Change blindness

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_blindness 

Example of images that can be used in a change blindness task. Although similar, the two images have a number of differences.

Change blindness is a perceptual phenomenon that occurs when a change in a visual stimulus is introduced and the observer does not notice it. For example, observers often fail to notice major differences introduced into an image while it flickers off and on again. People's poor ability to detect changes has been argued to reflect fundamental limitations of human attention. Change blindness has become a highly researched topic and some have argued that it may have important practical implications in areas such as eyewitness testimony and distractions while driving.

History

Early anecdotal observations

Outside of the domain of psychology, phenomena related to change blindness have been discussed since the 19th century. When film editing was introduced in movies, editors began to notice that changes to the background were not noticed by those watching the film. Going back earlier, William James (1842–1910) was the first to mention the lack of ability to detect change in his book Principles of Psychology (1890).

Earliest experimental reports

Research on change blindness developed from investigation in other phenomena such as eye movements and working memory. Although individuals have a very good memory as to whether or not they have seen an image, they are generally poor at recalling the smaller details in that image. When we are visually stimulated with a complex picture, it is more likely that individuals retain only a gist of an image and not the image in its entirety.

The laboratory study of change blindness began in the 1970s within the context of eye movement research. George McConkie conducted the first studies on change blindness involving changes in words and texts; in these studies, the changes were introduced while the observer performed a saccadic eye movement. Observers often failed to notice these changes.

In the late 1980s, the first clear experimental demonstration was published showing very poor change detection in complex displays over brief intervals without eye movements being involved. Pashler (1988) showed that observers were poor at detecting changes introduced into arrays of letters while the display was flickered off and on, even if the offset was as brief as 67 milliseconds (although offsets briefer than that produced much more effective change detection). Pashler concluded by noting how odd it was that people generally report having a "clear sense of apprehending the identities and locations of large numbers of objects in a scene" (p. 377), and that given this introspective sense, it seemed quite surprising how poor is their detection of changes.

Research in the 1990s and 2000s

Saccadic eye movements have been known to induce change blindness

With the rise of the ability to present complex, real-world images on a computer screen, McConkie, in the early 1990s, as part of new research at the new Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, renewed investigations of why the world looks stable and continuous despite the shifting retinal input signal that accompanied each saccade. This research began when John Grimes and Dr. George McConkie (1996) began to use actual photographs to study visual stability. This development in change blindness research was able to show the effects of change blindness in more realistic settings. Additionally, further research stated that rather large changes will not be detected when they occur during saccadic movements of the eye. In the first experiment of this kind, in 1995, Blackmore et al. forced saccades by moving the image and making a change in the scene at the same time. Observers' ability to detect the changes fell to chance. The effect was stronger using this method than when using brief grey flashes between images, although subsequent research has mostly used grey flashes or masking stimuli. Another finding based on similar studies stated that a change was easily picked up on by participants when the eye was fixated on the point of change. Therefore, the eye must be directly fixated on the area of change for it to be noticed. This was called the saccade target theory of transsaccadic memory of visual stability. However, other research in the mid-1990s has indicated that individuals still have difficulty detecting change even when they are directly fixated on a particular scene. Rensink, O'Regan, and Clarke presented a picture, followed by a blank, masking screen, followed by the initial picture with a change. The masking screen acts like a saccadic eye movement. This was a critical contribution to change blindness research because it demonstrated that a change can remain unnoticed with the smallest disruptions.

Research on change blindness proceeded one step further into practical applications of this phenomenon. For example, there does not have to be a masking stimulus in order for individuals to miss a change in a scene. Individuals often take significantly longer to notice certain changes if there are a few small, high contrast shapes that are temporarily splattered over a picture. This method for testing change blindness is called “mudsplashes”. This method is particularly relevant to individuals driving in a car when there is a visual obstruction on the windshield. This obstruction may impair an individual's ability to detect a change in their environment which could result in severe negative consequences while driving.

Current research (2010–present)

Change detection

Research indicates that detecting changes in a change blindness task is easier when items are holistically processed, such as faces. Individuals notice a change faster when required to detect changes in facial features than when required to detect changes in images of houses. However, individuals are better at identifying the nature of the change in houses.

Other researchers have discovered that mental processing in change blindness begins even before the change is presented. More specifically, there is increased brain activity in the parietal-occipital and occipital regions prior to the emergence of a change in a change blindness task.

Researchers have also indicated there is a difference in brain activity between detecting a change and identifying change in an image. Detecting a change is associated with a higher ERP (Event-related potential) whereas identifying change is associated with an increased ERP before and after the change was presented.

Additional research using fluctuations in ERPs has observed that changes in pictures (change blindness) are represented in the brain, even without the perceiver's conscious awareness of the change.

Change blindness can be effectively used in the process of visualizing actual changes detected in 3D scenes. With appropriate techniques it is possible to enhance the perception of the portion of a 3D scene that is changed while hiding non significant, but otherwise still visible, changes.

Lucid dreaming

Lucid dreaming occurs when one realizes that the events experienced within a dream are bizarre or would not occur in one's waking life. As such, the inability to notice the bizarre nature of the dream has been coined as an example of change blindness, also known as individuals who are non-lucid dreamers. However, a recent study found that lucid dreamers did not perform better on a change blindness task than non-lucid dreamers. Therefore, the relation between lucid dreamers and change blindness has been discredited to some degree.

In teams

Another interesting area of research is the decreased susceptibility to change blindness when individuals are placed in teams. Although change blindness is still observed within teams, research has indicated that changes between images are noticed more when individuals work in teams as opposed to individually. Both teamwork and communication assist teams in correctly identifying changes between images.

Expertise

Another recent study looked at the relation between expertise and change blindness. Physics experts were more likely to notice a change between two physics problems than novices. It is hypothesized that experts are better at analyzing problems on a deeper level whereas novices employ a surface-level analysis. This research suggests that observing the phenomenon of change blindness may be conditional upon the context of the task.

Choice blindness

Main article: Introspection illusion § Choice blindness

Cognitive psychologists expanded the study of change blindness into decision-making. In one study, they showed participants ten pairs of faces and asked them to choose which face was more attractive. For some pairs, the experimenter used sleight of hand to show participants a face they had not chosen. Only 26% of subjects noticed the mismatch between their choice of face and the different face they were shown instead. The experimenters tested pairs of faces that were either high in similarity or low in similarity, but the detection rate was no different between those conditions. Subjects were also asked to give reasons why they had chosen a face (although due to the sleight of hand they actually hadn't chosen it). Despite the mismatch, subjects gave responses that were comparable in emotionality, specificity, and certainty for faces they had or had not actually chosen. Further research has shown that the failure to detect mismatches between intention and outcome exists in consumer product choices and in political attitudes.

Counteraction

Prior research in the early part of the decade had shown that change blindness can be counteracted by a number of methods. Shifting attention with a visual cue can help lower the negative effects of change blindness. Stimulation of the superior colliculus improves performance and reaction time in the same way. However, recent research has also been done on countering tactile change blindness. A 2016 study by Riggs et al. shows that three successful methods for limiting tactile change blindness in distinguishing changes in vibration patterns are attention guidance, signal gradation and direct comparison. All three methods seek to bring attention to the area of change. Attention guidance works proactively by increasing the frequency of a cue. The second and third methods are reactive and based on error-feedback. Signal gradation further increases the intensity of the vibration after the change has been missed. Direct comparison pairs the pre-change and post-change vibration intensities without a gap in between after a change has been missed to support the use of relative judgment rather than absolute. While all significantly improve performance, the second and third countermeasures are most effective. Concentration and attention are also a major factors in avoiding change blindness.

