Accidental Environmentalists
The Religiosity of Church Forests in Highlands Ethiopia
In: Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and EcologySearch for other papers by Eliza F. Kent in
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Search for other papers by Izabela Orlowska in
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Abstract
In the highlands of Ethiopia, the only remaining stands of native forest are around churches of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church. Though hailed as community-conserved areas by environmentalists, we argue that the conservation of such forest is not intentional, but rather an indirect result of the religious norms, beliefs and practices surrounding the sites. In actuality, the religiosity surrounding church forests maintains the purity of the most holy space in the center of the shrine, the tabot, a replica of the Ark of the Covenant, which ensures that the church is a legitimate and effective portal to the divine. An underlying cultural logic of purity and pollution structures the spatial organization of the site outward into a series of concentric circles of diminishing purity and shapes the social order into an elegant hierarchy. This article seeks to understand the norms, beliefs and practices of this sacred geography in its social and religious context, arguing that ignorance of or inattention to these can undermine the conservation goals that have brought these forests, along with so many other sacred natural sites, to the attention of environmentalists around the world.
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| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
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| Abstract Views | 884 | 147 | 13 |
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Accidental Environmentalists
The Religiosity of Church Forests in Highlands Ethiopia
In: Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and EcologySearch for other papers by Eliza F. Kent in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Izabela Orlowska in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
In the highlands of Ethiopia, the only remaining stands of native forest are around churches of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church. Though hailed as community-conserved areas by environmentalists, we argue that the conservation of such forest is not intentional, but rather an indirect result of the religious norms, beliefs and practices surrounding the sites. In actuality, the religiosity surrounding church forests maintains the purity of the most holy space in the center of the shrine, the tabot, a replica of the Ark of the Covenant, which ensures that the church is a legitimate and effective portal to the divine. An underlying cultural logic of purity and pollution structures the spatial organization of the site outward into a series of concentric circles of diminishing purity and shapes the social order into an elegant hierarchy. This article seeks to understand the norms, beliefs and practices of this sacred geography in its social and religious context, arguing that ignorance of or inattention to these can undermine the conservation goals that have brought these forests, along with so many other sacred natural sites, to the attention of environmentalists around the world.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 884 | 147 | 13 |
| Full Text Views | 334 | 50 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 491 | 107 | 0 |