Troubled Waters - by Gary Chamberlain (Paperback)

About the Book

Troubled Waters provides readers with an appreciation of the central role of religious meanings and ritual practices surrounding water, arriving at creative new ways to approach the growing water crisis worldwide.

Book Synopsis

Troubled Waters provides readers with an appreciation of the central role of religious meanings and ritual practices surrounding water, arriving at creative new ways to approach the growing water crisis worldwide.

Review Quotes

Troubled Waters is a useful survey of different religious traditions' perspectives on the meaning and use of water. Gary Chamberlain makes an important contribution from a religious perspective to developing a new water ethos.

After reading Chamberlain's book I'm not going to look at my early morning glass of water without more profound reverence and thanksgiving. This book demonstrates clearly that cultural and religious dimensions rather than economic and technocratic perspectives must shape any future realistic management of our earth's precious water resources if we are to survive.

Gary Chamberlain presents an interdisciplinary tour de force through the rising tide of water issues affecting all areas of life and global society. Written to effect major changes in how humans view, value, and treat this life-giving source, the book combines scholarship on world religions, history, hydrology, cosmology, social science, politics, and ethics in the service of water's restoration and democratic distribution. Like the water on which he creatively focuses, the book is an invaluable resource on many fronts.

Gary Chamberlain's information and analysis is unique and will make an important contribution to the primacy of water in religious traditions and the ethical requirements for a just and adequate distribution.

Given the present threats to fresh water from anthropogenic climate change, Chamberlain's book is timely.

Grounded in both thorough scientific knowledge and a profound caring for nature and people, the breadth of Gary Chamberlain's approaches to the question of water is breathtaking. Even more remarkable is his success in weaving all of these diverse perspectives-religion, history, science, culture, ethics and justice-into a coherent, compelling story that both inspires and calls us to action. In this critical time, we are in such need of engaging works like this that unite rather than divide the disciplines as we work to save ourselves, our fellow creatures, and the living, essential waters that we share.

In Troubled Waters , he exposes the problems surrounding water pollution, misuse, and scarcity that pose challenges no less pressing than those associated with global warming, and that are indeed no less difficult to resolve.

About the Author

Gary Chamberlain teaches in both the environmental studies and religious studies departments at Seattle University. He lives in Seattle, Washington.