| Editor's Introduction | |
|
Carmelo Santos, Editor | |
| Articles | |
| De-Mythologizing the Myth of Economism Economism is a myth that requires demythologizing. Economist and ecologist Richard Norgaard insightfully describes economism as a secular religion at whose altar American society and many other societies worship. Economism is the free-market ideology that has so imprisoned the American mind that it can no longer address the urgent matter of climate change. Economism is an idolatrous religion that is leading the planet to destruction. This article augments Norgaard's treatment of economism by calling it a myth and then offering a prophetic critique in the form of demythologizing, or better, demythicizing. Only by demythologizing the myth of economism can the church speak to the larger society's responsibility to care for the poor and the planet in light of a vision of the common good.
| |
| by Bradley B. Burroughs Taken from a lecture delivered to a meeting of Lutheran and Wesleyan ethicists, Burroughs' article explores how and why Lutheran and Methodist understandings of moral transformation differ. Burroughs skillfully analyzes Luther and Wesley's writings, along with theologians of their traditions who have been influenced from both. With this laid out, he then addresses the question, "What do these differences mean for us today? | |
| Book Reviews | |
|
Ethics in the Real World: 82 Brief Essays on Things that Matter by Peter Singer Review by Bruce Wollenberg Utilitarianism, the pragmatic philosophy developed by Jeremy Bentham (d. 1832) and John Stuart Mill (d. 1873) views actions as good or moral that conduce to human happiness and as bad or immoral those that do not. Its critics sometimes argue that justice is more important than individual freedom to pursue one’s bliss. Peter Singer is having none of it. The quest for justice, especially on behalf of the poor, sick and voiceless for him is an integral part of a life that is consequential, meaningful and fulfilling and, yes, happy and this book is a testament to that conviction. | |
| |
Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger Review by Aaron Fuller It is a well-known statistic that less than one percent of our nation’s population serves in all the branches of our military. According to 2014 census data collected by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, about 7.3 percent of the U.S. population have prior military experience of any kind. As a nation that has been in a constant state of war over the last 15 years and in light of overly-dramatized movies and a nearly-cultish fascination with special operation forces culture, do we really have an awareness and realistic understanding of what currently serving military service members, veterans, and their families experience? |
| ||
Articles published in the journal reflect the perspectives and thoughts of their authors and not necessarily the theological, ethical, or social stances of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. | ||
| ||
|
©
May 2017
Journal of Lutheran Ethics
Volume 17, Issue 3