By Lynette Wilson, EpicopalLife Online, January 28, 2010
[Episcopal News Service] Theology's contribution to economic decision-making goes beyond simply raising the question of "common good"; it also offers a framework into what is being assumed – human motivations -- promoted through economic practices, said Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams during a Jan. 28 lecture at the 2010 Trinity Institute.
"If we find, as a good many commentators and researchers have observed in recent years, that working practices regularly reward behavior that is undermining of family life -- driven or obsessional, relentlessly competitive and adversarial -- we have some questions to ask," he said.
Williams' lecture "Theology and Economics: Two Different Worlds?" opened day two of the Trinity Institute's 40th National Theological Conference --"Building an Ethical Economy: Theology and the Market Place," exploring the intersection between economics and theology, held at Trinity Wall Street in New York's financial district Jan. 27-29. The conference officially began Jan. 27 in the evening with a Holy Eucharist, where Williams celebrated and Archbishop of Burundi Bernard Ntahoturi preached.
"Economic activity is something people do, one kind of activity among others; and as such it is subject to the same moral considerations as all other activities. It has to be thought about in connection with what we actively want for our humanity," Williams said.
Following his opening remarks, Williams was joined by a panel of theologians and economists: Kathryn Tanner, a theology professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School; Partha Dasgupta, an economics professor at the University of Cambridge; and Susan Lee, an economist and award-winning journalist who has covered economics for the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
In exploring the intersection between economics and theology, the conference seeks to explore questions and themes including: "Is capitalism a belief system?"; "What is wealth and how should it be measured?"; "constructive models of economics and consumerism"; and "envision ways to build an economy that is both ethical and just." The conference includes presentations, panel discussions followed by Q&A sessions and theological reflection groups.
Over the past few years, Williams said, he has repeatedly noted that the word "economy" is at its root a term for "housekeeping," which has implications as to where the discourse belongs.
"A household is somewhere where life is lived in common; and housekeeping is guaranteeing that this common life has some stability about it that allows the members of the household to grow and flourish and act in useful ways," he said. "A working household is an environment in which vulnerable people are nurtured and allowed to grow up (children) or wind down (the elderly); it is a background against which active people can go out to labor in various ways to reinforce the security of the household; it is a setting where leisure and creativity can find room in the general business of intensifying and strengthening the relationships that are involved.
"Good housekeeping seeks common well-being so that all these things can happen; and we should note that the one thing required in a background of well-being is stability," he said.
"'Housekeeping theory' is about how we use our intelligence to balance the needs of those involved and to secure trust between them," Williams said. "A theory that wanders too far from these basics is a recipe for damage to the vulnerable, to the regularity and usefulness of labor and to the possibilities human beings have for renewing (and challenging) themselves through leisure and creativity."
The same kind of damage, Williams said, results in an economic climate where everything is reduced to the search for maximized profit and unlimited material growth."
"The effects of trying to structure economic life independently of intelligent choice about long-term goals for human beings have become more than usually visible in the last 18 months, and one reason for holding this conference is the growing force of the question 'what for?' in our global market. What is the long-term well-being we seek? …" he said.
In addition to clergy and lay participants attending in New York, the conference is taking place at partner sites around the United States and the world.
In his sermon Jan. 27, Ntahoturi spoke about the importance of partnerships and proper use of "talents." Using the Gospel reading, Matthew 25:14-30, he said it was possible to expand on the definition of talents to include skills, abilities and resources.
"God has given everyone abilities of various kinds and no one is untalented in the kingdom of God. This story encourages us to use our gifts wisely for the common good. Reminding us about our accountability before God … it's not about how much we invest, but the quality of our investment," he said.
Williams said during his lecture: "It is really to claim that our job as human beings is to imagine ourselves, using all the raw material that science or psychoanalysis or economics can generate for us – in the hope that the images we shape or discover will have resonance and harmony with the rhythms of how things most deeply are, with what Christians and others call the will and purpose of Almighty God."
During the panel discussion, Williams mentioned having been "moved" the previous day during a visit to St. Ann's Episcopal Church in the South Bronx, particularly when he heard that a high school near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, sends volunteers to the church annually.
Prior to the conference, Williams also participated in a panel and gave the address at an event organized by the office of the Anglican Observer at the United Nations Jan. 26 and held at the Desmond Tutu Center on the campus of The General Theological Seminary. He also took part in discussions at the United Nations and, along with Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, met with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
~~ Lynette Wilson is an ENS staff writer and editor.
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