Forum on Religion and Ecology: Spotlights Sam Mickey

In this episode, Kimberly Carfore returns to the podcast to talk about this year's Bioneers conference, which was held in Berkeley, California on March 28-30. Bioneers is a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization based in New Mexico and California. Founded in 1990 by Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons, Bioneers (a neologism for "biological pioneers") focuses on the value and wisdom of the natural world, emphasizing that responses to problems must be in harmony with the design of natural systems. The conference is broadly interdisciplinary and cross-sector, with academics, artists, activists, entrepreneurs, and social innovators meeting to address the pressing challenges facing life on Earth. Kim discusses her experience at the conference, focusing especially on some of the speakers who presented at the Indigenous Forum.

This episode features Clayton Crockett, PhD, Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion and the Director of the interdisciplinary Religious Studies program at the University of Central Arkansas. He has authored or edited a number of books at the intersection of theology, philosophy, science, and politics, including Religion, Politics and the Earth (with Jeffrey Robbins); The Future of Continental Philosophy of Religion; Derrida After the End of Writing; and Radical Political Theology. We discuss his most recent book, Energy and Change: A New Materialist Cosmotheology (Columbia University Press, 2022), which develops a concept of energy as both physical and spiritual, integrating understandings of energy from a wide range of sources, such as thermodynamics, ecology, new materialist philosophy, political economy, Chinese traditions, Amerindian traditions, Vodou, process theology, and more.

This episode features Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner, Reconstructionist rabbi and interdenominational climate change chaplain based in New Haven, Connecticut. As a rabbi, meditation teacher, climate change chaplain, and educator, she founded Exploring Apocalypse to extend her pastoral care work to help individuals and groups navigate the complexities of living in a time of climate emergency. We talk about her work, the emotional and spiritual impacts of climate change, intergenerational trauma, the intertwinement of climate change with social, cultural, and political issues, and paths toward hope.

This episodes features Craig Patterson, a long-time activist and advocate weaving together multiple perspectives to address contemporary environmental issues. We talk about his commitment to integration and synthesis, seeking alliances and unity amidst difference. Some points of integration we discuss include science and spirituality, East and West, and theory and practice. He shares his formative experience in Auroville, the experimental city grounded in the integral thinking of the Indian philosopher and yogi Sri Aurobindo. He also talks about his dedication to issues of forestry in Oregon, where environmental science, policy, and management converge.

This episode of the FORE podcast features Chantal Forbes, PhD, and her partner Charlie Forbes. Chantal is a transdisciplinary scholar, storyteller, and educator at the intersection of ecology, spirituality, and culture. She is a visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Randolph-Macon College and Adjunct Faculty at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Charlie is a cultural ecologist who employs a mixed-media approach to the study of ecology, spirituality, and religion. He currently serves as the program coordinator for the Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. We had a wonderful and wide-ranging conversation about the field and force of religion and ecology, touching on topics like interfaith/interreligious perspectives, Indigenous lifeways, decolonization, ethnographic and community-based methods, nonprofit management, and more.

This episode features Chad Baron, co-founder of a new organization, Degrowth California. Degrowth is a hotly contested and frequently misunderstood movement among advocates of environmental sustainability and social justice. We discuss degrowth and its relationship to faith, particularly in light of Chad’s graduate work at the intersection of degrowth and Catholic Social Teaching. Some of the topics we touch on include the ways that degrowth differs from green growth and from austerity, differences between degrowth in different countries in the Global North and Global South, and connections between degrowth and Catholicism, from early Christianity to Catholic Social Teaching and Pope Francis. You can learn more about Degrowth California here: https://degrowthcalifornia.org/