IDLE HANDS AND THE OMEGA POINT: LABOR AUTOMATION AND CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING (original) (raw)
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Human Work in Catholic Social Thought
American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 2012
In Catholic Social Thought, work is at the center of issues related to morality and economic life. It is simultaneously objective and subjective. Workers are the real agents of production, and therefore labor should have priority over capital. The able-bodied have a moral obligation to work to obtain the things they need, but everyone has a claim on the basic necessities of life. Hence the property claims of the well-to-do are not to exclude the poor from what they need. The property-right claim of stockholders depends on the firm serving work and the interests of workers. In unions, workers' natural right to form associations aligns with the right to participate in decisions affecting their lives. Numerous groups and organizations have some degree of complicity in workplace injustice and some degree of responsibility to address it.
Christianity John Paul II and the Future of Work
(Summary) Although the Catholic Church has rarely throughout its long history taken stances on socioeconomic issues that might be characterized as socially progressive, its view of work has constituted a notable exception. Its early view not only granted work dignity, but also reinforced an attitude of the fundamental equality of all humans. Most recently, John Paul II's view of work constitutes one of the most progressive stances on socioeconomic questions ever taken by a pope. This essay describes and assesses the progressive character of Christianity's attitude toward work. To limit scope, and because the "Protestant work ethic" has been so extensively covered, the focus is on the Catholic tradition. The first section traces the evolution of this view within the context of other traditional views. A second section examines the special contribution of John Paul II. A final section provides a critical assessment of these views in terms of our contemporary self-understanding. Full Text (6605 words)
Review of Matthew Kaemingk, Cory B. Willson: Work and Worship: Reconnecting Our Labor and Liturgy
Kairos : Evangelical Journal of Theology , Vol. 15 No. 2, 2021., 2021
Numerous passages in the Bible depict God as a worker, maker, potter, shepherd, and vinedresser. Moreover, the week of creation at the beginning of Genesis is portrayed as the pattern for human labor. Many of Jesus' parables were also inspired by the laboring culture of first-century Israel. Perhaps God used that to show that our labor, work, and vocation are very important to him. Two American theologians, Matthew Kaemingk and Cory Willson, have written a book that sees work as a very important aspect of the priesthood of all believers, and as the reason why it is important to reconnect our labor and worship. In other words, if we truly believe in the priesthood of all believers and the mission of the laity in the world, we should perceive our Sunday worship as preparation of Christ's priesthood for the work of ministry in everyday professions. These professions are a means of realizing the cultural mandate to be royal priests and the evangelical mission to be the light, salt, and leaven of the world.
Catholic Social Teachings: Toward a Meaningful Work
Journal of Business Ethics, 2014
Meaningful work is both a moral issue and an economic one. Studies show that workers’ experience of meaninglessness in their jobs contributes to job dissatisfaction which has negative effects to business. If having a meaningful work is essential for the well-being of workers, providing them with one is an ethical requirement for business establishments. The essay aims to articulate an account of meaningful work in the Catholic social teachings (CST). CST rejects the subjectivist and relativist notion of work which affirms the absolute freedom of individuals to choose their commitment and goals, even if this includes experiencing satisfaction in dehumanizing work. First, the paper will present a summary account of some of the current views on meaningful work from the objective-normative approach. This will be followed by a systematic treatment of the meaning and value of work in the CST, the similarities and differences it has with alternative views, and its implications for the way we promote meaningful work. The paper will argue that by recognizing the subjective and objective dimensions of work and affirming that although the two are inseparable, the former takes priority over the latter; CST develops a holistic, comprehensive, and coherent account of meaningful work which overcomes some of the difficulties that are usually encountered in dealing with this issue from a purely objective approach.
CTSA Proceedings, 2021
The modern Catholic social encyclical tradition is founded on “the worker question,” and yet much of Catholic moral thought over the past century has centered its attention either on questions in sexual and life ethics (constructed most often as “personal” questions) or on various forms of individual and social provisioning for the poor. I develop a theological anthropology of good work rooted in Vatican II’s core idea of the universal call to holiness, suggesting along the way that many of these other questions (both theoretically and practically) would be better approached through a social ethic focused on good work. A theological anthropology of work rooted in the vocation to holiness will necessarily engage not only natural ends, but also Christian eschatology, and such a connection will be developed in conversation with the “eschatologies” implied in modern approaches to economics. I conclude by engaging recent public policy proposals, some of which have been predicated on “the end of work” while others more promisingly have sought a reorientation of the economy in favor of work.
The idea of work: from Luther to Pentecostals in recent protestant authors
Teologia i Moralność
For Luther, work was a vocation, while Calvin emphasised the need to glorify God through work. Since the proposal of Weber and Troeltsch, the theology of work and the origin of capitalism has been discussed and studied in different Protestant denominations such as Lutherans, Calvinists, Puritans and Methodists. In this selection of some recent Protestant theologians, we appreciate continuity and evolution in the theology of work that lead us to the Pentecostal inheritance in our days. Some perspectives go back to the contemptus mundi that Luther refused, but the discovering of the action of the Holy Spirit in the daily work needs a Pentecostal theology of the work.