Homosexuality and religion supported them. Ancient religious texts such as the Vedas often refer to people of a third gender known as hijra, who are neither female nor male. Some see this third gender as an ancient parallel to modern western lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex identities. Hinduism has taken various positions, ranging from positive to neutral or antagonistic. Referring to the nature of Samsara, the Rigveda, one of the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism says 'Vikruti Evam Prakriti' (perversity/diversity is what nature is all about, or, what seems unnatural is also natural). A "third gender" has been acknowledged within Hinduism
Religion and environmentalism ideas that are in line with environmentalism, such as wu wei, moderation, compassion and Taoist animism. Parallels were found between Taoism and deep ecology. Pioneer of environmentalism John Muir was called "the Taoist of the West". Rosenfeld wrote 'Taoism is environmentalism'. In Jainism, the ancient and perhaps timeless philosophical concepts, like "Parasparopagraho Jivanam", were more recently compiled into a Jain Declaration on Nature, which describes the religion's inherent biocentrism and deep ecology. () Religions of the World and Ecology Book Series: Other Texts: Religion and environmentalism Religion and environmentalism is an emerging interdisciplinary subfield in the academic disciplines of religious