Non-humans

Though comparatively little research has been done on change blindness in other animals, a few species of animals exhibited the same effects of change blindness as humans. Using the same motion detection paradigm for monkeys as humans, researchers found the results were the same in showing change blindness in motion. Pigeons not only demonstrate change blindness, but also are influenced by the salience and timing of the change in scenery like humans. Chimpanzees similarly have difficulty with detecting change in flicker-type visual search after a blank display was shown. Positional switches of a stimulus are the most difficult for chimpanzees to detect. The results show that the same levels of attention is demanded for chimpanzees as humans in these tasks.

Change detection methods

Saccade forcing paradigm

This method was used in the first, 1995, experiment. A change is made in an image at the same time as the image is moved in an unpredictable direction, forcing a saccade. This method mimics eye movements and can detect change blindness without introducing blank screens, masking stimuli or mudsplashes. However, it is unclear if small additions to an image will predict if people will be unable to notice larger changes in an image to the same position to their eye.

Flicker paradigm

In this paradigm, an image and an altered image are switched back and forth with a blank screen in the middle. This procedure is performed at a very high rate and observers are instructed to click a button as soon as they see the difference between the two images. This method of studying change blindness has helped researchers discover two very important findings. The first finding is that it usually takes a while for individuals to notice a change even though they are being instructed to search for a change. In some cases, it can even take individuals over one minute of constant flickers to determine the location of the change. The second important finding is that changes to more important areas of a photograph are noticed at a faster rate than changes to areas of less interest. Although the flicker paradigm was first used in the late 1990s, it is still commonly used in current research on change blindness and has contributed to current knowledge on change blindness.

Forced choice detection paradigm

Individuals who are tested under the forced choice paradigm are only allowed to view the two pictures once before they make a choice. Both images are also shown for the same amount of time. The flicker paradigm and the forced choice detection paradigm are known as intentional change detection tasks, which means that the participants know they are trying to detect change. These studies have shown that even while participants are focusing their attention and searching for a change, the change may remain unnoticed.

Mudsplashes

Mudsplashes are small, high contrast shapes that are scattered over an image, but do not cover the area of the picture in which the change occurs. This mudsplash effect prevents individuals from noticing the change between the two pictures. A practical application of this paradigm is that dangerous stimuli in a scene may not be noticed if there are slight obstructions in an individual's visual field. Previously, it has been stated that humans hold a very good internal representation of visual stimuli. Studies involving mudsplashes have shown that change blindness may occur because our internal representations of visual stimuli may be much worse than previous studies have shown. Mudsplashes have not been used as frequently as the flicker or forced choice detection paradigms in change blindness research, but have yielded many significant and groundbreaking results.

Foreground-background segregation

The foreground-background segregation method for studying change blindness uses photographs of scenery with a distinct foreground and background. Researchers using this paradigm have found that individuals are usually able to recognize relatively small changes in the foreground of an image. In addition, large changes to the colour of the background take significantly longer to detect. This paradigm is critical to change blindness research because many previous studies have not examined the location of changes in the visual field.

Neuroanatomy

Neuroimaging

MRI image

Various studies have used MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging) to measure brain activity when individuals detect (or fail to detect) a change in the environment. When individuals detect a change, the neural networks of the parietal and right dorsolateral prefrontal lobe regions are strongly activated. If individuals were instructed to detect changes in faces, the fusiform face area was also significantly activated. In addition, other structures such as the pulvinar, cerebellum, and inferior temporal gyrus also showed an increase in activation when individuals reported a change. It has been proposed that the parietal and frontal cortex along with the cerebellum and pulvinar might be used to direct an organism's attention to a change in the environment. A decrease of activation in these brain areas was observed if a change was not detected by the organism. Furthermore, the neurological activation of these highlighted brain areas was correlated with an individual's conscious awareness of change and not the physical change itself.

Other studies using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scanners have shown that when change is not consciously detected, there was a significant decrease in the dorsolateral prefrontal and parietal lobe regions. These results further the importance of the dorsolateral prefrontal and parietal cortex in the detection of visual change. In addition to fMRI studies, recent research has used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in order to inhibit areas of the brain while participants were instructed to try to detect the change between two images. The results show that when the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is inhibited, individuals are significantly slower at detecting change. The PPC is critical for encoding and maintaining visual images in short term working memory, which demonstrates the importance of the PPC in terms of detecting changes between images. For a change to be detected, the information of the first picture needs to be held in working memory and compared to the second picture. If the PPC is inhibited, the area of the brain responsible for encoding visual images will not function properly. The information will not be encoded and will not be held in working memory and compared to the second picture, thus inducing change blindness.

Role of attention

The role of attention is critical for an organism's ability to detect change. In order for an organism to detect change, visual stimulation must enter through eye and proceed through the visual stream in the brain. A study in 2004 demonstrated that if the superior colliculus (responsible for eye movements) of a monkey's brain is electrically stimulated, there would be a significant decrease in reaction time to detect the change. Therefore, it is critical for organisms to attend to the change in order for it to be detected. Organisms are only able to detect this change once the visual stimulation comes through the eye (its movements are controlled by the superior colliculus) and is subsequently processed through the visual stream.

Influencing factors

Age

Older individuals have been known to have more difficulty detecting changes.

Age has been implicated as one of the factors which modulates the severity of change blindness. In a study conducted by Veiel et al. it was found that older individuals were slower to detect the changes in a change blindness experiment than were younger individuals. This trend was also noticed by Caird et al., who found that drivers aged 65 and older were more prone to making incorrect decisions after a change blindness paradigm was used at an intersection, than were participants aged 18–64. Age differences in change detection become most pronounced when the task is easier. While the actual shift in ability does not occur until at least age 65, people's confidence in their ability to detect change drops significantly at middle-age.

Children from 6–13 years old looked at colored pictures of real world scenes that were manipulated by color, location of objects, or the removal of objects, in the central or peripheral focus of the image. Adults are more accurate when noticing the changes that occur in the picture. Children can accurately detect central changes, but aren't as good at detecting peripheral changes, and their accuracy depends on the type of manipulation.

Younger drivers (average of 22 years old) were compared with older drivers (average of 69 years old). Images were presented on a screen showing various driving situations that included an original image and a modified image, and participants had to identify where a change had occurred in the modified version, if any. Older drivers expressed reduced accuracy, higher reaction times, and more false positive responses compared to younger drivers.

Attention

Attention is another factor that has been implicated in change blindness. Increasing shifts in attention decrease the severity of change blindness and changes in the foreground are detected more readily than changes made to the background of an image, an effect of the intentional bias for foreground elements.

Community volunteers had to focus on a screen and accurately identify if there was a change between series of dots after being fixated on a point in the center of the screen. Distraction of attention by visual disruptions and the observers' ability to focus on potential change were found to have an effect on attention with change blindness.

Object presentation

Object presentation is the way in which objects appear and is a factor that determines the occurrence of change blindness. Change blindness can occur even without a delay between the original image and the altered image, but only if the change in the image forces the viewer to redefine the objects in the image. Additionally, the appearance of a new object is more resistant to change blindness than a looming object, and both the appearance of a new object and the looming of an object are more resistant to change blindness than the receding of an object. Furthermore, the appearance or onset of an object is more resistant to the occurrence of change blindness than the disappearance or offset of an object.

