In his 2018 book The Wizard and the Prophet, Charles C. Mann describes the work and approaches of two of the most important environmentalists of the 20th century: William Vogt and Norman Borlaug. Unfortunately, their “blueprints” are contradictory approaches to the problems of climate change. Mann categorizes those who follow Borlaug’s model of “techno-optimism” (that…
Continue readingShaking the Tree of Anthropocentricity
by Thomas Arentzen | български | ქართული | ελληνικά | Română | Русский | Српски “Rejoice, tree of leafy branches,under which believers are sheltered …Rejoice, O wood most blessed!”Akathist to the Cross, Oikos 7 Rocking around the Christmas tree in my little Norwegian hometown, I got to thinking how the Christian world is filled with…
Continue readingThe President’s Men and the Emperor’s Clothes
The UN Climate Change Conference taking place this week in Bonn, Germany, is once again revealing how unrestrained exceptionalism is digging our country only deeper into global isolationism. As an American citizen, I am often confronted with the U.S. announcement to withdraw from the Paris Agreement at the COP21 meeting two years ago. America, the…
Continue readingEcological Economics as Care for Creation
In accord with his longstanding commitment to resolving the world’s ecological crisis, Patriarch Bartholomew has recently signed a joint letter with Pope Francis in commemoration of the Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on September 1st. This day has been observed by the Orthodox Church since 1989 and was recognized by Pope Francis…
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