I think this is where we miss a lot of what goes on, by separating nature into this 'other' thing, that needs to be feared, looked-after or pillaged for what it has to offer, instead of simply being a part of our existence.
And I think this is maybe part of why I don't think of my own religious practice as nature-based. There are bits and pieces of nature in it, of course. Nature is all around me, all the time, and it wouldn't make sense to completely leave out everything that has to do with nature. I mean... I follow a solar deity, and it's sort of hard to separate the sun from nature!
But, religiously, I don't separate "nature" from "the rest of the world around me". Nature, other human beings, the things humans have created... They're all important, and if any of them gets emphasized over any other, that's a balance that shifts depending on context and the individual elements under consideration rather than a set value that rules overall. Nature doesn't win out any more often than the rest of it. So without that emphasis, I don't feel my religion is nature-based.
...And I didn't mean to make that sound like such a reaction to the "nature-based" label, which reaction is not the point of this thread. I have some difficulty coming up with exact answers to questions like the ones Catja asked, though (because I'm mostly like, "...it's... there...."), so this was a way I could start to sort of dig into the subject. My intention here is to use it as a starting point for further thoughts about how nature does or does not relate to my religion, not to just be all, "I keep telling you! Not nature-based!"
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