Ethics in Religion Commons^™

Accounting For The Gift: Theology And Ethics In Accounting, Daniel Sebastian

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Accounting is often assumed to be a neutral presentation of the facts of economic activities and actions. Its double-entry system means that it is always in balance and comports to the rigor of mathematical formulas, and it is taken to be a matter of empirical counting that lends it certainty as well. The dissertation argues that this description of accounting is inadequate. Accounting is better seen as a political tool and technology for producing trust that can help resolve social conflicts. As such, accounting is not value-neutral but carries within it a particular sociality that has moral implications. These moral …

Containerization Of Seafarers In The International Shipping Industry: Contemporary Seamanship, Maritime Social Infrastructures, And Mobility Politics Of Global Logistics, Liang Wu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation discusses the mobility politics of container shipping and argues that technological development, political-economic order, and social infrastructure co-produce one another. Containerization, the use of standardized containers to carry cargo across modes of transportation that is said to have revolutionized and globalized international trade since the late 1950s, has served to expand and extend the power of international coalitions of states and corporations to control the movements of commodities (shipments) and labor (seafarers). The advent and development of containerization was driven by a sociotechnical imaginary and international social contract of seamless shipping and cargo flows. In practice, this liberal, …

Subsidiarity: A Central Principle For Justice, Peace, And Sustainability In Mining, Caesar A. Montevecchio

The Journal of Social Encounters

The Catholic social teaching principle of subsidiarity states that problems should be dealt with at the lowest level possible, but the highest level necessary. It attempts to create structures of social power that can best protect the dignity of individuals and families and promote their human flourishing. In the case of mining, subsidiarity would say that the communities impacted by mining need to be centered and empowered to the greatest extent possible, but that the national, regional, and/or global nature of the issues at stake, like climate change, violent conflict, or economic justice, mean that community goals and decisions need …

Prolegomena To A Buddhist(Ic) Critique Of Capitalism, James Mark Shields

Faculty Contributions to Books

Not even three decades removed from Francis Fukuyama’s post-Cold War proclamation of the “End of History,” the Western world is now undergoing a crisis of conscience – at the very least – with respect to both capitalism as an economic system and neoliberalism as its less-recognized but ever-present ideological foundation. The financial crisis of 2008, the subsequent Great Recession, the Occupy movement(s) of 2011, the 2016 challenge of self-styled Democratic Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination, and growing anxiety about the fate of the planet, particularly among the young, have opened up new avenues of critique, and brought …

Sons Of Disobedience And Their Machines: How Sin And Anthropology Can Inform Evangelical Thought About Ai, Gregory S. Mckenzie

Eleutheria: John W. Rawlings School of Divinity Academic Journal

The purpose of this paper is to further discussion about artificial intelligence by examining AI from the perspective of the doctrine of sin. As such, philosophy of mind and theological anthropology, specifically, what it means to be human, the effects of sin, and the consequent social ramifications of AI drive the analysis of this paper. Accordingly, the conclusions of the analysis are that the depravity of fallen humanity is cause for concern in the very programming of AI and serves as a corrupted foundation for artificial machine cognition. Given the fallen nature of human thought, and therefore, fallen AI thought, …

Fast Fashion From A Buddhist Perspective, Elizabeth Mclaughlin

HON499 projects

The connection between Buddhism and fast fashion is not immediately apparent, nor is it a particularly well-researched area. However, the topic of consumption underlies both topics, relating to each in markedly different ways. Buddhist precepts outline practices of mindful and sustainable consumption within limited means; fast fashion fosters consumption on a massive, global scale. The work of Ernst Friedrich Schumacher, a man with a career in economics that was aided by great concern for the survival and success of humankind, offers clarity to the conversation about Buddhism and fast fashion. He pioneered the field of Buddhist economics, which seeks to …