Substance use

Substance use has been found to affect the detection biases on change detection tasks. If an individual was presented with two changes simultaneously, those that had a change related to the substance they use regularly reported using the substance more than those detecting the neutral stimuli. This indicates a relationship between substance use and change detection within a change blindness paradigm. This bias for devoting more attention to the drug-relevant stimuli is also observed with problem drinkers. Individuals who have a more severe drinking problem are quicker to detect changes in alcohol-related stimuli than in neutral stimuli.

Alcohol can sometimes improve change blindness. For example, intoxicated participants were quicker at detecting minor changes in large displays of images than sober participants. This could be attributed to more passive viewings of larger images, and the use of alcohol slows down more controlled search processes.

Active viewing involves more saccades than fixations. When viewing an image with a more passive search, more information is processed with each fixation. The alcohol slows down the movement and processing of the brain, therefore causing more fixation points.

In other senses

In addition to change blindness induced by changes in visual images, change blindness also exists for the other senses:

• Change deafness – Change deafness is the concept of change blindness for auditory information. In his experiment, Vitevitch (2003) used a speech shadowing task to demonstrate change deafness. He presented a list of words to participants and had them simultaneously repeat the words they heard. Halfway through the list, either the same or a different speaker presented the second half of the words to participants. At least 40% of participants failed to detect the change in speaker when it occurred. Fenn et al. called participants on the phone and replaced the speaker in the middle of the conversation. Participants rarely noticed change. However, when explicitly monitoring for change, the participants' detection increased. Neuhoff et al. (2015) expanded on the idea of change deafness, and identified a new phenomenon called "slow-change deafness" using a series of four experiments. In the first experiment, he had participants listen to continuous speech that changed three semitones in pitch over time. Fifty percent of participants failed to notice the change. In the second and third experiments, listeners were alerted to the possibility of a change. In these trials, detection rates drastically improved. In the fourth experiment, the magnitude of the change that occurred in the stimulus increased, causing the detection rates to increase. These experiments demonstrated that "slow-change deafness" depends on both the magnitude of a stimulus change and the listeners' expectations.
• Olfactory – Humans are constantly in a state of change blindness due to the poor spatial and temporal resolutions with which scents are detected. Although humans' odor detection thresholds are very low, our olfactory attention is only captured by unusually high odorant concentrations. Olfactory input is made up of a series of sniffs separated in time. The long inter-sniff-interval creates "change anosmia," in which humans have trouble discerning smells that are not highly concentrated. This period of sensory habituation as well as very low concentrations of odorants regularly yield no subjective experience. This behavior is called "experiential nothingness".
• Somatosensory – Somatosensory change blindness for tactile stimuli has been observed, and reveals important information about the distinction from visual change blindness. Auvray et al. (2008) did an experiment on the ability to detect change between two patterns of tactile stimuli presented to fingertips. The experiments presented consecutive patterns which were separated by an empty interval, or by a tactile, visual, or auditory mask. Results showed that performance was impaired when the empty interval was inserted, and even more so when tactile mask was introduced. Changes in tactile displays composed of two or three stimuli with only one distractor in between go unnoticed, while several distractors are needed for visual displays to go unnoticed. These experiments have shown us that our ability to monitor tactile information is affected by more severe limitations than the same ability within the visual modality.

Practical implications

The phenomenon of change blindness has practical implications in the following areas:

Eyewitness testimony

Research in change blindness has uncovered the possibility of inaccuracy in eyewitness testimony. In many cases, witnesses are rarely able to detect a change in the criminal's identity unless first intending to remember the incident in question. This inability to detect a change in identity can lead to inaccuracy in identifying criminals, mistaken eyewitness identification, and wrongful conviction. Therefore, eyewitness testimonies should be handled with caution in court in order to avoid any of these negative consequences.

Driving ability

Traffic collision

Older drivers make more incorrect decisions than younger drivers when faced with a change in the scene at an intersection. This can be attributed to the fact that older individuals notice change at a slower rate compared to younger individuals. In addition, the location and relevance of changes have an effect on what is noticed while driving. The reaction time to changes in the driver's peripherals is much slower than the reaction time to changes that occur towards the center of the driver's visual field. Furthermore, drivers are also able to recognize more relevant changes as opposed to irrelevant ones. Research on the effects of change blindness while driving could provide insight into potential explanations of why car accidents occur.

Military

Military command and control personnel who monitor multiple displays have a delayed time to accurately identify changes due to the necessity of verifying the changes, as well as the effective 'guessing' on some trials. Due to the fact that control personnel have delayed reaction because of change blindness, an interface design of computer work stations may be extremely beneficial to improve the reaction time and accuracy.

Blindness

Change blindness is defined as a misplaced confidence in one's ability to correctly identify visual changes. People are fairly confident in their ability to detect a change, but most people exhibit poor performance on a change blindness task.

Factors

• Perceived Success – A higher perception of success from previous experience inflates the individual's confidence for success in future experiences.
• Search Time – A longer time spent looking for the visual change creates the impression of poor performance on the task. In other words, a shorter time in identifying a visual change creates the impression of good performance and thus the individual will be overconfident in this ability.

Spotlight effect

The spotlight effect is a social phenomenon that is defined as an overestimation of the ability of others to notice us. A seemingly obvious change such as another individual changing a sweater during a memory task is rarely noticed. However, the individuals switching the sweater tend to overestimate the ability of the test writers to notice the change in sweaters. In the spotlight effect, this poor performance is a result of the overestimation of others' ability to notice us whereas in change blindness it is the overestimation of others' ability to notice the sweater change. In other words, it is the distinction between noticing differences on a person and noticing differences between any images.

Counter-jihad

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-jihad

Counter-jihad, also known as the counter-jihad movement, is a self-titled political current loosely consisting of authors, bloggers, think tanks, street movements and so on linked by beliefs that view Islam not as a religion but as an ideology that constitutes an existential threat to Western civilization. Consequently, counter-jihadists consider all Muslims as a potential threat, especially when they are already living within Western boundaries. Western Muslims accordingly are portrayed as a "fifth column", collectively seeking to destabilize Western nations' identity and values for the benefit of an international Islamic movement intent on the establishment of a caliphate in Western countries. The counter-jihad movement has been variously described as anti-Islamic, Islamophobic, inciting hatred against Muslims, and far-right. Influential figures in the movement include the bloggers Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer in the US, and Geert Wilders and Tommy Robinson in Europe.

While the roots of the movement go back after the Iranian Revolution, it did not gain significant momentum until after the September 11 attacks. As far back as 2006, bloggers such as Fjordman were identified as playing a key role in forwarding the nascent counter-jihad ideology. Bat Ye'or's Eurabia conspiracy theory published in her eponymous book in 2005 also played an important factor in influencing the movement. The first official counter-jihad conferences were held in 2007. The movement received considerable attention in 2011 following the lone wolf attacks by Anders Behring Breivik, a neo-Nazi who disguised himself with a manifesto that exploited and extensively reproduced the writings of prominent counter-jihad bloggers, and following the emergence of prominent street movements such as the English Defence League (EDL) and Pegida. The movement has adherents both in Europe and in North America. The European wing is more focused on the alleged cultural threat to European traditions stemming from immigrant Muslim populations, while the American wing emphasizes an alleged external threat, essentially terrorist in nature.

According to academics, conspiracy theories are a key component of the counter-jihad movement. The movement is also strongly pro-Israel, praising the country as a bastion of Western culture against its surrounding Muslim countries. On a day-to-day level, it seeks to generate outrage at perceived Muslim crimes.

