Religion and Resistance in Appalachia: Faith and the Fight Against Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining by Joseph D. Witt

I'm impressed. Until I got into this book beyond the title, I found that it was deeper and more thorough than I expected. I particularly value the author's awareness of the role of evangelical religious values in both the initial and the contemporary struggle against strip mining and mountaintop removal mining. The book provides an excellent overview of the topic. It begins with a nice historical synopsis of resistance to strip mining. Chapter two looks closely at mainstream Catholic and Protestant rationales for opposing mountaintop removal. Chapter three examines the evangelical perspective that was dominant in the first efforts to oppose strip mining in the 1960s and continues today. Chapter four examines spiritual and nature-revering religious values that conflict with the destruction of the earth. The last chapter looks at situations in contemporary movements when these perspectives came into conflict - some resolved beautifully, and others not so much. "Religion and Resistance in