Playing At The Crossroads Of Religion And Law: Historical Milieu, Context And Curriculum Hooks In Lost & Found, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This chapter presents the use of Lost & Found – a purpose-built tabletop to mobile game series – to teach medieval religious legal systems. The series aims to broaden the discourse around religious legal systems and to counter popular depiction of these systems which often promote prejudice and misnomers. A central element is the importance of contextualizing religion in period and locale. The Lost & Found series uses period accurate depictions of material culture to set the stage for play around relevant topics – specifically how the law promoted collaboration and sustainable governance practices in Fustat (Old Cairo) in twelfth-century …

The Economics Of Love, Débora Silva Viana

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I argue that the obligation to love based on the Christian tradition requires Christians to disperse their resources in a way that significantly evens out wealth distribution and increases social justice. Christians disagree on the terminology and some tenets of the goal of the Christian life (e.g., deification, beatific vision, communion with God, salvation). However, the requirement to practice love is common to all of these concepts, thus making love normative for Christians. I argue that when love takes such a prominent role in one’s life, then it naturally influences how one manages one’s resources. If love …

Why Is Las Vegas Busy Everyday? A Behavioural Analysis Of Impact Investors’ Attitude And Decision-Making Process, Isha Shah

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Remarking a discrepancy in the statistics of a growing influence of impact investment and yet its restrictive inclusion in the financial market has encouraged this inductive research to take an alternative approach to address the impact investment market. In an emic perspective, this study aims to assess the factors motivating individuals and institutions to pursue impact investment. Further, it also investigates some elements that guide the decision making of the investors in this field. The qualitative nature of the research demands exceptional secondary sources and it is rendered more credible with the inclusion of three relevant primary sources. The analysis …

Christian Political Economy And Economic Science: A Pathway For Interdisciplinary Dialogue, Nathan Mclellan

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation considers two intellectual impediments to interdisciplinary dialogue between Christian theologians, ethicists, and economists: scarcity and the status of economics as a wertfrei science. Using the landmark methodological work of Lionel Robbins, An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economics Science, to frame the discussion, this dissertation seeks to remove these two intellectual impediments to interdisciplinary dialogue by considering three nested questions. They are:

(1) Is scarcity—as defined by Robbins—an accurate description of the world?

(2) If scarcity, as defined by Robbins, is an accurate description of the world, how is this to be justified theologically, and …

Economic Rights In Catholic Social Teaching, Andrew Beauchamp, Jason Heron

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Catholic social teaching has a vision of the economy that is very closely aligned with the tradition of civil humanism, dating at least from the Italian Renaissance. In the course of contemporary discussion of economic concerns, Catholic social teaching often asserts human rights in and related to the economic sphere. However, it regards these economic imperatives not in terms of an autonomous, rights-bearing individualism, but rather within the thick web of relationships characterized by civil virtues, including reciprocity and gratuitousness.

Thus the Church conceptualizes the economy as part of a larger social ambit that includes fundamental social virtues. This vision …

The Economy Of Evangelism In The Colonial American South, Julia Carroll

Masters Theses

Eighteenth-century Methodist evangelism supported, perpetuated, and promoted slavery as requisite for a productive economy in the colonial American South. Religious thought of the First Great Awakening emerged alongside a colonial economy increasingly reliant on chattel slavery for its prosperity. The records of well-traveled celebrity minister and provocateur of the Anglican tradition, George Whitefield, suggest how Calvinist-Methodist evangelicals viewed slavery as necessary to supporting colonial ministerial efforts. Whitefield’s absorption of and immersion into American culture is revealed in his owning a plantation, portraying a willingness to sacrifice the mobility of the disfranchised for widespread consumption of evangelical thought. A side effect …

The Ethical And Economic Concerns Of Physician Assisted Suicide, Wade M. Smith

Augustana Center for the Study of Ethics Essay Contest

No abstract provided.

