Research On Religion » Environmental Issues

Sung Joon Jang on the Boy Scouts of America (Encore Presentation)

tonygill — Sun, 17 Jul 2016 08:00:31 +0000

While Tony and his son, a recently minted Eagle Scout, are at Philmont Scout Ranch on a high adventure trek, please enjoy this encore presentation from 2012. We will return on July 24 with crescent fresh episodes.

“On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty, to God and my country….” And so begins the Oath of the Boy Scouts of America, an organization now over a century old and the largest youth organization in America. It is also an organization with a global reach. To what extent are the ideals of the Boy Scouts upheld by their members, particularly into their adult years? Prof. Sung Joon Jang, research professor of criminology at Baylor University and a faculty fellow at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, joins us to discuss the most extensive sociological study of the Boy Scouts to date. Commissioned by the Boy Scouts and funded by the John Templeton Foundation, Prof. Jang along with his colleagues Byron Johnson and Young-Il Kim surveyed over 2,500 adults to see whether belonging to the Boy Scouts had any affect on their adult behavior and character. Their particular focus was to see whether or not becoming an Eagle Scout, the BSA’s highest award, resulted in prosocial behavior in adulthood. After discussing what it takes to become and Eagle Scout, and the methodology involved in the study, Prof. Jang discusses the results of his survey in a variety of categories including exercise & recreation, social capital, environmental stewardship, community service, goal orientation, and leadership. The study largely confirms that becoming an Eagle Scout leads to very positive outcomes later in life. Nonetheless, there are some surprising results along the way, including interesting comparisons with Boy Scouts who never made the rank of Eagle. Throughout the interview, Tony reflects upon his time in the Boy Scouts. While never achieving Eagle, Tony did work at a BSA summer camp and was active in Order of the Arrow, the BSA’s honor society. After our discussion with Prof. Jang, Tony visits with an old friend he knew back in his Scouting days, Gene Sjoberg. Gene provides colorful detail about his Eagle experience and how it has affected his life, shares a few laughs with Tony, and leaves us with perhaps the most powerful and inspiring moment in this podcast’s history. Wise advice from an outstanding citizen. Recorded: May 3, 2012.

Eagle Scouts: Merit Beyond the Badge, by Sung Joon Jang, Byron Johnson, and Young-Il Kim.

Camp Long Lake, BSA (the camp Tony and Gene worked at located in Dundee, WI).

Philmont Scout Ranch.

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Rod Stark on How Religion Benefits Everybody (Including Atheists) .

Whitney Bauck on Religion and Fashion

tonygill — Sat, 03 Oct 2015 08:00:50 +0000

What is fashion theology? And what is the link between Christianity, clothing, and the textile industry? Freelance journalist and photographer Whitney Bauck, creator and host of the blog Unwrinkling, gives us a glimpse into the world of fashion and religion, and how the two worlds are, and should be, related. This is a fascinating conversation into something few people actually know about.

The conversation begins with a little background on Whitney, from her roots as the daughter of missionaries in the Philippines to her time at Wheaton College, and finally to how she came to create a website devoted to the link between faith and fashion. Her passion for the topic started young, while in school in Manila and exposed to a diversity of cultural customs and a world of poverty. This passion was furthered in college where she was able to work her interest in art and clothing into every one of her classes that she took at Wheaton. Indeed, she recalls fondly how she convinced a professor to allow her to write on fashion for her art history class even though that theme was a bit off topic for the course. This further spurred Whitney onwards to think more critically about the linkage between clothing, consumer choices, and the textile industry, and to eventually develop a blog devote to the subject.

The next topic to fall under our gaze is Christian Fashion Week, an event that Whitney attended and wrote about in a recent article in Christianity Today (see link below). Whitney notes how this event is in its third year of existence and is not merely a “runway show.” She discusses the various discussion panels that were hosted, including ones on ethical labor practices and environmental concerns. Interestingly, a number of these panels were inspired by Whitney’s conversations with the organizers of the event who were very open to her comments. We also discuss some of the themes that were addressed during Christian Fashion Week, including the ever-discussed topic of “modesty.” We also discuss the C.A.R.E. approach to doing business in the fashion world, which is an acronym for Contextual modesty, Affordable & sustainable fashion, Responsible use of natural resources, and Ethical hiring.

