Submitted by Solstice on
Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay
Religious naturalists will be known for their reverence and awe before Nature, their love for Nature and natural forms, their sympathy for all living things, their guilt for enlarging the ecological footprints, their pride in reducing them, their sense of gratitude directed towards the matrix of life, their contempt for those who abstract themselves from natural values, and their solidarity with those who link their self-esteem to sustainable living. - Loyal Rue
Religious naturalism combines a naturalist worldview with ideals, perceptions, traditions, and values that have been traditionally associated with many religions or religious institutions. "Religious naturalism is a perspective that finds religious meaning in the natural world and rejects the notion of a supernatural realm." The term religious in this context is construed in general terms, separate from the traditions, customs, or beliefs of any one of the established religions.
Areas of inquiry include attempts to understand the natural world and the spiritual and moral implications of naturalist views. Understanding is based on knowledge obtained through scientific inquiry, and insights from the humanities and the arts.Religious naturalists use these perspectives when they respond to personal and social challenges (e.g. finding purpose, seeking justice, coming to terms with mortality) and concerning the natural world.
All forms of religious naturalism, being naturalistic in their basic beliefs, assert that the natural world is the center of our most significant experiences and understandings. Consequently, Nature is looked at as the ultimate value in assessing one's being. Despite having followed differing cultural and individual paths, religious naturalists affirm the human need for meaning and value in their lives. They draw on two fundamental convictions in those quests: the sense of Nature's richness, spectacular complexity, and fertility, and the recognition that Nature is the only realm in which people live out their lives. Humans are considered interconnected to various parts of Nature.
Science is a fundamental, indispensable component of the paradigm of religious naturalism. It relies on mainstream science to reinforce religious and spiritual perspectives. Science is the primary interpretive tool for religious naturalism because scientific methods provide the most reliable understanding of Nature and the world, including human nature.
Religious naturalists use the term "religious" to refer to an attitude of being appreciative of and interested in concerns that have long been a part of religions. These include:
- A spiritual sense, which may include a sense of mystery or wonder or feelings of reverence or awe in response to the scope and power and beauty of the natural world.
- A moral sense with compassion, desire for justice, and attempts to do what is right—concerning other people, other creatures, and the natural environment)
As the source of all that is and the reason why all things are as they are, the natural world can be of utmost importance.
As in other religious orientations, religious naturalism includes a central story, a modern creation myth, to describe humanity and its place in the world. This story begins with the Big Bang and the emergence of galaxies, stars, planets, life, and evolution that led to the emergence of human beings.Taking this insight into the being and origin of humans, religious naturalists look to the natural world, as the source of human intelligence and inclinations, for information and insights that may help to understand and respond to unanswered philosophical questions such as :
- Why do we want what we want?
- Why do we do the things we do?
- What might we try to point ourselves toward?
Furthermore, religious naturalists try to find ways to minimize problems (both internally and externally), to allow us to better ourselves, and relate to others and the world we are part of.
When discussing distinctions between religious naturalists and secular naturalists, Loyal Rue said: "I regard a religious or spiritual person to be one who takes ultimate concerns to heart." He noted that, while "plain old" naturalists are concerned with morals and may have emotional responses to the mysteries and wonders of the world, those who describe themselves as religious naturalists take it more "to heart" and show an active interest in this area.
The literature related to religious naturalism includes many variations in conceptual framing. This reflects individual takes on various issues, to some extent various schools of thought, such as basic naturalism, religious humanism, pantheism, panentheism, and spiritual naturalism that have had time on the conceptual stage, and to some extent differing ways of characterizing Nature.
The current discussion often relates to the issue of whether belief in a God or God-language and associated concepts have any place in a framework that treats the physical universe as its essential frame of reference and the methods of science as providing the preeminent means for determining what Nature is. There are at least three varieties of religious naturalism, and three similar but somewhat different ways to categorize them. They are:
- An approach to naturalism using theological language but fundamentally treats God metaphorically.
- An approach to naturalism using theological language, but as either (1) a faith statement or supported by philosophical arguments, or (2) both, usually leaving open the question whether that usage as metaphor or refers to the ultimate answer that Nature can be.
- Neo-theistic (process theology, progressive religions) – Gordon Kaufman, Karl E. Peters, Ralph Wendell Burhoe, Edmund Robinson
- Non-theistic (agnostic, naturalistic concepts of god) – Robertson himself, Stanley Klein, Stuart Kauffman, Naturalistic Paganism.
- Atheistic (no God concept, some modern naturalism, Process Naturalism, C. Robert Mesle, non-militant atheism, antitheism) – Jerome A. Stone, Michael Cavanaugh, Donald A. Crosby, Ursula Goodenough, Daniel Dennett, and Carol Wayne White
- A miscellany of individual perspectives – Philip Hefner
The first category has as many sub-groups as there are distinct definitions for god. Believers in a supernatural entity (transcendent) are by definition not religious naturalists, however the matter of a naturalistic concept of God (Immanence) is currently debated. Strong atheists are not considered religious naturalists in this differentiation. Some individuals call themselves religious naturalists but refuse to be categorized. The unique theories of religious naturalists Loyal Rue, Donald A. Crosby, Jerome A. Stone, and Ursula Goodenough are discussed by Michael Hogue in his 2010 book The Promise of Religious Naturalism.
God concepts
- Those who conceive of God as the creative process within the universe—example, Henry Nelson Wieman
- Those who think of God as the totality of the universe considered religiously—Bernard Loomer.
- A third type of religious naturalism sees no need to use the concept or terminology of God—Stone himself and Ursula Goodenough
Stone emphasizes that some religious naturalists do not reject the concept of God, but if they use the concept, it involves a radical alteration of the idea such as Gordon Kaufman who defines God as creativity. Ignatowski divides religious naturalism into only two types—theistic and non-theistic.
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2823954
There are several principles shared by the aforementioned varieties of religious naturalism:
- All varieties of religious naturalism see humans as an interconnected, emergent part of nature.
- Accept the primacy of science in regard to what is measurable via the scientific method.
- Recognize science's limitations in accounting for judgments of value and in providing a full account of human experience. Thus religious naturalism embraces nature's creativity, beauty, and mystery and honors many aspects of the artistic, cultural and religious traditions that respond to and attempt to interpret Nature in subjective ways.
- Approach matters of morality, ethics, and value with a focus on how the world works, with a deep concern for fairness and the welfare of all humans regardless of their station in life.
- Seek to integrate these interpretative, spiritual and ethical responses in a manner that respects diverse religious and philosophical perspectives, while still subjecting them and itself to rigorous scrutiny.
- The focus on scientific standards of evidence imbues religious naturalism with the humility inherent in scientific inquiry and its limited, albeit ever-deepening, ability to describe reality (see Epistemology).
- A strong environmental ethic for the welfare of the planet Earth and humanity.
- Belief in the sacredness of life and the evolutionary process
The concept of emergence has grown in popularity with many religious naturalists. It helps explain how a complex Universe and life by self-organization have risen out of a multiplicity of relatively simple elements and their interactions. The entire story of emergence is related in the Epic of Evolution—the mythic scientific narrative used to tell the verifiable chronicle of the evolutionary process that is the Universe. Most religious naturalists consider the Epic of Evolution a true story about the historic achievement of Nature."The Epic of Evolution is the 14 billion year narrative of cosmic, planetary, life, and cultural evolution—told in sacred ways. Not only does it bridge mainstream science and a diversity of religious traditions; if skillfully told, it makes the science story memorable and deeply meaningful, while enriching one's religious faith or secular outlook.