rd floor), 50937 Cologne |
Monday, 04.11.2024 | 6 pm