Not For Me<\/p>\n
I struggled with The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. From start to finish, I had a hard time following Max Weber\u2019s writing style. I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019m built for 100-year-old literature, certainly not literature that is extremely dense and filled with so many references to other writers. I have made peace with the reality that this will not be one of my best posts. This book was awful for me, I could not grasp the concepts. Typically, when the option to stop reading is not possible, I try to dissect the concepts into bite size pieces. In order to do that with this book, it was necessary that I explore definitions for key terms and not just any definition but Weber\u2019s definitions. Fortunately, Weber provided a glossary that I actually found helpful in defining the terms as he uses them.<\/p>\n
Seeking Understanding<\/p>\n
Weber discusses Calvinism, Protestant Ethic, Capitalism, and The Spirit of Capitalism. He actually discusses a great deal more but these four are the most interesting to me and they connect to one another. He defines as Calvinism is \u201cthe most pure form of the Protestant ethic.\u201d (1) Which made me really curious about how he defines the Protestant Ethic. Weber offers this definition, Protestant ethic \u201ca likely source of the spirit of capitalism.\u201d (2) So quite naturally, I looked for the definition of Spirit of Capitalism. Weber explains that it \u201cconstitutes a secularized legacy of the Protestant ethic. It refers to a methodical orientation toward profit and competition, work \u201cas an absolute end in itself,\u201d and a perceived duty to increase one\u2019s wealth (yet the avoidance of its enjoyment).\u201d (3) So of course, unfortunately but expectedly, it all connects to Capitalism. Weber says that Capitalism \u201chas existed in all the world\u2019s civilizations. It involves the expectation of profit and peaceful opportunities for acquisition.\u201d (4) I struggle with how easily Christian values and ethics connect to capitalism. It has been an ongoing trend in the last few weeks of readings. And looking at the reading list, I suspect that we have more weeks examining this connection. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism did provide a historical basis of how religious ideas and capitalism intersect. I was still left with a feeling of confusion and disappointment. <\/p>\n
Jason\u2026What Does It All Mean?<\/p>\n
I turned to Dr. Jason Clark\u2019s dissertation to perhaps gain a greater understanding of Weber\u2019s work. Clark cites Richard Means analysis on how Protestantism aided capitalism. Means states, \u201cWeber\u2019s main emphasis is upon the role of religious ideas as they generated an attitude of ascetic discipline. These religious ideas, exemplified in Protestantism, worked to create a set of economic attitudes, which aided the rise of capitalism.\u201d (5) Although I feel that there is fault in creating an economic attitude within a religious space that helps contribute to capitalistic behavior, it has been the basis of the foundation of the Protestant movement. Clark offers, \u201cWeber\u2019s Protestant thesis arose in response to the question of why modern capitalism has emerged with the pursuit of profit and had not done so previously.\u201d (6) Again, I gained some clarity, but not much. Perhaps my issue is that I\u2019m hoping to read a solution to how we unmix religion and capitalism and not a historical perspective of how it happened. This might be wishful thinking. <\/p>\n
My Thoughts<\/p>\n
My work as a consultant allows me to work with Church Leaders in times of planned growth, unexpected downsizing, succession (planned and unexpected), and congregational shifts. I always enter the space with an expectancy of everyone bringing the better versions of themselves. I am quickly reminded, each time, that there are needs that must be met in the Church as well as every organization. There must be enough money (income\/tithes\/donations) to support the operational needs, there must be a qualified staff to meet the needs of the organization, there must be a system in place that allows the organization to function effectively; these are the bare bones areas that must be in place for the Church\/Organization to function. Then it gets interesting, because every organization wants to do more, have more, serve more and that takes money. I witness some of the most unflattering behavior when money becomes the goal. There is a moment, I can usually pinpoint it, when it all shifts. The basic needs of the community, the congregation, the staff shift from what \u201cwe need\u201d to what \u201cwe must raise\u201d. I\u2019m not criticizing raising money, I have made a living from helping organizations position themselves for fundraising, yet I am recognizing that when the objective shifts from serving to raising\/earning money, the atmosphere changes. My heart is heavy as I help navigate the tension between the two. I understand the necessary functionality of operating with certain business principles to achieve a healthy organization yet there has to be a balance. How do we operate with sound business practices and not adopt a capitalist attitude? Do the two have to be synonymous? I don\u2019t have the answers, but I am seeking them\u2026there has to be a better way. <\/p>\n
1. Max Weber and Talcott Parsons, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (London: Royal National Institute for the Blind, 1974), 417.
\n2. Ibid., 421.
\n3. Ibid., 424.
\n4. Ibid., 417.
\n5. Richard L. Means, \u201cWeber\u2019s Thesis of the Protestant Ethic: The Ambiguities of Received Doctrine,\u201d The Journal of Religion, 45, no. 1 (1965): 6.
\n6. Jason Paul Clark, \u201cEvangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship\u201d (DMIN diss., George Fox University, Newberg, 2018), 58. Digital Commons @ George Fox University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Not For Me I struggled with The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. From start to finish, I had a hard time following Max Weber\u2019s writing style. I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019m built for 100-year-old literature, certainly not literature that is extremely dense and filled with so many references to other writers. I have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":174,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310,1],"tags":[2866],"class_list":["post-33471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","category-uncategorized","tag-weber-clark-capitalism-dlgp02-protestant","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/174"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33471"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33473,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33471\/revisions\/33473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}