by Jay Wexler | Mar 21, 2016 | Books, God is Not Always Green
My new book, When God Isn’t Green: A World-Wide Journey to Places Where Religious Practices and Environmentalism Collide, was released last Tuesday, March 15th, and it has gotten some really nice publicity so far. Here’s a sampling: The Daily Beast ran an excerpt from the chapter on palm forests in Guatemala and Mexico for Palm Sunday. A nice review from MacLean’s Magazine in Canada. Another great review from Foreword. I did this show with Uprising Radio in Los Angeles, which was really fun (more radio is also on the...
by Jay Wexler | Jan 11, 2016 | Books, God is Not Always Green
Not starred, but still pretty nice. Full review is here. Boston University law professor Wexler offers a highly entertaining and eye-opening look at situations where freedom of religion and environmental protection clash. From harvesting palms in Guatemala and Mexico for Palm Sunday to the massive burnings of joss in Singapore, Wexler portrays both sides of the debate as sympathetic and deserving of fair treatment. . . .Though he directs this work mainly toward governments and nongovernment organizations, religious and secular readers alike will find much to enjoy and appreciate in this fascinating...
by Jay Wexler | Dec 21, 2015 | Books, God is Not Always Green
My book about religious practices that harm the environment won’t be out until mid-March, but it’s already gotten a couple of really nice reviews from two of the big pre-pub reviewers, Booklist and Kirkus. Yay. Here they are: Booklist: If you’ve ever wondered where fronds for Palm Sunday came from or what to do if you find an expired bald eagle, your questions will be answered in this illuminating book. Wexler, inspired by a visit to an eagle repository in Colorado, began to wonder how religious practices connect with the environment, and he takes the reader along on his ensuing journey of discovery. In honest, funny prose, Wexler describes his attempts to understand—and sometimes participate in—rituals that poison waters and clog the air. As it turns out, certain religious practices around the world have been negatively impacting the environment for years—for instance, releasing nonnative species of turtles into the water. Despite his findings, Wexler genuinely and thoughtfully wrestles with the tension between caring for the earth and caring for the people who find these rituals so meaningful. It is a reminder that, for good or ill, the actions of a faithful few can have a major impact. Kirkus: In this evenhanded book, Wexler (Boston Univ. School of Law; Tuttle in the Balance, 2015, etc.) chronicles his travels around the world in search of spiritual practices that threaten environmental stewardship. As a law professor, the author approaches his subjects with clinical curiosity. Is it appropriate for Inuit villagers to hunt whales and eat their blubber, given that whales are so endangered? Should Native Americans be allowed to use bald eagle...
by Jay Wexler | Jul 30, 2015 | Books, God is Not Always Green, News
In case you’re starting your Easter shopping early this year, you can pre-order my forthcoming book When God Isn’t Green: A World-Wide Journey to Places Where Religious Practice and Environmentalism Collide now on Amazon. It won’t be released until March of 2016, but you have a lot of things to do that month and it might slip your mind so you might as well order it now. ...
by Jay Wexler | Jul 12, 2015 | Books, God is Not Always Green, News
Playing directly into our counter-narrative marketing strategy, the Pope’s recent encyclical on the environment has, according to Publisher’s Weekly, raised the profile of my forthcoming book on religious practices that harm the environment, When God Isn’t Green: A Worldwide Journey to Places Where Religious Practice and Environmentalism Collide (coming in March 2016, available for pre (really really pre!) order now). After listing a number of books about religion and the environment that have just been published or will soon be published, PW notes that my book takes “a different tack”: Taking a different tack is When God Isn’t Green: A World-Wide Journey to Places Where Religious Practice and Environmentalism Collide (Beacon, Mar. 2016). Instead of arguing how faith can positively influence Earth-care, law professor Jay Wexler describes religious practices around the world that harm the natural world. Publisher Beacon cites examples: “Hindus in Mumbai carrying twenty-five foot plaster idols of Ganesh into the sea or Taoists in Hong Kong creating poisonous fumes by burning bushels of ‘ghost money’ or American Palm Sunday celebrants contributing to the deforestation of Central American palm forests.” Wexler weighs the complicated social and religious issues and seeks ways to resolve them. I always knew I liked this...
by Jay Wexler | Apr 2, 2013 | Books, God is Not Always Green, Writing
I visited the Iowa Tribe’s Grey Snow Eagle House in Perkins, Oklahoma, and wrote this piece for National Geographic Newswatch.
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