Religion and Resistance in Appalachia by Joseph D. Witt

Author:Joseph D. Witt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky
Published: 2016-04-09T04:00:00+00:00

5

Religion, Friction, and Cultural Encounter in the Anti–Mountaintop Removal Movement

In the decade between the first Mountain Justice Summer campaign of 2005 and the summer of 2015 it is likely that thousands of people engaged in rallies, protests, or other events related to opposing mountaintop removal. Some came to Appalachia from across the nation to learn about and support a thriving resistance movement, while others were forced into the movement by personal circumstances. As the previous chapters have shown, these individuals brought with them multiple religious and ethical perspectives on place and community that had been shaped by previous generations of activist debates and were continually revised and reconsidered in light of changing circumstances and new interactions, both within Appalachia and beyond. Among religious opponents, perspectives of eco-justice, Creation Care, and nature-venerating spirituality formed the most apparent threads, but they were also complexly interwoven and renegotiated through constantly changing encounters and political realities, creating new hybridized perspectives as well as new borders between groups.

Individuals and groups found many points of agreement and disagreement throughout the campaigns; moments of collaboration were often supported while other tensions were pushed to the background in favor of continued solidarity in the movement. One example of a point of conflict and negotiation between activists entailed the interaction between evangelical and nature-venerating or nonreligious individuals. While some non-Christian activists told me that individuals like Judy Bonds and Allen Johnson certainly improved their views of Christians (if not Christianity as a religion), there was still some discomfort in the thought that they might be the subjects of attempted conversion, even if only subtly. For example, john johnson, a Mountain Justice organizer and Earth First! activist from Tennessee, commented to journalist Tricia Shapiro, “I’ve rejected my Christian upbringing … but I appreciate that there are Christians who have this spiritual connection and spiritual impetus to protect the land and to stand up for social justice…. I have a high tolerance for good Christians [those who work for justice]…. I’ll take my hat off and bow my head with them—at least be respectful…. If people are going to believe in God, I want them to be motivated by a loving God who’s going to encourage them to do good in the world—justice, not just charity.” For johnson, evangelical Christians devoted to social justice were strong allies in the fight against mountaintop removal and were thus “good Christians,” but he rejected the possibility of full conversion to the religion himself. For Judy Bonds, on the other hand, encounters with non-Christian activists provided an opportunity for ministry. Bonds believed many young environmentalists sought spiritual depth. Speaking as well to Shapiro about young radical environmentalists present in the formation of Mountain Justice Summer, Bonds said, “Earth First! are doing God’s work; they just don’t realize it and they won’t acknowledge it.” In the end, both johnson and Bonds were able to work together toward a common goal, as Bonds noted in a 2009 interview: “I think we can all be brothers and sisters

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