Existing Reviews of Robert H Nelson, The New Holy Wars: Economic Religion versus Contemporary Religion in Contemporary America(Penn State Press, 2010).
“Robert H. Nelson, one of the world’s leading natural resource economists, long has argued that the ideologies in economics are secularizations of traditional religion and that this concealment is ill advised. … He now also brands environmentalism as a secular religion whose roots need examination. … {He shows] the incoherence … and unreality of environmentalists’ calls to preserve ‘natural’ conditions.”
- Richard Gordon, Cato Journal (Fall 2010)
"Robert H. Nelson's new book is engaging [and] provocative...[He] works to uncover and articulate underlying religious themes in American economic and environmental systems of thought...Rich historical analysis is offered to support this notion."
-Simon Nicholson, Perspectives on Politics (March 2011)
"This book should be of interest to a wide variety of audiences, not only to scholars of religion, but also economists, environmentalists, and the general public interested in religions. It is highly readable and touches on many relevant and controversial issues in contemporary society...For scholars of religions, it reminds us to reconsider the social movements of our time, and to devote more energy to uncovering and considering the implicit assumptions buried beneath these movements, many of which are not 'secular' at all, but are saturated with adapted versions of traditional religious beliefs and practices."
-Justin Farrell, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (September 2011)
"In The New Holy Wars this nontheologian proves capable of out-theologizing many theologians...Nelson convincingly argues that economics and environmentalism are two new secular religions that require theological understanding."
-Stephen Healey, The Christian Century (July 2011)
"Forget the ‘culture wars’ and the assault on Christianity. The real conflict in America is thoroughly secular – between economic and environmental ‘religions -- … says Robert Nelson. He makes the argument, long known to conservatives, that religion never really goes away.”
-Tobias Lanz, Chronicles (August 2011)
"If my own classroom is any measure, Nelson has interesting and provocative things to say to such students and to the broader public...we all need to think more about the metaphysical and religious foundations of ideas that seem, on their surface, merely technical."
-Andre Wakefield, Technology and Culture (July 2011)
"Nelson has offered an exciting argument and revealed an important pattern...That both modern American economists and environmentalists have been engaged for over a century in creating new secular versions of American Christianity by replacing God with science in their respective disciplines while continuing to affirm and reinforce Christian, and particularly Calvinist, moral values and eschatological visions."
-Dennis C. Williams, Environmental History (April 2011)
"Nelson has much to say about important belief systems of contemporary society and research agendas of the social sciences. In his view, economics and environmentalism are competing faiths, constituted from modern secular assumptions...Understanding [them]...should help in in packing the deep conflicts over public policy."
-Randolph Haluza-Delay, Environmental Politics (July 2011)
"Nelson's Holy Wars: Economic Religion in Contemporary America is a timely book... a thorough, engaging, and comprehensive assay into the muddied waters of American public policy discourse." [He] powerfully increases the reader's ability to distinguish the variegated and diverse landscape of contemporary American public policy and media debates... [and] presents a compelling narrative of the complexity of disputes in the public square grounded by significant depth of research. This survey is paired with insightful and incisive critiques of the shortcomings of both secular economism and environmentalism [and] provides an excellent explication of the contradictions and inconsistencies. He provides an excellent explication of the contradictions and inconsistencies of the utopian or eschatological visions presented by these competing religions."
-Jordan J. Ballor, Calvin Theological Journal (November 2010)
"The New Holy Wars is grounded in questions, observations, and visions of reform that emerged out of policy making. Its theological discussions are peppered with somewhat more practical examinations of contemporary policy challenges...It is ripe for consideration and study."
-Marisa B. Van Saanen, Review of Faith and International Affairs (Winter 2010)
"[Nelson's] book is an excellent contribution that will help us better understand the intersections between economics, ethics, and theology...The theological approach Nelson adopts is illuminating, and he does a great service by pointing out how much of the materialist and environmentalist gospels are explicitly derived from religion."
-Art Carden, The Freeman (May 2011)
"[The New Holy Wars'] central thesis is incontrovertible. It should be required reading for orthodox religious believers so that they may know where the real challenges of their faiths lie. Believers... [should] get copies of this book into the hands of those of their friends and neighbors."
-Gerard Casey, Journal of Faith and the Academy (Summer 2010)
“Nelson points out that both [economists and environmentalists] tend to believe that if we could just ‘fix people’ and get them thinking and acting correctly (e.g., about the economy or environment), our economic or environmental problems could be solved and ideal states-of-the world achieved. … A good read … [that] provide[s] stimulating food for thought and insights into the possible ethical and philosophical drivers underlying the economic growth and environmental protection advocacy positions.”
-John Bergstrom, Faith and Economics (Spring 2011)
