Chapter 2: Congregating Around Nature
In America, there has always been a spiritual association around natural spaces. Hiking, camping, and related “outdoorsy” activities are seen as events that are good for the soul and have been for ages. The progressive Christian attitude around nature came from a push against urbanization,
modernization, and “dirty” cities such as New York and Chicago.
Pioneerism was a something to be respected, and modern comforts were distracting away from religion. Organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America and the Camp Fire Girls of America were created to get young people involved in these “holy” spaces. Nature and reverence became melded together, with a dash of rugged romanticism and the purity and piousness of living without daily luxuries.
A recent issue that sticks out for me is protests of the Dakota Access pipeline. The pipeline was cutting through lands of Native Peoples, which have religions and traditions of their own, but the entire protest took on a religious feel. Protesters braved the harsh conditions and certainly lived without modern comforts, similar to the way a monk or even a boy scout might. Photographs showed activists hand in hand, or closed eyed and on their knees, or yelling in fervor – all could easily be religious imagery. The irony of Native Americans being destroyed by the same people who undoubtedly support Boy Scouts of America (stealers of native traditions) is not lost on me. Right winged Christianity supports the piety of natural spaces, yet the connection is often lost when money enters the situation.
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