Stephen Asma Green Guilt Summary

Have you ever considered environmentalism as a huge guilt trip? Or on a more extreme spectrum, a possible replacement for religion? Majority of people utilize environmentalism as a means of trying to protect the earth, while subconsciously having motives and values instilled within themselves that they employ through their behaviors. This is depicted in the article “Green Guilt”, where the author Stephen Asma, makes readers question whether environmentalism is emerging as a new religion. Stephen Asma successfully compared environmentalism to religion, which concluded they’re both fueled by human guilt and indignation. Asma discovered the only real difference was that environmentalism offered more transgressive rules than religion.

As Stephen Asma stated “Instead of religious sins plaguing our conscience, we now have the transgressions of leaving the water running, leaving lights on, failing to recycle, and using plastic grocery bags instead of paper” (Asma 25). Asma was trying to portray the trivial ‘sins’ of environmentalism, meanwhile notably signifying they’re lesser than religion. Even though most of environmentalism’s rules are trivial, they are attempting to shape people into better beings. The most fascinating part about environmentalism is the absence of a higher being. Considering that many of environmentalists are secularized beings, they choose not to have a higher being because of the resemblance of religion. Often, religion scares secularized individuals away because they begin to feel the pressures of being ‘perfect’. Secularized individuals strive to become better beings but cannot deal with the stresses that come with a heaven or hell. Therefore, environmentalism offers a belief to those who may subconsciously want to be ‘religious’ but are afraid of the commitment with God. Either side you stand on, whether you’re for the religious or environmentalist, your main achievement is striving to become a better human being