We move then into the broader topic of Christian ethics in the clothing industry and Whitney talks about two businesses that she has written about recently that put these ethics into practice — Sseko Designs and the Akola Project. The former (Sseko) takes in high-achieving women into their business in an effort to help fund their college tuition. The latter business (Akola) takes a more comprehensive approach to their employees, incorporating spiritual formation into their labor practices. Tony then challenges Whitney on the topic of sweatshop labor noting that some boycotts of sweatshop factories might force the employees of these businesses into worse alternatives such as picking garbage or prostitution. Whitney notes that the issue of boycotts is complicated, but that boycotts can put pressure on industries to improve workplace conditions. She then reviews how consumers can make better choices in their garments with a seven step process to ethical consumerism.

Tony turns the conversation to issues of Millennials and wonders when the fashion trend towards beards on men will ever end. (Note: Your host has sported facial hair for 25 years running now.) This propels us into a general discussion of how Millennials relate to religion, with Whitney’s thoughts on the topic of why more young people today are turning away from traditional religion. She notes that much has changed in her worldview in just the past few years and that she is in the process of searching for a new language with which to engage others in spirituality. Recorded: September 25, 2015.

RELATED LINKS

Unwrinkling, a fashion and theology blog created and hosted by Whitney Bauck.

“Why Fashion Matters,” by Whitney Bauck in Christianity Today.

Christian Fashion Week.

The Akola Project, mentioned in podcast.

Sseko Designs, mentioned in podcast.

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Robert Nelson on Environmentalism as Religion

tonygill — Mon, 21 May 2012 08:00:29 +0000

Welcome new listeners. “Like” us on our Facebook page for regular updates on content. Subscribe to us on iTunes for free automatic downloads every Monday. To download the podcast, right click on the “download” button and select “Save Target As…”

Can environmentalism be considered a religion? And if so, what are the implications for the separation of church and state when it comes to the contemporary environmentalist agenda? Prof. Robert H. Nelson, professor of public policy in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland and a Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute, answers these questions in a fascinating interview that is a bit different than our normal fare. After Bob details his background working for the US Department of the Interior and how he came to write about environmentalism as a religion, we engage in a debate about what constitutes “religion.” Tony presses Prof. Nelson about the issue of whether or not a “religion” requires a transcendental being to be truly a religion, a characteristic that Bob doesn’t see as necessary. Our discussion covers how other secular ideologies, such as Marxism, can be construed as religions. We then begin to look at why environmentalism qualifies as a theology, documenting the Christian origins of the modern ecology movement. We review a number of the important figures in the environmental movement — including Henry David Thoreau, Aldo Leopold, David Brower, Rachel Carson, and Paul Ehrlich — and how some of these individuals (particularly Thoreau and Leopold) overlayed a moral and spiritual ethos over the natural environment giving it a different status than how economist of the past viewed it as a set of natural resources to be developed. Through the course of this discussion, Prof. Nelson discusses how environmentalist thinking develops ideas about creation, “end times” (often apocalyptic), and various rituals and sins that the movement has created. We conclude by looking an interesting argument Prof. Nelson has made about the separation of church and state and how it applies to the environmental movement. To the extent that environmentalism is a religion, what is the role of proselytization in schools and the state ownership of public lands that may be thought of as “holy shrines.” Recorded: May 7, 2012.

RELATED LINKS

Robert Nelson’s biography at the University of Maryland at at the Independent Institute.

The New Holy Wars: Economic Religion vs Environmental Religion in Contemporary America, by Robert H. Nelson.

Economics as Religion: From Samuelson to Chicago and Beyond, by Robert H. Nelson.

Private Neighborhoods and the Transformation of Local Government, by Robert H. Nelson.

A Burning Issue: A Case for Abolishing the U.S. Forest Service, by Robert H. Nelson.

Public Lands and Private Rights, by Robert H. Nelson and Sally K. Fairfax.

“Environmentalism Has Become a Religion,” an op-ed by Robert H. Nelson appearing in several newspapers.

“Environmentalism: The New Religion Freely Taught in Schools,” an op-ed by Robert H. Nelson appearing in Forbes.

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Fletcher Harper on GreenFaith.

Sung Joon Jang on the Boy Scouts of America

tonygill — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:00:08 +0000

Welcome to our Scouting visitors. If you are new to this site, please visit our extensive archives (of over 100 episodes) that are free and make useful teaching tools. And join us on Facebook to stay abreast of upcoming interviews and other news.

