I created a website/project/newest-shiny-thing called The Religion of Business, where I’m building a library of advice and insights on how businesses can learn from organized religions (the focus is on the “organized” half of the phrase). I’ve written briefly about it here.
I’ll periodically share useful resources and links here. Here are a few recent ones:
- A 1-Page Summary of Eric Hoffer’s The True Believer [link] – one of the best psychology books I’ve read, perhaps ever
- How businesses use religious principles, techniques, ideas [link] – continuing the case for why this intersection is important and undervalued
- Notes from The Economist’s in-depth report on the Catholic Church’s finances [link] – did you know that Catholic priests make, on average, $25K in salary?
I thought this was an interesting concept: the “cut flower culture” from Jewish theologian Will Herberg:
The attempt made in recent decades by secularist thinkers to disengage the moral principles of western civilization from their scripturally based religious context, in the assurance that they could live a life of their own as “humanistic” ethics, has resulted in our “cut flower culture.” Cut flowers retain their original beauty and fragrance, but only so long as they retain the vitality that they have drawn from their now-severed roots; after that is exhausted, they wither and die. So with freedom, brotherhood, justice, and personal dignity — the values that form the moral foundation of our civilization. Without the life-giving power of the faith out of which they have sprung, they possess neither meaning nor vitality.
I also thought this was a great article, “The Market as God” by Harvey Cox [link]. A memorable quote:
I am beginning to think that for all the religions of the world, however they may differ from one another, the religion of The Market has become the most formidable rival, the more so because it is rarely recognized as a religion