A Dollar A Day: Child Sponsorship And The Marketization Of Human Development, Taylor Hallett

Capstone Collection

Child sponsorship as a method of international development offers child sponsors a personal connection to the process of alleviating poverty in the global South. As a form of human development, child sponsorship is constituted by neoliberal principles of marketization and social entrepreneurship. How does child sponsorship, in this context, require us to rethink the ethics of international development in light of ongoing debates about neoliberalism? In this research, I argue that child sponsorship reifies the binary of the “developed” and “undeveloped” worlds. Through undertaking a content analysis of three organizations (Compassion International, World Vision, and UNICEF) and applying post-structural critique …

Gleaning As A Transformational Business Model For Solidarity With The Poor And Marginalized, Bruce D. Baker

SPU Works

“Gleaning” refers to the mandate within the Mosaic Law that harvesters should leave behind “gleanings” for the sake of the poor who subsist on the literal and figurative margins of society. Although this biblical mandate is generally neglected and considered irrelevant in modern business practice, it holds powerful lessons to help guide modern businesses into transformational solidarity with the poor and marginalized. This paper interprets the biblical significance of gleaning, to discern how the principles of gleaning, though rooted in ancient agrarian culture, might be applicable to modern business which is generally far removed from agriculture. The exegesis and analysis …

Consumerism: A Challenge For Christian Leadership?, José A. Aleby, Hugo Ernesto Quiroga

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

This article is motivated by an academic work and a field research project developed by Hugo E. Quiroga (2012; personal communication, 2015) on oneomania as a challenge for christian leadership. Our intention is more to raise questions than to provide easy-sounding answers. The term oneomania may not be well known in theory, but its practical effects are recognized around the world. Oneomania, from the Greek onéo = to buy + mania = insanity, mental disorder (Taylor, 1950), is the scientific and technical term for the disease of consumerism, for the compulsive desire to shop, which is a progressive addiction to …

Into The Red: A Look Into The Reasons Why Refugees Decide To Flee, Settle Or Migrate To And From Morocco, Fadeelah E. Holivay

Master's Theses

This research paper explores some of the main reasons why refugees and asylum seekers, particularly from sub-Saharan African countries, embark on a journey and decide to settle, flee or migrate to and from Morocco. Because of this phenomenon, Morocco has seen a 96% increase of refugees migrating to the borders of Morocco each year for the past three years. Many say that this astonishing increase of migrants choosing Morocco is due to such factors as: wars breaking out regionally across central African and Middle Eastern countries causing them to flee; Morocco being a culturaly diverse francophone country whose laws and …

Engaging Capitalism With Wesleyan Theology, Paul R. Koch, Kevin Twain Lowery

Faculty Scholarship – Economics

In this paper presented at the Wesleyan Theological Society Annual Meeting in March 2014, two professors from Olivet Nazarene University – one from the field of Economics and the other from Theology – address the intersection of Wesleyan theology and ethics with the theoretical foundations of capitalism. The paper consists of four major sections:

• A Wesleyan voice in the capitalist jungle
• The compatibility of capitalism and Wesleyan thought
• Elements of Wesleyan theology most relevant to capitalism
• Toward a Wesleyan approach to free market economics

Money, Religion, And Tyranny: God And The Demonic In Luther's Antifragile Theology, Guillermo C. Hansen

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Free Markets With Caritas: A Transformational Concept Of Efficiency, Bruce D. Baker

SPU Works

The logic of caritas transforms conventional concepts of economic efficiency in a direction conducive to the health and sustainability of a market system, by distinguishing between economic activities which are additive or extractive toward the common good. The beneficent power of the market to serve human flourishing is based not in a morally tacit concept of economic efficiency as a cardinal good, but rather in a gift-bearing efficiency aligned with caritas. This thesis is explored through three business case studies: (1) patents related to pharmaceutical drug design and marketing; (2) “monetization” strategies in recent internet-based business models; and (3) …

Echoes From Geneva: Finding John Calvin’S Socio-Economic Interests In The Modern World, Brenda K. Savage

