An Examination of the “Greening of Christianity” Thesis Among Americans, 1993–2010

The Religious and Political Origins of Evangelical Protestants’ Opposition to Environmental Spending

“…Our analysis quantifies these indirect effects. Third, numerous temporal changes—such as party polarization among religious traditions (Brooks and Manza ), growth of religious nonaffiliation (Schwadel ), and variation in the association between religious affiliations and environmental perspectives (Clements, Xiao, and McCright )—suggest that the relevant mediating variables differ over time. Consequently, our analysis incorporates temporal changes.…”

“…There are considerable differences in environmental perspectives among non-evangelical religious traditions (Guth et al 1995). Separating the religiously unaffiliated from religious affiliates is particularly important given the strong connection between apostasy and environmentalism (Clements, Xiao, and McCright 2014). Second, the relative impact of political orientation, religious participation, and theology remains unclear.…”

Rhetorical Analysis of Resistance to Environmentalism As Enactment of Morality Play between Social and Ecological Well‐Being

“…This opposition and resistance to environmentalism likely stems from the mastery‐over‐nature orientation explicit in the mythic structures of Protestant ideology (Hand and Van Liere ). This may explain why self‐identified Christians still report lower levels of environmental concern than both non‐Christian and nonreligious Americans (Clements et al ). However, the ubiquity of the perceived disharmony between environmentalism and nationalistic values is also evident through other nonreligious environmentalism resistance movements such as the Rolling Coal movement where individuals modify their diesel trucks to blow “Toyota Prius repellent” in the form of black smoke (Grenoble ).…”

“…From the release of the book Silent Spring (Carson ) to the screening of Al Gore's () documentary An Inconvenient Truth , environmentalists' efforts to communicate the detrimental effects of current consumption practices on the ecological environment have substantially impacted contemporary consumer culture and policy decisions, fueling new discourses of ecological responsibility and sustainability. Although environmentalism has undoubtedly impacted cultural narratives, it has historically lacked the potency to drive drastic changes in Western consumption behavior (e.g., Clements, McCright, and Xiao ; Kilbourne and Pickett ). Nevertheless, broad sociocultural conversations have given rise to the development of adversarial discourses about the appropriate role of environmentalism (e.g., Cherrier, Black, and Lee ; Taylor ).…”

Comparing the Social Attitudes of Young Adult Evangelicals in Canada and the United States: Differences in Subcultural Boundaries among Evangelical School Graduates

“…Political differences will also influence more negative views on environmentalism among AESGs, which is viewed as part of a “liberal” agenda or as an alternative sacred (Farrell 2015). Schwadel and Johnson (2017; see also Danielson 2013; Kilburn 2014; Sherkat and Ellison 2007) have demonstrated that U.S. evangelical's lack of environmental concern is related to their biblical literalism and Republican Party affiliation, even though some (younger) evangelicals may be changing, as the “greening of Christianity” thesis suggests (Clements, Xiao, and McCright 2014; Smith and Johnson 2010).…”