Putting Christian Belief to Work
When we apply these principles to our reflections about corporations, they suggest the need for fundamental changes in the ways we relate individually and collectively to corporations. There is much more we should know about these powerful economic institutions—knowledge that the church ought to help provide. There are many things the leaders and employees of corporations can do to humanize their working lives and enrich the common good. There is still more our governments can do to encourage corporations to broaden their vision and behave responsibly.
What Individuals Can Do
1. Recognize that We are Part of the Problem. We invest our money to obtain the highest possible return; we purchase products we want with little regard for the process that produces them, the conditions under which the people who carry out that process work, or the source of the raw materials used in it; we follow the values and goals of our workgroup, our supervisor, or our corporation with very little thought. Rarely do we compare our actions against the values we hold dear. We should become much more deliberate in applying our values to these and other actions we take every day.
2. Inform Ourselves. Acknowledging our responsibility, the first thing we can do is seek the knowledge that better prepares us for action. This knowledge can be acquired in many ways; but as Christians, we want to be able to relate information about how the economy and its corporations work to our theological, biblical, and ethical understandings.
3. Organize a Church Study Group. If your congregation does not have a study group focusing on church and society issues, organize one and enlist your pastor and friends to join in your quest for new understandings about economic justice in the marketplace. Focus especially on the roles of corporations on the globalization process.
4. Discourage Consumerism. Individual Christians should lead the way to a basic re-conception of the “good life,” one that is less materialistic and more frugal. We can withdraw our personal moral support from the whole religion of consumerism. We can also encourage others to do so.
5. Encourage Consumer Action. Individual Christians can promote consumer action. Shoppers can learn to choose products that have been produced in socially responsible ways. Information is readily available about companies that have adopted sensible codes of conduct guaranteeing that their products are made under acceptable standards. Such codes of conduct must have a monitoring system that is transparent and sufficiently independent of the companies to be credible.
6. Promote the Common Good. As citizens, individual Christians can be stewards of public life. They can assume leadership positions, support sensible government programs, and confront policies and leaders when necessary. Individuals can support The Partnership for Trust in Government, a project of the Ford Foundation and the Council for Excellence in Government, an alliance of twenty-two non-governmental organizations from industry, labor, the nonprofit sectors, and the media that are committed to restoring a healthy balance between skepticism and public trust in government.
7. Hold Corporations Accountable. As stockholders or employees of corporations, individual Christians can hold their companies accountable for conduct contrary to a Christian vision of just, sustainable, and participatory institutions.
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