Professor Tanhum Yoreh published Convergence and divergence of rhetoric and frames in faith-based and secular environmentalism. This study is a step towards understanding the language and values that make environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) and religious (faith-based) environmental NGOs (RENGOs) unique, and the potential to bring these parallel movements together.
ABSTRACT
A true shift to living within the carrying capacity of the planet requires widespread collaboration across all sectors of society. Coalitions are built on a foundation of shared values and common goals. This study is a step towards understanding the language and values that make environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) and religious (faith-based) environmental NGOs (RENGOs) unique, and what language and values have the potential to bring these parallel movements together. There has been a long-standing distinction between the moral language of religious environmentalism and the technocratic and policy-oriented language of secular environmentalism in the Northern Hemisphere. To assess differences and commonalities between the language of secular and religious activists, we apply framing theory and rhetoric theory to 81 mandate statements from ENGOs and RENGOs in the USA, UK, and Canada. We observe that ENGOs are more likely to reference ‘nature’ and ‘wilderness’ while RENGOs prefer ‘creation,’ ‘care,’ and ‘justice.’ The groups differed again over ‘sustainability’ discourse: ENGOs discussed sustainability as a policy, while RENGOs were concerned with sustaining relations. The movements, however, share the keywords ‘people,’ ‘community,’ and ‘life,’ indicating potential alignment around the frames of human wellbeing and community responsibility.