Overview

Counter-jihad is a radical right-wing movement that operates, according to Toby Archer, via the "sharing of ideas between Europeans and Americans and daily linking between blogs and websites on both sides of the Atlantic", and, according to Rasmus Fleischer, "calls for a counterjihad against the supposed Islamisation of Europe". Two central counter-jihad themes have been identified, namely that Islam and Muslim immigration poses a threat to Western civilisation, and a lack of trust in political "elites", focusing especially against the European Union. While the roots of the movement go back after the Iranian Revolution, it did not gain significant momentum until after the September 11 attacks.

The authors of Right-Wing Populism in Europe: Politics and Discourse describe the movement as heavily relying on two key tactics:

The first is arguing that the most radical Muslims – men like Osama bin Laden – are properly interpreting the Quran, while peaceful moderate Muslims either do not understand their own holy book or are strategically faking their moderation. The second key tactic is to relentlessly attack individuals and organizations that purport to represent moderate Islam...painting them as secret operatives in a grand Muslim scheme to destroy the West.

Benjamin Lee describes the "counter-jihad scene" as one where

Europe and the United States are under threat from an aggressive and politicized Islamic world that is attempting to take over Europe through a process of "Islamification" with the eventual aim of imposing Sharia law. In this process, the threat is characterized by the perceived removal of Christian or Jewish symbols, the imposition of Islamic traditions, and the creation of no-go areas for non-Muslims. The construction of mosques in particular is seen as continued reinforcement of the separation of the Muslim population from the wider populous. As strong as the threatening practices of Muslims in descriptions of the counter jihad are images of a powerless Europe in decline and sliding into decadence, unable to resist Islamic takeover. The idea that European culture in particular is in a state of decline, while a spiritually vigorous East represented by Islam is in the ascendancy in civil society, is a common sentiment in some circles.

Counter-jihad movement

One of the first organizations of the counter-jihad movement (CJM), the 910 Group (later renamed to the International Civil Liberties Alliance) was founded in 2006 and announced on Gates of Vienna, "a principal blog of the CJM since 2004". Its stated purpose was to defend "liberties, human rights, and religious and political freedoms [that] are under assault from extremist groups who believe in Islamist supremacy". In April 2007, the counter-jihad current became visible as a movement operating in northwestern Europe with "The UK and Scandinavia Counterjihad Summit", organised by a transatlantic network of anti-Islam bloggers in Copenhagen, Denmark. The conference was hosted by American blogger Edward May, Danish activist Anders Gravers Pedersen, and Danish blogger Exile, and included participants such as Norwegian blogger Fjordman.

Robert Spencer, author and editor of the central counter-jihad blog Jihad Watch

In October 2007 a second summit, "Counterjihad Brussels 2007", was hosted by the Belgian Flemish-nationalist party Vlaams Belang in the European Parliament building in Brussels, Belgium. This conference has been regarded as a crucial event in the movement's history and featured speakers Bat Ye'or and David Littman followed by "country reports" from delegates Paul Beliën and Filip Dewinter (Vlaams Belang, Belgium), Stefan Herre (PI blog, Germany), Nidra Poller (Pajamas Media blog, France), Gerard Batten (UK Independence Party, UK), Ted Ekeroth (Sweden Democrats, Sweden), Lars Hedegaard (International Free Press Society, Denmark), Jens Tomas Anfindsen (HonestThinking blog, Human Rights Service, Norway), Kenneth Sikorski (Tundra Tabloids blog, Finland), Johannes Jansen (Netherlands), Adriana Bolchini Gaigher (Lisistrata blog, Italy), Traian Ungureanu (Romania), Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff (Austria), Matyas Zmo (Czech Republic), with further speeches by Arieh Eldad (Moledet, Israel). Patrick Sookhdeo (Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity, Barnabas Fund, UK), Dr Marc Cogen (Professor of International Law, Vesalius College, Belgium), Sam Solomon (Islamic Affairs Consultant, Christian Concern), Robert Spencer (Jihad Watch, David Horowitz Freedom Center), Andrew G. Bostom, and Laurent Artur du Plessis.

From 2009, the English Defence League (EDL) street movement began holding rallies with thousands of protesters. A March 2012 counter-jihad conference in Denmark drew 200–300 supporters from throughout Europe. Ten times the number of left-wing protesters staged a counter-demonstration. The 2012 conference in Denmark was claimed by its organisers, the EDL, to mark the starting point of a pan-European movement. There have been no official CJM conferences since 2013, pointing to a decline in the original movement. However, a high-point in the European street movement came in January 2015 when 25,000 people attended a Pegida rally in the German city of Dresden. In June 2018, 10,000 protesters attended a "Free Tommy" rally in London. It has been argued by Christopher Othen that, after a fallout following the 2011 Norway attacks, the movement was reinvigorated by events such as the Arab Spring, a series of Islamist terrorist attacks, and the European migrant crisis, and to have influenced the success of Donald Trump in the 2016 United States presidential election. The counter-jihad movement has also been seen to have had numerous links with the Trump administration, and to have influenced Trump's ideology. Aspects of the movement has thus been seen to have entered mainstream right-wing politics in the United States, as well as in European countries.

Organisation

Blogs such as Gates of Vienna, Jihad Watch, Atlas Shrugs, Politically Incorrect, and The Brussels Journal are central to the transatlantic counter-jihad movement. Notable figures include the editors of these blogs, respectively Edward 'Ned' May (pseudonym Baron Bodissey), Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller, Stefan Herre, and Paul Beliën. Notable writers in the counter-jihad movement are Bat Ye'or, David Horowitz and Fjordman.

Think tanks such as the International Free Press Society and the David Horowitz Freedom Center have had an important role in providing funds and establishing international links. The Center for Security Policy is also a part of the movement and operates a counter-jihad campaign. In time, a network of formal organisations has been established, with its main centres in Europe and the United States. A transatlantic umbrella organisation, Stop Islamization of Nations (SION) was established in 2012.

The International Free Press Society lists representatives from many parts of the counter-jihad spectrum on its board of advisors. Eurabia conspiracy theorist Bat Ye'or is on the board of advisors, while owner of the blog Gates of Vienna, Edward S. May, serves as outreach co-ordinator on its board of directors.

American Counter-jihad movement

Pamela Geller, a central figure of the movement in the US

The U.S.-based Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) is led by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer. SIOA has been accused by the Anti-Defamation League of "promot[ing] a conspiratorial anti-Muslim agenda under the guise of fighting radical Islam. The group seeks to rouse public fears by consistently vilifying the Islamic faith and asserting the existence of an Islamic conspiracy to destroy 'American' values".

In 2010, a workgroup dubbed "Team B II" published a report titled Shariah: The Threat To America which has been cited as influencing the movement's discourse and the public's perception. The report was published by the Center for Security Policy.

With the election of Donald Trump to the United States presidency in 2016, it has been claimed that the American wing has achieved some influence in the US administration. This is focused on the influence from Frank Gaffney, President of the Center for Security Policy, and Brigitte Gabriel, President of ACT for America.

European Counter-Jihad Movement

Geert Wilders, a key figure for the movement in Europe

An umbrella organization, Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE), was founded by Anders Gravers Pedersen, who also sits on the board of the Stop Islamisation of Nations. and there are affiliated groups in several European countries, among them Stop Islamisation of Denmark and Stop Islamisation of Norway. The English Defence League was a prominent street movement in the United Kingdom, formerly led by Tommy Robinson.

