THIS SACRED EARTH AT THE NEXUS OF RELIGION, ECOLOGY AND POLITICS†

The principal assumption of this deliberation is that religion is undeniably political. In recent years ecological concerns have become a factor in both revealing the connection and acting as a catalyst for revolutionary development within religions themselves. Religion, Ecology and politics inter-connected, and are theoretically illuminated through liberation, political, contextual and critical theologies. This deliberation aims to clarify, and suggest, frameworks of the inter-connections such that religion will be a greater force for social change and ecological sustainability. Of the many ways to bring Ecology into the nexus of religions and politics, I first offer an overview of four specific approaches used within Christian Ecotheology. Each presents a distinct manner of engaging religions with the ecological crisis. They will be discussed from the least to the most challenging, followed by an example of how each deals with climate change. The second section is a deliberation of two directions that need to be undertaken if religions are to be of significant influence in bringing spiritual resources to, and mitigating further, ecological ruin. The political dimension is discussed throughout