HIGH SPIRITS: Global Gospels
Aitken, Jonathan
HIGH SPIRITS JONATHAN AITKEN Global Gospels ONDON'S HISTORIC LAMBETH PALACE, home for Archbishops of Canterbury since the 14th centu ry, does not normally provide a forum for debat ing...
...The two principal debaters of the evening both had interesting track records as practitioners in the worlds of business and conservative politics...
...A former academic and business school principal, Brian Griffiths was Head of the Prime Minister's Policy Unit at Number 10 Downing Street under Margaret Thatcher...
...Mutual Fund group, and a network British television company...
...In an ideal world the excesses and corruptions of contemporary capitalism would be balanced by a culture of generous giving (strong in America, weak in Britain) and by the moral standards underpinned by Biblical principles and Christian conscience...
...After leaving government he advised, inter alia, the Chinese authorities on how to privatize some of their state industries...
...Yet merely to rail against such an inevitable phenomenon is negativity on stilts...
...As for globalization, defining the term has been compared to attempting to nail a blancmange to a wall...
...The occasion for these deliberations was a debate, organized by Wycliffe Hall, a leading Oxford University theological college, on the resolution: "That the philosophies and practices of the market economy are no longer compatible with the teachings of the Christian gospel...
...Perhaps it was encouraging to discover that there is no unbridgeable gap between thoughtful Christians on these issues...
...The debate ranged far and wide...
...It has created great freedoms, strengthened individual and family responsibilities, increased wealth and employment, and liberated millions from the scourge of poverty...
...Paul uncompromisingly calls such motivation "the root of all evil" (1 Timothy 6:10), although his strictures have to be balanced by the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-28), which suggests that Jesus approved of wealth creation...
...Proposing the resolution from a pessimistic viewpoint of contemporary capitalism was the High Spirits columnist of The American Spectator...
...However, no such approval is given to those whose hearts are obsessively focused on the accumulation of earthly wealth (Matthew 6:19-21), a category that includes those greedy types who have been showing up in corporate scandals like Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Global Crossing, and Imclone...
...With globalization on the march at a pace much faster than expected, the times they are a-changing as we will all soon find out...
...The same had happened at an earlier Aitken vs...
...It is not the fear of the Lord that produces better behavior in the market place...
...corporation, the furniture manufacturer Herman Miller Inc., as an industry leader run on Christian principles with excellent results, both commercial and moral...
...Those expert voices include Michael Novak, Irving Kristol, Richard John Neuhaus, David Landes, and Os Guinness...
...Until such issues are resolved the jury is still out on the rolling juggernaut of globalization...
...Yet in spite of being in fundamental agreement with these sages and keepers of received wisdom, my nagging doubt remains: Are all of us being a touch too complacent when we assert that the 21st century market economy is full of Christian virtues...
...As early as the Book of Deuteronomy there are approving references to wealth creation, property ownership, family involvement in business, and the alleviation of hardship by hard work...
...Greed and bad governance were the main planks of my argument for saying that the modern market economy was slippinga long way from the teachings of the Christian Gospels...
...In the optimistic corner opposing the resolution was the current vice-chairman of Goldman Sachs, Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach...
...Moreover, there is sound Biblical and theological collateral for the market economy in both the New and Old Testaments...
...Defining its moral parameters is even more difficult...
...Unfortunately these old-fashioned guardians of integrity are proving inadequate in the prevailing moral climate of today's market economy...
...With avenging angels like New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer hovering over Wall Street, some people's standards will be compelled to improve...
...O PPOSING THE RESOLUTION, Brian Griffiths argued that the market economy has been a profoundly moral force for good in the last two centuries...
...Yet on a -4...
...On the other hand, globalization often gives the appearance of operating in a moral vacuum...
...Griffiths debate before an audience at the Institute of Economic Affairs...
...He now sits on manyboards and is an active member of the House of Lords...
...On globalization Brian Griffiths highlighted the good impact of economic growth in China on its poorest citizens...
...Paul's letter to the Romans, about the Law versus the Spirit...
...These primary arguments for the two sides of the resolution were narrowed down to a noticeable convergence of opinions when other participants joined in the Q&A session...
...In the discussions at both Lambeth Palace and at the Institute of Economic Affairs there were numerous references to expert American theologians and commentators who hold broadly similar views to those that emerged in the consensus at the end of our debates...
...Even though the market itself is at worst morally neutral and at best an encouragement to many Christian virtues, nevertheless an uncomfortably large number of people who call themselves capitalists are motivated primarily and often exclusively by love of money...
...Jonathan Aitken, a former British MP and cabinet minister, is the author of seven books, including Nixon: A Life...
...Globalization has the potential to do great service to the Third World in terms of reducing poverty and creating business opportunities...
...As a result, legal compliance has replaced moral conscience as the arbiter of good business practice...
...In my years of prosperity I had been the chairman of several public companies, including a City of London Merchant Bank, a U.S...
...It is the fear of the prosecutors...
...But there are still a lot of gray areas of the market such as the desire of CEOs to maximize shareholders' returns by pushing their companies to the limit of what they think the law will allow in accounting standards (remember Arthur Andersen...
...A particular area of concern are the widespread allegations that some multinational corporations damage the environment with ecologically unsound projects that cannot be described as sustainable development and are a long way from the Biblical command on land, "Till and keep it" (Genesis 1:28...
...This summary of the pessimistic take on the resolution debated at Lambeth Palace needs to be balanced by a summary of the optimistic case for saying that 21st century business practices and first century Gospel teachings are morally reconcilable companions...
...Both of us are committed Christians with an interest in theology...
...That means that well over 100 million Chinese families have escaped from poverty thanks to globalization...
...If the governance of the market economy replaces conscience with compliance, the spirit of the Christian Gospels grows weak in such a legalistic environment...
...I had also served in John Major's cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury...
...HIGH SPIRITS JONATHAN AITKEN Global Gospels ONDON'S HISTORIC LAMBETH PALACE, home for Archbishops of Canterbury since the 14th centu ry, does not normally provide a forum for debat ing hot political and economic topics on the agenda of the business community...
...recent balmy summer evening a distinguished Anglo-American audience filled the great Tudor hall of Lambeth to discuss matters such as corporate greed, boardroom ethics, the governance of financial markets, and the pros and cons of globalization...
...However, there was also a measure of agreement that some of capitalism's warts are growing so serious that they need urgent corrective treatment...
...For there seemed to be agreement that capitalism, warts and all, is a far greater force for practical and moral good than any of the other "isms," such as Communism or Socialism, that in the past have claimed to be in closer harmony with Christian teachings...
...In the meantime, the more debates that are held on these issues, the better...
...He singled out one major U.S...
...Citing a recent report by the World Bank, he pointed out that in the last five years the number of Chinese workers suffering from extreme poverty at the $1 per day income level fell from 33 percent of the population to 17 percent...
...Griffiths was careful to separate the (bad) determinist capitalism of libertarians such as Hayek and Friedman from the (good) moral capitalism of many exemplary modern businesses...
...or in business ethics...
...The exploitation of these gray areas by many market practitioners can be a reminder of the great debate among early Christians, exemplified in St...
Vol. 37 • July 2004 • No. 6