The counter-jihad movement has connections to, and has influenced the ideology of European right-wing populist parties such as the Swiss People's Party, Vlaams Belang, Sweden Democrats, Lega Nord, Alternative for Germany, National Rally of France, Freedom Party of Austria, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, while Dutch politician Geert Wilders is the most important figurehead for the movement.

Counter-jihad ideology

In the words of Toby Archer, a scholar of political extremism and terrorism,

"Counter-jihad discourse mixes valid concerns about jihad-inspired terrorism with far more complex political issues about immigration to Europe from predominantly Muslim countries. It suggests that there is a threat not just from terrorism carried out by Islamic extremists but from Islam itself. Therefore, by extension, all European Muslims are a threat."

Arun Kundnani, in a report published by the International Centre for Counter-terrorism, writes that the counter-jihad movement has evolved from earlier European far-right movements through a shift from race to values as identity markers: "In moving from neo‐Nazism to counter‐jihadism, the underlying structure of the narrative remains the same." Continuing on this note, he writes that comparing the counter-jihadist worldview to the older, neo-Nazi one, "Muslims have taken the place of blacks and multiculturalists are the new Jews."

Cas Mudde argues that various conspiracy theories with roots in Bat Ye'or's Eurabia are important to the movement. The main theme of these theories is an allegation that European leaders allow a Muslim dominance of Europe, whether by intention or not, through multicultural policies and lax immigration laws. According to Hope not Hate, counter-jihad discourse has replaced the racist discourse of rightwing, populist and nationalist politics in America and Europe "with the language of cultural and identity wars".

English Defence League rally in Newcastle, UK, 2010

Toby Archer detects a difference between the European and American wings of the movement. The American wing emphasizes an external threat, essentially terrorist in nature. The European wing sees a cultural threat to European traditions stemming from immigrant Muslim populations. While Archer notes that the perceived failure of multi-culturalism is shared across much of the political spectrum, he argues the counter-jihad movement is a particular conservative manifestation of this trend. He acknowledges the movement's conservative defense of human rights and the rule of law but he believes by rejecting progressive policy it rejects much of what Europe is today.

The views of the counter-jihad movement have been criticised as a source of support for the anti-Muslim views of individuals inspired to take violent direct action. Anders Behring Breivik, responsible for the 2011 Norway attacks, published a manifesto explaining his views which drew heavily on the work of counter-jihad bloggers such as Fjordman. Daniel Pipes argues that a "close reading of his manifesto suggests" that Breivik wanted to discredit and undermine the movement's dedication to democratic change to further Breivik's "dreamed-for revolution" as the only alternative. Breivik has later been identified as a neo-Nazi, and has stated that he had exploited counter-jihad rhetoric in order to protect "ethno-nationalists", and instead start a media drive against what he deemed "anti-nationalist counterjihad"-supporters.

Executive director of the Institute of Race Relations, Liz Fekete, has argued that although most of the counter-jihad movement "stops short of advocating violence to achieve their goals", the most extreme parts share much of Breivik's discursive frameworks and vocabulary. She contrasts this with more mainstream counter-jihadists, that warn of Islamisation as a result of naïvety or indecisiveness, whom she identifies as a source of legitimacy for the former.

Philosopher Marius Mjaaland has described the role given to Christianity in some parts of the counter-jihad movement and has identified some aspects of the movement's ideology that he says links it to fascism-like conspiracy theories, claiming that the movement draws heavily from the Crusades.

Counter-jihad has sought to portray Western Muslims as a "fifth column", collectively seeking to destabilize Western nations' identity and values for the benefit of an international Islamic movement intent on the establishment of a caliphate in Western countries. Much of the Eurabia literature and Counter Jihad forums describe taqiyya as a manipulative strategy used by moderate Muslims to infiltrate and eventually overthrow society.

Comparison with anti-communism

The movement has been compared to the anti-communism of the Cold War. The Southern Poverty Law Center compares both as similar exaggerated threats. "Like the communists that an earlier generation believed to be hiding behind every rock, infiltrated 'Islamist' operatives today are said to be diabolically preparing for a forcible takeover."

Clinical formulation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_formulation

A clinical formulation, also known as case formulation and problem formulation, is a theoretically-based explanation or conceptualisation of the information obtained from a clinical assessment. It offers a hypothesis about the cause and nature of the presenting problems and is considered an adjunct or alternative approach to the more categorical approach of psychiatric diagnosis. In clinical practice, formulations are used to communicate a hypothesis and provide framework for developing the most suitable treatment approach. It is most commonly used by clinical psychologists and is deemed to be a core component of that profession. Mental health nurses, social workers, and some psychiatrists may also use formulations.

Types of formulation

Different psychological schools or models utilize clinical formulations, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and related therapies: systemic therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and applied behavior analysis. The structure and content of a clinical formulation is determined by the psychological model. Most systems of formulation contain the following broad categories of information: symptoms and problems; precipitating stressors or events; predisposing life events or stressors; and an explanatory mechanism that links the preceding categories together and offers a description of the precipitants and maintaining influences of the person's problems.

Behavioral case formulations used in applied behavior analysis and behavior therapy are built on a rank list of problem behaviors, from which a functional analysis is conducted, sometimes based on relational frame theory. Such functional analysis is also used in third-generation behavior therapy or clinical behavior analysis such as acceptance and commitment therapy and functional analytic psychotherapy. Functional analysis looks at setting events (ecological variables, history effects, and motivating operations), antecedents, behavior chains, the problem behavior, and the consequences, short- and long-term, for the behavior.

A model of formulation that is more specific to CBT is described by Jacqueline Persons. This has seven components: problem list, core beliefs, precipitants and activating situations, origins, working hypothesis, treatment plan, and predicted obstacles to treatment.

A psychodynamic formulation would consist of a summarizing statement, a description of nondynamic factors, description of core psychodynamics using a specific model (such as ego psychology, object relations or self psychology), and a prognostic assessment which identifies the potential areas of resistance in therapy.

One school of psychotherapy which relies heavily on the formulation is cognitive analytic therapy (CAT). CAT is a fixed-term therapy, typically of around 16 sessions. At around session four, a formal written reformulation letter is offered to the patient which forms the basis for the rest of the treatment. This is usually followed by a diagrammatic reformulation to amplify and reinforce the letter.

Many psychologists use an integrative psychotherapy approach to formulation. This is to take advantage of the benefits of resources from each model the psychologist is trained in, according to the patient's needs.

Critical evaluation of formulations

The quality of specific clinical formulations, and the quality of the general theoretical models used in those formulations, can be evaluated with criteria such as:

• Clarity and parsimony: Is the model understandable and internally consistent, and are key concepts discrete, specific, and non-redundant?
• Precision and testability: Does the model produce testable hypotheses, with operationally defined and measurable concepts?
• Empirical adequacy: Are the posited mechanisms within the model empirically validated?
• Comprehensiveness and generalizability: Is the model holistic enough to apply across a range of clinical phenomena?
• Utility and applied value: Does it facilitate shared meaning-making between clinician and client, and are interventions based on the model shown to be effective?

Formulations can vary in temporal scope from case-based to episode-based or moment-based, and formulations may evolve during the course of treatment. Therefore, ongoing monitoring, testing, and assessment during treatment are necessary: monitoring can take the form of session-by-session progress reviews using quantitative measures, and formulations can be modified if an intervention is not as effective as hoped.

