Evangelical Environmentalists? Evidence from Brazil

While scholarship on the relationship between religions and environmental attitudes has been inconclusive, evangelical Protestants present an exception: they consistently report less environmental concern than other groups. However, prior studies have largely been conducted in the United States. Fol...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for the scientific study of religion
Authors: Smith, Amy Erica 1976- (Author) ; Veldman, Robin Globus (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2020]
In: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Brazil / Evangelical movement / Environmental consciousness
RelBib Classification:CG Christianity and Politics
CH Christianity and Society
KBR Latin America
KDG Free church
KDH Christian sects
NCG Environmental ethics; Creation ethics
ZB Sociology
Further subjects:B Climate Change
B survey experiments
B Brazil
B Environmental Concern
B Evangelicalism
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:While scholarship on the relationship between religions and environmental attitudes has been inconclusive, evangelical Protestants present an exception: they consistently report less environmental concern than other groups. However, prior studies have largely been conducted in the United States. Following a recent “contextual” turn, we revisit the assumption that universal cognitive and doctrinal factors drive the previously documented negative association between evangelicalism and environmental concern. Leveraging qualitative fieldwork, nationally representative surveys, and a survey experiment from Brazil, we find that evangelical and Pentecostal affiliation and church attendance are not associated with reduced environmental concern; that members of these groups simultaneously embrace otherworldly beliefs and advocate for this-worldly solutions to environmental problems; and that being primed to consider divine intervention increased support for environmental protection. Even in a tradition emphasizing orthodoxy, doctrine appears not to exert a universal influence, a finding we suggest results from different issue frames in the United States and Brazil.
ISSN:1468-5906
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12656