First Published in 1970, The Golden Core of Religion develops the view that religion’s chief contribution to humanity has been its capacity to care deeply about things. More than any other institutions, it has encouraged men to care- for self, for neighbours, for the varied life around us, for the natural world that supports us. The golden core of religion is devoted care. Several chapters are concerned with the various forms of caring in primitive and advanced religions and religious philosophies, Eastern and Western. Religion likewise deserves our gratitude for fostering our highest aspirations such as that for a blessed life established upon true goodness- even if it cannot assure the fulfillment of these aspirations. In the two concluding chapters, the author develops his own religious views. In our growing appreciation of this splendour and wonder of the cosmos and deepening sense of responsibility for the preservation of the beauty and health of our planet, he discerns an essentially religious attitude, a new form of religion spontaneously taking shape, without, as yet a name or organization. This is a must read for scholars and researchers of religion.

In addition to being one of the most prolific nature writers of our time and the world's greatest expert on Central American birds, Alexander Skutch was an inspiring moral philosopher and original thinker in the tradition of Henry David Thoreau and John Muir. Alexander Skutch: Selected Writings of an American Naturalist include selections from Skutch's writing spanning his 70 years of contributions to ornithology, travel, nature and philosophy.

A new perspective. Defending religion as a cultural institution in the face of resurgent atheistic thought. For centuries, the theism-atheism debate has been dominated by two positions: stringent believers committed to the "yes, there is a God" argument, and atheists vehemently driven to repudiate not only God, but also religion as a cultural institution. To date, this is the first and only mainstream book in which a nonbeliever criticizes atheism and affirms religion. An Atheist Defends Religion persuasively argues that religion is overwhelmingly beneficial for humanity, regardless of whether God exists, based on a new paradigm of 10 affirmative dimensions that make up religious experience. It also puts to rest the theory that religion is behind most of the world's sectarian violence by showing that religion becomes evil when it is politicized. Readers will learn they do not have to be fundamentalists to be believers, and about the value and benefits of religion itself.

The World Parliament of Religions adopted the view that there will not be peace in this world without including peace among religions. Yet, even with the unified force of the world’s religions and wisdom traditions, this cannot be accomplished without justice among people. In one way or another, “unity” among religions, as based on justice and the will to accept the other’s religions and even irreligiosity as means of justice, will not prevail without an internal and external, spiritual, theological, philosophical and practical investigation into the very reasons for religious strife and fanaticism as well as the resources that people, cultures, religions and wisdom traditions might provide to disentangle them from the injustices of their host regimes, and to seek the “balance” that leads to a measure of universal fairness among the multiplicity of religious and non-religious expressions of humanity. “Conviviality” expresses the depth and breadth of “living together,” which itself can be understood as a translation of a central term of Whitehead's philosophy and the process tradition—“concrescence” (growing together, becoming concrete)—as it is recently and increasingly used in different discourses to name the concrete community of difference of individuals, cultures, and religions in appreciation of the mutual inclusiveness of their lives. This book seeks to bring together experts from different religious (and non-religious) traditions and spiritual persuasions to suggest ways in which the living wisdom traditions might contribute to, and transform themselves into, a universal conviviality among the people, cultures and religions of this world for a common future. It wishes to test the resources that we can contribute to this concurrent and urgent matter, aware of Whitehead's call for a radical transformation of power and violence in thought and action as, perhaps, the ultimate theory of conflict resolution.

This work approaches the question of the relationship of religious to scientific thought. The author argues that they evolved together and are therefore complementary.

When Hazel Wolf died, at the age of 101, more than nine hundred of her friends -- from the governor of Washington to union organizers, from birdwatchers to hunters -- crowded Town Hall in Seattle to honor the feisty activist and tell the often outrageous "Hazel stories" that were their common currency. In this book, Hazel herself tells the stories. From twenty years of taped conversations, Susan Starbuck has fashioned both a biography and a historical document, the tale of a century’s forces and events as played out in one woman's extraordinary life. Hazel Wolf earned a national reputation as an environmentalist and was awarded the National Audubon Society's Medal of Excellence, an honor she shared with Rachel Carson and Jimmy Carter. She laid the groundwork for a unique coalition of Native Americans and environmentalists who are now working together on issues related to nuclear energy, fisheries, and oil pipelines. She lectured and taught at schools and universities all over the United States. She lobbied Congress on irrigration, labor rights, nuclear energy, and peace, and she corresponded with a global network of environmental leaders. But for all her influence, she never held a political post higher than precinct committee officer in Seattle’s 43rd legislative district, and her highest office in the environmental movement was that of secretary in the Seattle Audubon Society, where she served for thirty-five years. This book follows Hazel Wolf from childhood to old age, a lifetime of burning with a fierce desire for justice. She saw the quest for justice as a collective responsibility. Time and again, she met that challenge head on. Whether organizing for labor rights or founding chapters of the Audubon Society, battling to save old-growth forests or fighting deportation to her native Canada as a communist, over and over she put herself in the line of fire. "I was just there," she said, "powerless and strong, someone who wouldn’t chicken out."

This book brings together lessons from three journeys. The first journey began with my acceptance of Jesus at a young age, together with my growing recognition of the differences between the scriptural record and scientific understanding. It continued with a young man’s adventure, a retreat into nature, and an encounter with war. War and life’s darker side convinced me that even as nature brings awe and opens us to religious experience, we need morality. The second journey began as I inquired into the ministry. When the church transferred the guide they had assigned to me, Bob Wessman became my mentor. Bob was an ordained pastor with a doctorate in theology. For twenty years, we read and discussed theology, including the Catholic ideas that I had discovered while teaching with the Dominican Sisters. Bob is in hospice care as I write this, and my library is full of the books that he gifted to me. Thank you, Bob. I now had many ideas from my first two journeys, but they floated about in my head without an organizing form. The challenge was to find a form that would allow the ideas to come together and speak in harmony. Differences between Scripture and science had troubled me since my youth, and I could not ignore science. It was simply too good at finding truth to ignore. So science would have to help me. Science cannot touch all that religion touches, but science and technology can be in correspondence with theology. Researching and writing this book could explore that relationship. The result was to have remained personal, but then I thought that a reader might find an idea or two useful. A person who is literate in science might see why trusting Jesus is both good and reasonable. This book is the story of the third journey, an odyssey through science and Christian theology.

The Frankfurt School' refers to the members associated with the "Institut fur Sozialforschung (Institute for Social Research) " which was founded in Frankfurt in 1923. The work of this group is generally agreed to have been a landmark in twentieth century social science. It is of seminal importance in our understanding of culture, progress, politics, production, consumption and method. This set of six volumes provides a full picture of the School by examining the important developments that have occured since the deaths of the original core of Frankfurt scholars. All the major figures--Adorno, Horkheimer, Marcuse, Benjamin--are represented. In particular, the important post-war work of Jurgen Habermas is fully assessed. The collection also covers the work of many of the minor figures associated with the School who have been unfairly neglected in the past, resulting in the most complete survey and guide to the "oeuvre" of the Frankfurt School.