Spotted Howls

Robert Nelson from the June 1996 issue

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Christianity has always had a strong strain skeptical of wealth, business success, the drive for consumption, and the affairs of the world. In America, as Chase traces, these attitudes were first found in Puritan Massachusetts, were transmitted in the 19th century to New England transcendentalism, later reached John Muir in California, and then made their way in a secular language into the conte mporary environmental movement. Indeed, events as central to American history as the War of Independence and the Civil War were in part products of the revolutionary Puritan will to cleanse the world of evil. In short, as the latest manifestation of this d eeply ingrained Puritan heritage, environmentalism is as American as motherhood and apple pie. That is why it so obviously resonates powerfully with millions of Americans. In Europe as well, the environmental movement is strong in Germany, Holland, Sweden, and other countries with Protestant heritages. It does poorly in the Latin world.

To be sure, the Puritan heritage in American life has its up and down sides. The up side includes a strong moral vision, as in the battle against slavery. In asserting their own religious and other freedoms against oppressive governments, the Puritan faith ful have often been fierce defenders of liberty and individual rights. However, the down side also appeared early on, when the Puritan majority hanged several Quakers on th e Boston square who dared to challenge what there had become Puritan religious orthodoxy. If Puritanism has been the source of some of the highest ideals of American life, it has also been a source of fanaticism and repression.

In a Dark Wood provides yet another reminder that America's strong Puritan impulse does not mix well with government power. When the Puritan righteous among us get their hands on the levers of the state, the property and liberty of the rest of us are likely soon to be a t risk. The forest owners, timber workers, and mill owners in the Pacific Northwest unfortunately had to learn about this the hard way.