(In These Times) — Michael Crichton, the author of Jurassic Park, once said in a speech to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco that environmentalism had morphed into “a perfect 21st century remapping of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and myths,” transforming it into “one of the most powerful religions in the Western World.”
“There’s an initial Eden, a paradise, a state of grace and unity with nature,” Crichton said. “There’s a fall from grace into a state of pollution as a result of eating from the tree of knowledge; and as a result of our actions there is a judgment day coming for us all. We are all energy sinners, doomed to die, unless we seek salvation, which is now called sustainability.”
Calling environmentalism a form of religion goes back at least to the 1960s, but Crichton’s reputation and precise formulation gave the equation a new power and stickiness. The meme has become one of the Right’s favorite digs at the green movement, and especially at belief in climate change.
