FAITH AND THE ENVIRONMENT - RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND ATTITUDES ON ENVIRONMENTAL-POLICY

Theory: Conservative Christian theology contains a set of beliefs that run counter to the philosophy supporting environmentalism. Hypotheses : Conservative eschatology (Biblical literalism, End Times thinking), religious tradition, and religious commitment should be negatively rel ated to support for environmental policy. Data: Using data from four n ational surveys of clergy, religious activists, political-party contri butors, and the mass public, we analyze the impact of religious variab les on attitudes toward environmental protection. Results: We find tha t conservative eschatology, religious tradition, and religious commitm ent all have strong bivariate associations with environmentalism. In m ultivariate analyses, however, conservative eschatology proves by far the strongest religious predictor of environmental perspectives, altho ugh other measures exert occasional influence.