History

Psychologist George Kelly, who developed personal construct theory in the 1950s, noted his complaint against traditional diagnosis in his book The Psychology of Personal Constructs (1955): "Much of the reform proposed by the psychology of personal constructs is directed towards the tendency for psychologists to impose preemptive constructions upon human behaviour. Diagnosis is all too frequently an attempt to cram a whole live struggling client into a nosological category." In place of nosological categories, Kelly used the word "formulation" and mentioned two types of formulation a first stage of structuralization, in which the clinician tentatively organizes clinical case information "in terms of dimensions rather than in terms of disease entities" while focusing on "the more important ways in which the client can change, and not merely ways in which the psychologist can distinguish him from other persons", and a second stage of construction, in which the clinician seeks a kind of negotiated integration of the clinician's organization of the case information with the client's personal meanings.

Psychologists Hans Eysenck, Monte B. Shapiro, Vic Meyer, and Ira Turkat were also among the early developers of systematic individualized alternatives to diagnosis. Meyer has been credited with providing perhaps the first training course of behaviour therapy based on a case formulation model, at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School in London in 1970. Meyer's original choice of words for clinical formulation were "behavioural formulation" or "problem formulation".

Religion and environmentalism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_and_environmentalism 

Buddhist monks in Cambodia on a march in the Areng Valley in support of environmental conservation.

Religion and environmentalism is an emerging interdisciplinary subfield in the academic disciplines of religious studies, religious ethics, the sociology of religion, and theology amongst others, with environmentalism and ecological principles as a primary focus.

Within the context of Christianity, in the encyclical "Laudato si'", Pope Francis called to fight climate change and ecological degradation as a whole. He claimed that humanity is facing a severe ecological crisis and blamed consumerism and irresponsible development. The encyclical is addressed to "every person living on this planet."

Buddhism includes many principles linked to sustainability. The Dalai Lama has consistently called for strong climate action, reforestation, preserving ecosystems, a reduction in meat consumption. He declared that if he will ever join a political party it will be the green party and if Buddha returned to our world now: "Buddha would be green." The leaders of Buddhism issued a special declaration calling on all believers to fight climate change and environmental destruction as a whole.

General overview

Crisis of values

This subfield is founded on the understanding that, in the words of Iranian-American philosopher Seyyed Hossein Nasr, "the environmental crisis is fundamentally a crisis of values," and that religions, being a primary source of values in any culture, are thus implicated in the decisions humans make regarding the environment. For example, a 2020 study shows that religion, as the primary source of values for religious people, can help narrow the political gap between liberals and conservatives over environmental protection.

Burden of guilt

Historian Lynn White Jr. made the argument in a 1966 lecture before the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, subsequently published in the journal Science, that Western Christianity, having de-sacralized and instrumentalized nature to human ends, bears a substantial "burden of guilt" for the contemporary environmental crisis. White's essay stimulated a flurry of responses, ranging from defenses of Christianity to qualified admissions to complete agreement with his analysis.

Eastern religions and indigenous peoples

Some proposed that Eastern religions, as well as those of indigenous peoples, neo-pagans, and others, offered more eco-friendly worldviews than Christianity. A third, more obscure camp, argued that while White's theory was indeed correct, this was actually a benefit to society, and that thinning the populations of weaker plant and animal species via environmental destruction would lead to the evolution of stronger, more productive creatures. See Kaitiaki in Māori religion.

Religion and ecology

By the 1990s, many scholars of religion had entered the debate and begun to generate a substantial body of literature discussing and analyzing how nature is valued in the world's various religious systems. A landmark event was a series of ten conferences on Religion and Ecology organized by Yale University professors Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim and held at the Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions from 1996 to 1998. More than 800 international scholars, religious leaders, and environmentalists participated in the conference series. The conferences concluded at the United Nations and at the American Museum of Natural History with more than 1,000 people in attendance. Papers from the conferences were published in a series of ten books (The Religions of the World and Ecology Book Series), one for each of the world's major religious traditions.

From these conferences, Tucker and Grim would form the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology. The Forum has been instrumental in the creation of scholarship, in forming environmental policy, and in the greening of religion. In addition to their work with the Forum, Tucker and Grim's work continues in the Journey of the Universe film, book, and educational DVD series. It continues to be the largest international multireligious project of its kind.

An active Religion and Ecology group has been in existence within the American Academy of Religion since 1991, and an increasing number of universities in North America and around the world are now offering courses on religion and the environment. Recent scholarship on the field of religion and ecology can be found in the peer-reviewed academic journal Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology and in reference works such as the encyclopedia The Spirit of Sustainability.

Understanding the unique role religious leaders and faith-based communities have in play in the field of conservation, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) established its Sacred Earth: Faiths for Conservation initiative by partnering with faith groups to deliver effective and sustainable conservation strategies.

Religion and nature

Another landmark in the emerging field was the publication of the Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature in 2005, which was edited by Bron Taylor. Taylor also led the effort to form the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, which was established in 2006, and began publishing the quarterly Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture in 2007.

Religions and the environment

Interfaith cooperation

Formed in 1992, GreenFaith is a global interfaith environmental coalition with more than 100 chapters (called "Circles") in the Pacific Islands, North America, Australia, Asia, Latin America, Africa, and Europe as well as religious partners in over 40 countries. Focusing on grassroots activism, they encourages religious communities to invest in green energy, divest from fossil fuels, and publicly advocate for climate justice on a religious basis. As an example of their activism, in 2015, GreenFaith led the Una Terra, Una Familglia Humana (lit. 'One Earth, One Human Family') Climate Change March in Vatican City.

In 2015 over 150 leaders from various faiths issued a joint statement to the UN Climate Summit in Paris 2015  ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP21 in Paris in December 2015. In it they reiterated a statement made at the interfaith summit in New York made in September 2014:

We as religious leaders: "stand together to express deep concern for the consequences of climate change on the earth and its people, all entrusted, as our faiths reveal, to our common care. Climate change is indeed a threat to life. Life is a precious gift we have received and that we need to care for".

The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD), a non-profit organization based in Jerusalem, led by rabbi Yonatan Neril promotes cooperation between religions for ensuring sustainability.

Buddhism

Buddhism includes many principles linked to sustainability. The Dalai Lama has consistently called for strong climate action, reforestation, preserving ecosystems, and a reduction in meat consumption. He declared that if he will ever join a political party it will be the green party and if Buddha returned to our world now: "Buddha would be green." The leaders of Buddhism issued a special declaration calling on all believers to fight climate change and environmental destruction as a whole.

The historical Buddha and other prominent Buddhist figures gave many teachings and instructions on the importance of caring for the environment. These narratives were later written down and compiled in the Buddhist sacred scriptures.

Buddhism teaches that all things are interconnected on both gross and subtle levels. It teaches that by observing how everything in life happens due to causes and conditions coming together, we come to see how everything is interconnected in a complex web of causality. Because humans are entwined with natural systems, damage done upon the Earth is also harm done to humans. Through contemplation and investigation, we can begin to develop an understanding which takes us beyond mere intellectual understanding leading us towards realisation of more subtle and profound aspects of interdependent origination. When we have developed this true feeling of interconnectedness, it will naturally influence the way in which we relate to our external world.

In the First Turning of the Dharma wheel, it is taught that attachment is a cause of suffering. Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, spent his life searching to understand what is human suffering, what is it causes and how can one liberate themself from this suffering.

