A Spirituality of Resistance
Finding a Peaceful Heart and Protecting the Earth
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Rowman & Littlefield
Published:18th Jun '03
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
With clarity, humor, detailed scholarship, and passionate eloquence, Roger S. Gottlieb uses a unique range of resources to portray a spiritual path keyed to caring for the earth. This personal and powerful book speaks to anyone who has ever wondered how to be happy when there is so much suffering in the world-anyone who seeks a peaceful heart in a dark time. Its unique combination of spiritual insight, political commitment, and environmental knowledge reveals the deep ties between spiritual aspiration and ecological activism; and makes a critical contribution to both environmentalism and religious studies. Gottlieb begins by describing the gifts which spirituality offers, and how those gifts cannot be realized if we flee into avoidance or denial in the face of ecological peril. In a startling and compelling comparison between the Holocaust and the environmental crisis, he shows how a psychic dependence on "work" can lead us-even against our wills-to take part in genocide or ecocide. Addressing questions about our obligations to the earth, he deepens our understanding of what it is to live an "environmentally correct" life and what we really mean by "nature." Finally, by connecting personal fulfillment to social activism, he shows how a truly peaceful heart is only possible if we devote some of our energies to resisting the forces of destruction.
A remarkable study of how people get caught up in forces that lead to genocide and ecocide. Gottlieb's intensity of resolution, coupled with forceful argument speaking the truth to power, is all too rare today, and urgently needed. -- Holmes Rolston
Praise for the hardcover edition: If you agree we have a global problem on our hands and you want to join the spiritual seeker and the political activist in yourself, this is the book for you..... * America: The Jesuit Review of Faith & Culture *
A true spiritual guide for our day. -- John Cobb, Jr.
An important and possibly a landmark book. -- Bill McKibben, author of "Radio Free Vermont"
A brilliant and important challenge. -- Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor, Tikkun Magazine; author of The Left Hand of God:Taking Back our Country from the Religious Right
Praise for the hardcover edition: Provides a bold new challenge for those who are serious about cultivating the spiritual dimension of life. In eloquent prose, Gottlieb demonstrates a mastery of both the pitfalls and possibilities for spiritual development in the face of the environmental crisis. * Environmental Ethics *
Praise for the hardcover edition: If you agree we have a global problem on our hands and you want to join the spiritual seeker and the political activist in yourself, this is the book for you. * America: The Jesuit Review of Faith & Culture *
Will touch the reader's heart and move it to moral commitment. -- Elie Wiesel
Roger Gottlieb has written an incredibly powerful book that reconciles the seemingly incompatible realms of politics and spirituality. Written with great lucidity and admirable intellectual honesty, this book is essential reading for those of us disillusioned by the sordid events surrounding the 2000 selection of a President. Among other things, Gottlieb shows us how honest anger is a powerful spiritual asset, something which enables us to steer a course between violent rage and impotent resignation when confronted with outrageous injustice. Both religious leaders and political activists could learn a great deal from this magnificent work. A fine mix of anecdotes and statistics, science and faith, I recommend this book to anyone regardless of their stance along the political spectrum. * Biologybooks.Net *
ISBN: 9780742532830
Dimensions: 228mm x 149mm x 14mm
Weight: 358g
224 pages