Religious Faith, Corporate Life, and the Betterment of Society

Abstract

In the last quarter-century, debates regarding business and the life of faith have occurred in three distinct stages. About twenty-five years ago, I was invited to the University of Notre Dame to take part in a symposium jointly sponsored by the business school and the theology department. Notre Dame was founded in 1842, and never before had the two departments engaged each other directly. The theology department negotiated hard for the title of the symposium, and?I kid you not?I was asked to lecture under the question, "Can a Christian Work for a Corporation?" I refused. But Father Ollie Williams at the business school was working very hard to initiate serious reflection on these questions, and this was a big first step for him. He said I had to lecture under that title, because it was the only way the theology department would agree to it. "I won't do it," I told him, "unless I can also ask whether a Christian can be a university professor or, for that matter, a bishop." A little while later, I was telling my good friend, Irving Kristol, about the conference, and Irving said, "Let me tell you what to say." When I went to South Bend, there was a big crowd?the conference had caused some controversy on campus?and I began this way. "You asked me to speak on the question 'Can a Christian Work for a Corporation?'" I paused for a long time, to let them think about the question. Then I said, "My answer is: No." After a gasp from the audience, I said: "Only Muslims and Jews." What they really wanted was for me to say "Yes," and then feel guilty about it. That first stage of the debate, twenty-five years ago, was hostile to the corporation. The corporation was seen as evil. Liberation theology, the