The Present State of the Comparative Study of Religious Ethics

Kelsay, John

doi:10.1017/cbo9781316106693.011

Cited by 22 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…This paper is a work of comparative religious ethics that takes as its specific method a hermeneutical‐dialogical approach to comparison/dialogue between two traditions. Comparative religious ethics (hereafter CRE) can be a fraught area of study with an ongoing debate over what methodology should be employed as well as whether scholars need to claim and employ a coherent, CRE‐specific methodology at all (Bucar ; Bucar and Stalnaker ; Davis ; Decosimo ; Kelsay , , ; Lee , ; Little ; Little and Twiss 1978; Sachedina ; Stalnaker ). Elizabeth Bucar argues persuasively that methods in CRE necessarily vary ().…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

(The Image Of) God in All of Us

Alexander¹

2019

Journal of Religious Ethics

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This essay compares Sikh and Christian thought about and practices of hospitality in light of the global refugee crisis. It aims to show how both practices of hospitality, and religious ethical thought about hospitality, can be enhanced by dialogue between traditions. The refugee crisis arises out of a global failure of hospitality, and the type of hospitality refugees most fundamentally need is that which confers membership in a political community. Comparing Christian and Sikh ethics of hospitality provides guidance toward building rooted religious communities that welcome outsiders, including by incorporating them into political communities. In particular, Christians who hold social power and privilege can better fulfill ethical mandates of hospitality by looking to the example of Sikhs and other marginalized groups. Sikhs have often built communities through acts of hospitality and welcomed outsiders without fear, even in contexts where their own belonging is questioned and their own security is under threat.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

(The Image Of) God in All of Us

Alexander¹

2019

Journal of Religious Ethics

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“…(Bucar & Stalnaker, 2012, pp. 19-20) 14 Kelsay (2012), among others, suggests the degree to which Stout's view has been embraced. 15 Indeed, Stout claims not merely this but, further, that one consequence of holism is a preference for big comparison as, other things being equal, more likely to be responsible:…”

Section: Endnotesmentioning

confidence: 99%

For big comparison: Why the arguments against comparing entire religious traditions fail

Decosimo

2018

Religion Compass

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The nearly unanimous scholarly consensus is that one should not compare entire religious traditions. “Big comparison,” we're told, is vague, unilluminating, and misleading. And this is because religions are just too big and internally diverse to helpfully compare. Worse, big comparison implicates and extends the essentialist and colonialist legacies of the field's origins. This article contends that such arguments fail, and it argues for the inevitability of big comparison and the possibility and value of executing such comparison well. The patterns of thought in virtue of which big comparison is rejected are not only part and parcel of responsible interpretation but a consequence of commitment to holism. Engaging recent philosophical work on “generics” and considering the way concepts like race can enable illuminating comparison such as those involved in discourse about value gaps between white and black lives, I further argue that matters are not saliently different when it comes to comparing under categories like “Judaism” or “Buddhism.” As racial categories admit of useful and problematic comparative usage, so too religious categories. I conclude by offering several snapshots of fruitful big comparison and showing that the case against big comparison itself depends on the very modes of thought it wishes to proscribe.

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“…We may ask more generally: What role is there for comparative work in the religious ethics of labor? We have suggested that an investment in the complexity, richness, and depth of religious traditions is essential for approaching questions of labor, and there has already been extensive scholarly reflection, some of it in the pages of this journal, on how comparative ethics can take place when religious traditions are so understood (Bucar and Stalnaker ; Lee ; Kelsay ; Swearer ). The set of essays that follow hint at comparative possibilities, and their limits as well.…”

Section: Insights From the Grassrootsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Religious Ethics of Labor

Glennon¹,

Lloyd²

2017

Journal of Religious Ethics

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While unionization rates have steadily declined in the United States, there has been a renewal of grassroots labor organizing—in many cases connected in some way with religious communities. Attending to such organizing efforts holds the potential to deepen religious‐ethical reflection on questions of labor, and these religious‐ethical reflections hold the potential to enrich on‐the‐ground organizing efforts. These opportunities have largely been overlooked. On the one hand, while scholars have recently explored connections between religious ideas and economic ideas, they have often neglected questions of labor. On the other hand, labor studies scholars have often ignored the role of religion, although this is beginning to change. In this introduction we limn the resources available for religious‐ethical reflection on questions of labor and we propose a direction that the field could take, bringing together engagement with religious traditions and attunement to grassroots organizing.

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The Present State of the Comparative Study of Religious Ethics

Cited by 22 publications

References 7 publications

(The Image Of) God in All of Us

(The Image Of) God in All of Us

For big comparison: Why the arguments against comparing entire religious traditions fail

The Religious Ethics of Labor

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