“On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty, to God and my country….” And so begins the Oath of the Boy Scouts of America, an organization now over a century old and the largest youth organization in America. It is also an organization with a global reach. To what extent are the ideals of the Boy Scouts upheld by their members, particularly into their adult years? Prof. Sung Joon Jang, an associate professor of sociology at Baylor University and a faculty fellow at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, joins us to discuss the most extensive sociological study of the Boy Scouts to date. Commissioned by the Boy Scouts and funded by the John Templeton Foundation, Prof. Jang along with his colleagues Byron Johnson and Young-Il Kim surveyed over 2,500 adults to see whether belonging to the Boy Scouts had any affect on their adult behavior and character. Their particular focus was to see whether or not becoming an Eagle Scout, the BSA’s highest award, resulted in prosocial behavior in adulthood. After discussing what it takes to become and Eagle Scout, and the methodology involved in the study, Prof. Jang discusses the results of his survey in a variety of categories including exercise & recreation, social capital, environmental stewardship, community service, goal orientation, and leadership. The study largely confirms that becoming an Eagle Scout leads to very positive outcomes later in life. Nonetheless, there are some surprising results along the way, including interesting comparisons with Boy Scouts who never made the rank of Eagle. Throughout the interview, Tony reflects upon his time in the Boy Scouts. While never achieving Eagle, Tony did work at a BSA summer camp and was active in Order of the Arrow, the BSA’s honor society. After our discussion with Prof. Jang, Tony visits with an old friend he knew back in his Scouting days, Gene Sjoberg. Gene provides colorful detail about his Eagle experience and how it has affected his life, shares a few laughs with Tony, and leaves us with perhaps the most powerful and inspiring moment in this podcast’s two-year history. Wise advice from an outstanding citizen. Recorded: May 3, 2012

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Sung Joon Jang’s biography at Baylor University’s Department of Sociology.

Eagle Scouts: Merit Beyond the Badge, by Sung Joon Jang, Byron Johnson, and Young-Il Kim. This link includes free access to the report discussed in today’s podcast.

Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

Camp Long Lake, BSA (the camp Tony and Gene worked at located in Dundee, WI).

RELATED PODCASTS

Byron Johnson on Religion & Delinquency.

Fletcher Harper on GreenFaith

tonygill — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 08:00:40 +0000

With Earth Day coming up soon, Research on Religion steps outside to examine how religion can have an impact on the natural environment. We invite Rev. Fletcher Harper, an Episcopal priest and executive director of GreenFaith, to discuss what spiritual faith has to do with environmental stewardship. GreenFaith is one of the oldest religiously-based environmental organizations in the country, starting out as an all-volunteer group known as Partners for Environmental Quality in the early 1990s. Rev. Harper begins by revealing how his interest in both religion and the environment developed over his life’s history, and then how he became connected with GreenFaith, first as a volunteer and then as its director. We cover the history of this organization and how it has interacted with other religious communities, as well as the secular environmental movement. Fletcher notes that it was not all smooth sailing and details some of the skepticism this religious environmental movement faced from different sectors of society. He also shares with us the ecumenical nature of the organization and reveals which denominations and faith traditions tend to be more receptive to connecting with his organization’s mission. It is not surprising that the Islamic and Hindu communities have been slower at connecting with GreenFaith given that theses minority faiths have more immediate ethnic and cultural issues that they are addressing in American society. He also mentions that Catholic clergy have been somewhat reluctant to get involved in the environmental movement given the association that some green groups have with population control. Tony then asks what type of projects GreenFaith is involved in, what a typical day in the life of Rev. Harper is like, and where his organization gets its funding. As for the latter, most of the financing comes from private contributions along with a few fee-based ventures such as training programs or helping other organizations locate opportunities to improve energy efficiency. GreenFaith does work in partnership with local and regional governments on occassion, and gets some funding from grants, but their efforts are mainly privately-based. This brings up the issue of whether Christians abdicate their responsibility for social action by often panning off work onto the government, which leads to an interesting philosophical discussion. We finish off by examining GreenFaith’s view of “market-based environmentalism,” which seeks to alter economic incentives in ways that individuals find it beneficial to conserve the environment on their own, with less government regulation. Fletcher talks about what he learned from the Property & Environment Research Center (PERC) in Bozeman (MT), where he participated in a week long seminar on this approach to environmental issues. Recorded: March 22, 2012.

Property & Environmental Research Center (PERC).

“Where Free Markets Meet Faith,” by Paul Schwennesen.