[lbo-talk] Reverence for nature

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

Joanna:
> The issue was whether "reverence for nature" was modern. Both Maria
and I strongly
> objected. You are now raising the issue in another way by asking
whether the concept of a
> separable "nature" is not modern. Where does "modern" start? I would
say that the notion of
> a nature that is separable from man and which man "governs" is at
least as "modern" or
> "old" as the Old Testament. Before monotheism, I don't know.

Also consider pantheistic strands in "modern" religion which equate
nature with deity - and which the monotheistic churches considered the
worst kind of heresy.  

My guess would be that people revered nature in those aspects of life
when the could not control it via technology or social organization (cf.
the classic Malinowski's work on Tribriand Islanders).  When their
gained technology that allowed them to control that aspect of nature,
the reverence was not longer needed and disappeared.  Religious
treatment of nature was only a reflection of the material capabilities
of humans to control it.

Wojtek