Book review: A greener faith

Abstract

Yes, yet another book advocating a spiritual solution to what the author calls the “environmental crisis”. Actually, we do not have an environmental crisis. A crisis is a short-lived situation that is quickly resolved – the patient dies or recovers, the battle is won or lost, the coup succeeds or fails. What we have is a steady and alarming descent in environmental quality, akin to a chronic and deteriorating medical condition. This is important because such a situation cannot be resolved quickly. The acutely ill patient either lives or dies, with precious little action on his or her own part required. The chronically ill patient can survive (if at all) only by making many permanent lifestyle changes.