Religion and the Ethics of Development
Keywords:
Religion, EthicsAbstract
Do religions aid or bar development? Well, they do both: they assist and obstruct development. Faith-based organizations (FBOs) and religious groups champion development with rare commitment and passion. At the same time, role of religious actors and dogmas behind intolerance, authoritarianism, gender inequality, passivity, fund consumption, and obstruction of development work is well known. On account of an inflated understanding of religion as an impediment to development, sometimes, religion is suggested to be kept out of development practice, forgetting the fact that religion and development have had an intimate relation whether for good or ill. I Sociological studies of religion, like Max Weber's path- breaking The Protestant Ethic (1905-06), point out that even for a purely economic conception of development, religion has been a definitive inspiration. Weber writes referring to the Protestant ethic:
References
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