The Religious and Spiritual Appeal of National Parks
Religious elements of national parks may not be obvious, but visitors’ experiences rely to some extent on traditions of religious travel and religio-aesthetic interpretations.
The spiritual experience of nature in the national parks
The National Park Service’s management of nature offers America’s wild places as contrived experiences to meet the spiritual expectations of the consumer public.
The Narrow Road to Bashō: a short review of travel sketches
A short review of The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches by renowned seventeenth-century Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō.
Religion in the National Parks
Religion has been an implied value in America’s national park idea from the time of the earliest nineteenth-century parks to the present. But the religious element usually remains buried in visitors’ private aesthetic responses to park experiences and attractions. Rarely do specific theological views appear in the parks, even in unofficial activities or park uses. Certainly, the National Park Service…
San Antonio Missions Added to the World Heritage List
Today’s announcement from the World Heritage Committee approving the addition of five cultural sites on their World Heritage List, including the San Antonio Missions in Texas, has me wondering about the process of gaining World Heritage status. Certainly, the Spanish colonial missions in San Antonio are as deserving as any site of cultural significance, but so are the Newark Earthworks…