TY - BOOK ID - 78403423 TI - Religion and resistance in Appalachia PY - 2016 SN - 0813168759 0813168139 0813168147 9780813168142 9780813168135 9780813168128 0813168120 9780813168753 PB - Lexington The University Press of Kentucky DB - UniCat KW - Appalachians (People) KW - Environmentalism KW - Community activists KW - Landscape protection KW - Coal mines and mining KW - Mountaintop removal mining KW - Decapitation mining KW - Mountaintop decapitation (Mining) KW - Mountaintop mining KW - MTR mining KW - Strip mining KW - Coal mining KW - Collieries KW - Energy industries KW - Mines and mineral resources KW - Beautification of the landscape KW - Conservation of landscapes KW - Conservation of scenic beauty KW - Conservation of scenic resources KW - Landscape KW - Natural beauty conservation KW - Preservation of natural scenery KW - Preservation of scenic resources KW - Protection of landscapes KW - Protection of scenic beauty KW - Protection of scenic resources KW - Scenery preservation KW - Environmental protection KW - Nature conservation KW - Environmentally sensitive areas KW - Landscape assessment KW - Regional planning KW - Political activists KW - Environmental movement KW - Social movements KW - Anti-environmentalism KW - Sustainable living KW - Appalachian people KW - Mountain whites (Southern States) KW - Ethnology KW - Mountain people KW - Religion. KW - Religious aspects KW - Citizen participation. KW - Social aspects KW - Environmental aspects KW - Conservation KW - Protection KW - Greenwashing KW - Appalachian Region KW - Appalachia KW - Appalachian Mountains Region UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:78403423 AB - In the last fifty years, the Appalachian Mountains have suffered permanent and profound change due to the expansion of surface coal mining. The irrevocable devastation caused by this practice has forced local citizens to redefine their identities, their connections to global economic forces, their pasts, and their futures. Religion is a key factor in the fierce debate over mountaintop removal; some argue that it violates a divine mandate to protect the earth, while others contend that coal mining is a God-given gift to ensure human prosperity and comfort. In Religion and Resistance in Appalachia: Faith and the Fight against Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining, Joseph D. Witt examines how religious and environmental ethics foster resistance to mountaintop removal coal mining. Drawing on extensive interviews with activists, teachers, preachers, and community leaders, Witt's research offers a fresh analysis of an important and dynamic topic. His study reflects a diversity of denominational perspectives, exploring Catholic and mainline Protestant views of social and environmental justice, evangelical Christian readings of biblical ethics, and Native and nontraditional spiritual traditions. By placing Appalachian resistance to mountaintop removal in a comparative international context, Witt's work also provides new outlooks on the future of the region and its inhabitants. His timely study enhances, challenges, and advances conversations not only about the region, but also about the relationship between religion and environmental activism. ER -