Just as we experience suffering so too do other sentient beings. It is from this basis that we can develop the aspiration to alleviate them from their suffering. Since beginningless time it is taught that at one time all beings have been our kind parents, so by wishing to repay their kindness we can come to develop compassion for all sentient beings, by developing the aspiration to relieve them of their suffering and the causes of suffering. Buddhism teaches that merely listening to and reading the words is not sufficient to bring about transformation within our minds. We need to contemplate them and then apply them to our daily lives. Developing compassion takes training and practice, but by developing habitual tendencies to bring benefit to others, a more healthy relationship with others and our environment will naturally develop.

Buddha taught that a balance must be established between self-destruction and self-indulgence. These days much emphasis is placed on the economic and social aspects of life and environmental aspects are often overlooked. When human preferences are leveled by developing compassion and equanimity, there is balance and harmony within the mind which has an impact on our actions of body and speech.

In summary, Buddhism provides a structured framework that creates not only short-term solutions to amending the broken relationship between humanity and nature, but it also teaches us how we can fulfill our ultimate collective aspirations.

The Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama has done much to promote environmental awareness and support initiatives that help protect the environment.

In a meeting with the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of India Timothy J. Roemer, the Dalai Lama urged the U.S. to engage China on climate change in Tibet. The Dalai Lama has also been part of a series on discussions organised by the Mind and Life Institute; a non-profit organisation that specializes the relationship between science and Buddhism. The talks were partly about ecology, ethics, and interdependence, and issues on global warming were brought up.

In 2010 he published the book Our Only Home: A Climate Appeal to the World and in January 2021 was engaged in conversation on The Crisis of Climate Feedback Loops with Greta Thunberg and leading scientists William Moomaw and Susan Natali

The 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje

The 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje is a passionate environmentalist who often incorporates this theme into his teachings and public talks.

In 2007 during the Kagyu Monlam Chenmo, he suggested that planting a single tree can be more beneficial than performing life release for many beings, and recommended that monasteries should plant one to two thousand trees. In addition he urged monks to practise restraint when sponsors offer technology upgrades.

In 2008 he established the Khoryug network meaning "environment" in Tibetan. He helped to connect over 50 monasteries, nunneries and centres throughout India, Nepal and Bhutan in the Himalayas and South India, who jointly made the commitment to help protect the Himalayan region from environmental degradation by acting in sustainable and environmentally friendly ways. In 2008 he published Environmental Guidelines for Karma Kagyu Buddhist Monasteries, which address environmental issues such as forest, water, and wildlife protection, Waste management, and ways to tackle climate change by offering solutions based on the most recent scientific and practical knowledge available.

In 2009, the Karmapa approached the WWF to assist the Khoryug network. As a result, more than 55 environmental projects such as solar panel installation were implemented by Khoryug monasteries.

In 2009 he published the book The Future Is Now: Timely Advice for Creating a Better World which offers advice on caring for the environment. In 2015 he published the book The Heart is Noble: Changing the World from the Inside Out where he shares his vision for bringing social action into daily life, and in 2017 he published the book Interconnected: Embracing Life in Our Global Society which explores the interconnected relationships we have with family, community, and the rest of humanity, and how through these relationships we can become effective agents of social and ethical change. He also published a booklet entitled "One Hundred and Eight Things you can do to help the Environment" which was released on Earth Day, on 22 April 2009.

At the second conference on environmental protection (3 to 8 October 2009, Gyuto Monastery), he stated

For too long, people have behaved thoughtlessly and ignored the damage to the environment that they are creating and, if this continued there was a great danger that it would be too late to do anything.

On 24 October 2009, Ogyen Trinley Dorje supported international climate action day at a gathering at McLeod Ganj in northern India.

In 2014, during his first European world tour he said:

We should never exploit the world we live in for the purpose of short-term benefits. Rather than considering the Earth as a material thing, we should consider it as a mother who nurtures us; from generation to generation we need this loving mother.

In Spring 2015 he participated in a two-month tour of the United States, where he visited six major universities, and delivered public talks focusing on environmental protection and compassionate activism. At this time he was awarded Yale's prestigious Chubb Fellowship, and at The University of Redlands he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree

Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche

Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche was actively engaged in helping protect the environment. In the Tibetan Areas of China through the Rokpa charity, he established a programme of reforestation over a period of several years and in on the Holy Mountain of Drakkar he arranged for local people to be employed as rangers, to protect their local flora and fauna. Seeing that that new demand was driving the herbs used in Tibetan medicine close to extinction, he initiated a pioneering project to preserve them by bringing three young doctors to the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh to study horticulture and biodynamics.

Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche

Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche works to spread environmental awareness through his teachings and public talks. He is the founder of The Holy Isle project on Holy Island, Firth of Clyde, which was purchased by the Rokpa Trust in 1992. Lama Yeshe's vision is to create a peaceful, sacred space, guided by environmental considerations for people of all faiths and religions. Since acquiring the island up to 50 thousand indigenous trees have been planted as part of the "Trees for Peace" project. This was developed in consultation with the Scottish Forestry Commission, the Scottish Office, the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, and other environmental experts, and has helped to recreate a woodland habitat to support biodiversity. A designated nature reserve for native animals, birds, and sea life has been created on the east side of the island, and at the north end of the island, there is the Centre of World Peace and Health, whose design and construction are based upon environmental sustainability, sensitive to the ecology of its unique environment. In creating a place where humans and animals can live in peace and harmony, Holy Isle has become a model of environmentally friendly living.

Thích Nhất Hạnh

In 2014, Thích Nhất Hạnh addressed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change:

Our love and admiration for the Earth has the power to unite us and remove all boundaries, separation and discrimination. Centuries of individualism and competition have brought about tremendous destruction and alienation. We need to re-establish true communication–true communion–with ourselves, with the Earth, and with one another as children of the same mother.

Christianity

Main article: Christian views on environmentalism

The status of nature in Christianity has been hotly debated, especially since historian Lynn White published the now classic "The historical roots of present-day ecologic crisis" in 1967. In it, White blames Christianity for the modern environmental crisis, which he concludes is largely due to the dominance of a Christian worldview in the West that is exploitative of nature in an unsustainable manner. He asserts that proponents of the Judeo-Christian ethic are anti-ecological, hostile towards nature, and view nature as something separate from humanity, to be exploited by mankind. This exploitative attitude, combined with new technology and the industrial revolution, has wreaked havoc on the natural world. Colonial forestry is a prime example of ecological destruction that also involves the destruction of native faiths. See the "Burden of guilt" section above.

Catholic Church

Pope Francis clearly demonstrated his concerns about protecting the environment and indigenous peoples in his first-ever address to an international audience in Brazil in 2013. Having heard about the plight of the Amazon rainforests in Brazil, he called for "respect and protection of the entire creation which God has entrusted to man." Under his guidance, The Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM) was established, offering advice on how to live in harmony with our environment by transforming our lifestyles, as well as calling for bold public policies to tackle climate change.

At the beginning of the 21st century, Pope Francis published the encyclical Laudato si', a document calling humanity to preserve the sustainability of the biosphere. The encyclical is taught in the academy of the Sustainable Development Goals The document is also called: "on care for our common home." In the encyclical, the pope calls to fight climate change and ecological degradation as a whole. He claims that humanity is facing a severe ecological crisis and blames consumerism and non-responsible development. The encyclical is addressed to "every person living on this planet."

Latter Day Saint movement

Mormon environmentalists find theological reasons for stewardship and conservationism through biblical and additional scriptural references including a passage from the Doctrine and Covenants: "And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion" (D&C 59:20). The Latter Day Saint movement has a complex relationship with environmental concerns, involving not only the religion but politics and economics. In terms of environmentally friendly policies, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a history of utilizing elements of conservationist policies for their meetinghouses.

