African American Religious Naturalism and the Question of the Human
Document Type
Contribution to Book
Source Publication
Handbook of Religious Naturalism
Link to Published Version
https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Religious-Naturalism/Crosby-Stone/p/book/9781138292079
Publication Date
2018
Editor
Donald Crosby and Jerome Stone
Publisher
Routledge
City
New York
Edition
1st
ISBN
9781138292079
First Page
156
Last Page
168
Department
Religious Studies
Description
I introduce an African American religious naturalism that features a naturalistic view of humans, which becomes the focal point for challenging exclusionary and outdated conceptions of humanity embedded in the logic of white supremacy. I present humans as highly complex organisms, owing the lives we have to the emergence of hierarchies of natural systems. Rejecting any notion of a supernatural reality beyond nature, I rely on current developments in science studies to help describe humans’ processes of transformative engagement with each other and with the more-than-human worlds that constitute our existence. In doing so, I augment the potential of religious naturalism to challenge viral constructions of “isms” rooted in problematic and alienating self-other differentiations. This African American religious naturalism encourages readers to act in ways that promote the flourishing of all life, and to urge other humans who may be less aware of our interconnectedness to do the same.
Recommended Citation
White, Carol W., "African American Religious Naturalism and the Question of the Human" (2018). Faculty Contributions to Books. 168.
https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/fac_books/168