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.Hewas at once a forester, a politician, and an agent of modern Americanscience.For Marshall, nature became an arena of activity as he turned tothe physical world to situate himself within American society and to sup-port his vision for a progressive America.14Marshall s decision to use natural science to interpret American socialdynamics and understand American culture was not unusual.Many Jewishintellectuals of the age, historian David Hollinger argued,  were conspicu-ous in their devotion to science in order to build a culture  liberated fromthe Christian biases that barred Jews from full participation in Americanlife. Many Jews faced restricted access to disciplines where responsibilitiesincluded  constituting and transforming culture. In the early twentiethcentury, Jewish students were  routinely counseled to give up the idea ofbeing philosophers and historians and were pushed toward the sciences,still considered by many  a thing apart from the rest of society. 15 By themiddle of the century, Jews were no longer systematically excluded from thehumanities and social sciences, but hostility to Jewish presence in thesefields remained an obstacle during the interwar period.16 For Marshall, acareer in the natural sciences was an acceptable entrée into Americansociety as much as it was an avenue to influence environmental politics.Still, using natural science to legitimate his standing did not comewithout challenges.In the 1920s, environmental concern was a decidedly108 ROBERT MARSHALL AND THE REDEFINITION OF PROGRESSwhite and Protestant preserve.Indeed, many citizens understood threats tonatural resources within the context of perceived attacks on ProtestantAmerica increasing immigration, urbanization, and industrialization.Inan era of heightened social tension, Marshall organized a life in nature toimprove access to social authority, but his actions went beyond a defense ofreligion.Marshall s Reform Judaism and Ethical Culture background em-phasized the practical elements of an already practical Jewish faith.Tradi-tional Judaism avoids much of the natural mysticism of ProtestantChristianity and instead emphasizes the rational stewardship of nature.Unlike Christian theology, replete with references to  nature s beauty as apath to union with God, Jewish theology anchors spiritual renewal withinthe human community.17 Jewish law determines how humans shouldinteract with the physical world, including promoting environmental sta-bility, but the focus  is not on nature for itself. Human activity in nature isintended to strengthen social bonds.The Torah considers nature  in termsof its social utility, because God created humans to make the naturalenvironment productive by emphasizing behavior supportive of the com-mon good.18 Marshall s scientifically informed environmentalism, influ-enced by this inheritance, was part of a political effort to redefine thepublic interest.Marshall s Judaism makes him unusual within American environmentalcircles, but it is hardly remarkable that faith influenced his understanding ofnature.The ground between religion and the physical world is well covered.Sacred groves, holy elevations, and sanctified waters appear in environ-mental literature with regularity.As part of this foundation, investigationsof everything from the natural consequences of the split within the Churchof Rome, to the contribution of Christian ethics to environmental abuse,and the spiritual foundations of the Romantic Movement have addedweight to debates about nature s moral base.Whatever position emerges,it is clear that regardless of denomination or devotion, humans have beenquick to invest the physical world with profound moral significance.In an American context, much of the interest in the intersection oftheology and nature centers on a famous divide in late nineteenth-centuryenvironmental politics between forces of development and preservation.This narrative, argued environmental philosopher Ben Minteer, best illus-trates  the alleged rupture in the moral foundation of American environ-mentalism. 19 In an age of industrialization, a concerned, vocal minority ofcitizens agitated for improved natural preservation as a counter to develop-ment [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]