The church first placed solar panels on a church meetinghouse in the Tuamotu Islands in 2007. In 2010, the church unveiled five LEED certified meetinghouse prototypes that are that will be used as future meetinghouse designs around the world, the first one having been completed in 2010 in Farmington, Utah.

Hinduism

In Hinduism, practitioners and scholars find traditional approaches to the natural environment in such concepts as dharmic ethics or prakrti (material creation), the development of ayurveda, and readings of vedic literature. Hindu environmental activism also may be inspired by Gandhian philosophy and practical struggles, such as the Bishnoi community in Rajasthan and Chipko resistance to forestry policies in Uttar Pradesh, India.

Mahatma Gandhi played a major role in Indian environmentalism and has been called the "father of Indian environmentalism". Gandhi's environmental thought parallels his social thoughts in that environmental sustainability and social inequalities should be managed in similar fashions. His non-violent teachings left a lasting impact, even agriculturally. Contemporary agrarian practices use the Bhagavad-Gita to establish practices that are deemed non-violent.

Islam

Main article: Islamic environmentalism

The Quran and the Prophetic Traditions [sayings and actions of Muhammad] make it clear that the environment is a blessing and a sign of the divine. The Quran refers to natural phenomena numerous times and compels readers to ponder over the environment as a reflection of the truth – a signpost to a designer. One can gain profound knowledge from nature, so human beings are to preserve it and look after it.

The concept of humanity having 'Khilafah' or guardianship over the planet means that many Muslims believe that we should not exploit natural resources. The Quran refers to living beings as 'communities like yourselves'. Some scholars have said that this entails that other living beings have rights.

Sayings of Muhammad related to the environment:

• "If a Muslim plants a tree or sows seeds, and then a bird, or a person or an animal eats from it, it is regarded as a charitable gift for him." [Bukhari]
• The Companions [i.e. the disciples of the prophet] said, "O Messenger of God! Is there a reward for us in serving the animals?" He replied: "There is a reward for serving any living being." [Bukhari]
• "A woman entered the Fire because of a cat which she had tied, neither giving it food nor setting it free to eat from the vermin of the earth." [Bukhari]
• "The world is beautiful and verdant, and verily God, be He exalted, has made you His stewards in it, and He sees how you acquit yourselves." [Muslim]
• "Do not waste water, even if you are at a running stream." [Ibn Majah]
• "If the Hour (the day of Resurrection) is about to be established and one of you was holding a sapling, let him take advantage of even one second before the Hour is established to plant it." [Al-Albani]

Verses of the Quran linked to environmental protection:

• "He is the One Who has placed you as successors [Khalifa] on earth ... so He may test you with what He has given you."
• "O Children of Adam! ... Eat and drink, but do not waste. Surely He does not like the wasteful."
• "...do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption."
• "Indeed, We offered the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they all declined to bear it, being fearful of it. But humanity assumed it, for they are truly wrongful to themselves and ignorant of the consequences."
• "All living beings roaming the earth and winged birds soaring in the sky are communities like yourselves."

One of the primary figures of the religion and environmentalism movement, Iranian Muslim philosopher Seyyed Hossein Nasr, details the theme of "man's total disharmony with his environment." Nasr believes that to overcome the environmental crisis there needs to be a recognition that "the whole of nature is descended from higher spiritual realms." According to Nasr, the desacralization of the West has led to the increase of ideology promoting dominion over the earth and its resources, which is contrary to Islamic thinking. According to conservationist and scholar Jonathan Benthall, Islam offers a useful perspective of environmentalism through two primary themes. The first is the "glory and logic of the cosmos and of the cyclical regeneration of life" that is visible through Qur'anic passages, particularly ones referencing stewardship (khalifa). The second theme Benthall references is the very environmental basis from which Islam was founded, "an environment where natural recourses, especially water, fruit trees, and livestock have always had to be carefully conserved to ensure human survival, a concern which is inevitably reflected in the Qur'an."

Many Muslims have taken up climate activism. The Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Science is a charity organization dedicated to offering up dialogues and encouraging activism that combines both Islamic perspectives and ecological sustainability. The organization's objectives are to generate a center for Islamic research that will also serve as a location with which to gather and experiment with new sustainable technologies.

In Islam, the concept of a hima or "inviolate zone" refers to a piece of land that has been set aside to prevent cultivation or any use other than spiritual purposes. This concept, in addition to alternative interpretations of Islamic teachings, such as sufism, are found to be helpful in developing Islamic pro-environmental ethics.

Judaism

Main article: Judaism and environmentalism

In Judaism, the natural world plays a central role in Jewish law, literature, and liturgical and other practices.  Within the diverse arena of Jewish thought, beliefs vary widely about the human relation to the environment, though the rabbinic tradition has put Judaism primarily on an anthropocentric trajectory. However, a few contemporary Jewish thinkers and rabbis in the US and Israel emphasized that a central belief in Judaism is that the Man (Ha Adam – האדם whose root comes from Haadama (earth) – האדמה, in Hebrew language), should keep the Earth in the same state as he received it from God, its eternal and actual "owner" (especially for the land of Israel), thus the people today should avoid polluting it and keep it clean for the future generations. According to this opinion, Judaism is clearly in line with the principles of environmental protection and sustainable development.

In Jewish law (halakhah), ecological concerns are reflected in Biblical protection for fruit trees, rules in the Mishnah against harming the public domain, Talmudic debate over noise and smoke damages, and contemporary responsa on agricultural pollution. In Conservative Judaism, there has been some attempt to adopt ecokashrut ideas developed in the 1970s by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. In addition, Jewish activists have recruited principles of halakhah for environmental purposes, such as the injunction against unnecessary destruction, known as bal tashkhit. 

In contemporary Jewish liturgy, ecological concerns have been promoted by adapting a kabbalistic ritual for the holiday of trees, Tu Bishvat. Biblical and rabbinic texts have been enlisted for prayers about the environment, especially in Orthodox Judaism and Jewish Renewal movements.

In the U.S., a diverse coalition of Jewish environmentalists undertakes both educational and policy advocacy on such issues as biodiversity and global warming. Jewish environmentalists are drawn from all branches of religious life, ranging from Rabbi Arthur Waskow to the Orthodox group Canfei Nesharim. In Israel, secular Jews have formed numerous governmental and non-governmental organizations to protect nature and reduce pollution.

While many Israeli environmental organizations make limited use of Jewish religious teachings, a few do approach Israel's environmental problems from a Jewish standpoint, including the Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership, named after Abraham Joshua Heschel.

Taoism

Taoism offers many ideas that are in line with environmentalism, such as wu wei, moderation, compassion and Taoist animism. Parallels were found between Taoism and deep ecology. Pioneer of environmentalism John Muir was called "the Taoist of the West". Rosenfeld wrote "Taoism is environmentalism".

Jainism

In Jainism, the ancient and perhaps timeless philosophical concepts, like Parasparopagraho Jivanam, were more recently compiled into a Jain Declaration on Nature, which describes the religion's inherent biocentrism and deep ecology.

Sikhism

In the Sikh faith, it is believed that one should treat air as one's Guru (the spiritual teacher), water as one's father and the earth as the Great Mother. (Guru Nanak Dev Ji in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scriptures of the Sikhs Page 8 Line 10.)

More than five hundred and fifty years ago, Guru Nanak Dev Ji wrote in prayer on Page 8 Line 10 wrote, "We are all the children of air which is word of the Guru, water the Father, and earth the Great Mother who sustains us all."