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

Through an examination of John Calvin’s intentions in ending the prohibition on usury and the practical application of his teachings in sixteenth-century Geneva, and a consideration of the elements of poverty, social outcasts, and exploitation common to both Geneva and the modern world, it can be argued that the Reformer has much to offer of continued relevancy for those seeking to engage their contemporary world by finding alternatives that can help the financially disenfranchised. Calvin is often referred to as the “Father of Modern Interest,” and as such many people have directly blamed him for the exploitation associated with capitalism. …

Subsidiarity: Challenging The Top Down Bias, Scott Kelley

Mission and Ministry Publications

Global poverty has received significant attention in the past decade, particularly after the adoption of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals in 2002. Commentators and ethicists like Peter Singer have long held that the wealthy of the world have an obligation to help the poor. While the sentiments may be positive, there are real harms that have come from this kind of top down thinking. Subsidiarity, to the contrary, is a much more realistic and morally tenable approach to global poverty.

Subsidiarity: Challenging The Top Down Bias, Scott Kelley

Scott Kelley

Global poverty has received significant attention in the past decade, particularly after the adoption of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals in 2002. Commentators and ethicists like Peter Singer have long held that the wealthy of the world have an obligation to help the poor. While the sentiments may be positive, there are real harms that have come from this kind of top down thinking. Subsidiarity, to the contrary, is a much more realistic and morally tenable approach to global poverty.

Tolerance, Democracy And Fundamentalism(S) : Challenges In Time Of Systemic Bifurcations, Guillermo C. Hansen

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Social Insurance, Commitment, And The Origin Of Law: Interest Bans In Early Christianity, Jared Rubin

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

Despite the historical importance of ideology-based, economically inhibitive laws, we know little about the economic factors underlying their origin. This paper accounts for the historical emergence of one such law: the Christian ban on taking interest--a doctrine that shaped the evolution of numerous financial contracts and related organizational forms. A game-theoretic analysis and historical evidence suggest that the Church's commitment to providing social insurance for its poorest constituents encouraged risky borrowing, which the Church attempted to limit by banning interest. The analysis highlights the applicability of the rational choice framework to seemingly irrational actions and laws, the role of nonmonetary …

Being Consumed: Economics And Christian Desire, William Cavanaugh

William T. Cavanaugh

Are Christians for or against the free market? Should we not think of ourselves as consumers? Are we for or against globalization? How to we live in a world of scare resources? William Cavanaugh brings us a theological view and practice of everyday economic life with the use of Christian resources. He argues that we should not take the free market, consumer culture, globalization, and scarcity as givens, but change the terms of debate in each case. His consideration of the free market is not a question of for or against, but when exactly a market is truly free. He …

Tolerance And Democracy Instead Of Fundamentalism And Empire, Guillermo C. Hansen

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Opposing The Lottery In The U.S.: The Forces Behind Individual Attitudes Towards Legalization In 1975, Andrew J. Economopoulos

Business and Economics Faculty Publications

In the 1970s, opposition to the lottery started to fracture in the US. This study examines causes of the fracture and historical factors that contributed to changes in individual attitudes towards legalization. The opponents at the time held to traditional arguments against legalized lotteries—negative economic effects, costs to others and increased crime. Unlike in the past, however, there was weak religious institutional opposition to lotteries. Individuals with a strong commitment to their religious affiliation were more resistant to pro-lottery arguments, but in most cases could be convinced to support the lottery. The pre-World War II generation remained steadfast against the …

Moral Value And Market Values: The Impact On Africa In An Era Of Global Capitalism, Charles Stith

Trotter Review

In the era of global capitalism, the perennial tension between market and moral values has acquired new form and meaning. Ambassador Stith attempts to unravel the issues of morality within the context of a global market in recession, stagnated economies of the developing world, ever-changing technology and the reality of terrorism. Stith contends that the church has largely failed to reconcile the morality that it teaches, with the market in which it operates. He makes the argument that moral values are not just desirable; they are necessary for long-term survival of both the developing and developed world. The key, is …

Christian Solutions To Modern Problems, F. W. Mattox

Stone-Campbell Books

No abstract provided.