This is one of Bill Gates favorite books.

The answer to your question is within your question... by joining together as ecoactivists to preserve biodiversity, forests, oceans, animals and pollution-free ecosystems, and by consciously and willingly limiting human overpopulation, because we're all human beings and human beings will still need a quality home in a hundred years.

Dr Wilson is an extraordinary genius. Belonging to a group is an important part of life for many living creatures. As primates we are not unlike the other apes that tend to live in groups. Probably the most glaring exception to that pattern are orangutans which tend to lead solitary lives. Humans are very much social and even those known as loners still often find company with other loners.So my answer to your question would be kinda like what we have here. Seek out others that share your basic ideals and needs and then look for a commonality to which a concerted effort may make a difference. many does make a task easier so a concerted effort may very well succeed and thereby become even more attractive to others who come to see what is happening and adopt the will. Dr wilson was in the forefront of the sociobiology theory. It never gained favor but that was mainly because others could not understand what he was saying. basically the same principle.

Some good points there, and a worthwhile topic.

Just as an aside, I thought I would clarify the statement you made "as when a Mormon, say, turns his back on his religion, and must then give up family and community as well"

As someone who has been through this experience, and spoken to many people who leave this religion, I can assure you that for the most part, this is a false assertion.

I do know other "franchises" of christianity that adopt this policy, but Mormons really can't be categorised with them. If anyone has experienced this, it may be a result of the natural human instinct to avoid argumentative and/or aggressive behaviour. I think you will find that Mormons in general are much more accepting and friendly.

Strangely enough, Mormons are actually very science accepting. You don't get these crazy preachers who insist the earth is flat with a dome over it, or that the world is only 7,000 years old.

That was a big part of the problem for me, that they still teach the standard scriptures, but they don't try to reconcile the obvious contradictions.

But anyway, they don't ostracize people who leave.

Well, this forum, and the many eco-groups I've been in, are contributing to that sense of community. That, as well as joining local groups of hobbyists; hikers, bikers, campers, bird watchers, etc.

Looks to me like we need a religion based on verifiable facts rather than on misinterpretable metaphors.

I also am a voracious reader. I just finished a book by Michel Tournier called "The Four Wise Men", which imagines the circumstances and stories that led the three wise men to the manger, as well as the apocryphal story of a fourth king who started from farther away and didn't arrive until the last supper. Now I am a complete atheist; but surprisingly, it doesn't hammer the religious side of the story. It turned out to be a beautiful parable about the nature of supreme sacrifice. The ending took my breath away. Definitely a worthwhile read if you get the chance.