Introduction

Symposium and Report Credits

Among business people there was a general consensus that religion indeed lies "in the shadows" of their work lives. The primary role of religion in business, they believed, was through the moral framework of individuals - which is as it should be. They saw business as one of a very few places in American public life that brings together people of different backgrounds; the notion of explicitly bringing religion into the workplace generally made them uncomfortable. They worried that religion might prove to be divisive, and that those who did not subscribe to prevailing beliefs would face discrimination or at the very least feel excluded.

There are, of course, exceptions. One participant in the symposium described a Minnesota company, founded by devout Christians, that tithed ten percent of its pretax income. Another recalled the story of a Jewish businessman who continued to pay workers after fire destroyed his factory - and explained that he did so because of his faith. A third told the story of a large, publicly traded company, which is now entirely secular but continues to donate a portion of its profits to charitable causes - just as its Christian founder once did in the name of faith.

The group identified two competing trends in business. On the one hand, Wall Street puts enormous pressure on businesses to maximize short-term profits. On the other, business owners and managers are more concerned about ethics, values, and integrity than they were just ten years ago. (Only recently, one participant noted, has the field of business ethics expanded beyond religious colleges and universities.) And because a free market left entirely to its own devices can be dangerous, the latter places necessary restraints on the former.

There is an inherent tension between the two. When one member of the group suggested it would be morally right to pay Vietnamese factory workers double the market rate, it drew a sharp response. What about the company's U.S. employees and shareholders? one woman asked. By deciding to pay the Vietnamese workers more, she added, you are in effect deciding to pay others less; you are taking money from other employees and stockholders.

Due to time contraints, much of what the group discussed was never mentioned in the closing session where they reported out to the whole symposium. Here are more concepts discussed only in the small group:

• The more power a person has in the business, the more freedom he or she has to express religious convictions in the workplace. By extension, then, this freedom remains largely a privilege of the powerful. And owners of private companies have more freedom than those who work in public corporations, where by law the primary concern must be returning value to shareholders.
• Some participants worried about the legality of bringing God into the workplace.
• Several thought that established major religions, with traditions that date back more than a thousand years, could bring a sense of history to business and act as a counterbalance to excessive concerns about short-term profit.
• Several people who had traveled extensively said businesses in Minnesota are more concerned with ethical questions, and more socially responsible, than businesses in other parts of the country.
• There is a greater need than ever before for the values religion can teach. Because of the increased complexity and interconnectedness of modern society, businesses need employees with strong morals.
• Some people are nervous about expressing religious (or religiously inspired) values in business. Thus, social giving policies become a way of "creating customers;" the overarching belief - what one participant called "a secular kind of spirituality" - is that the company will be better and stronger if it delivers good products, tells the truth, and stands behind its warranties.
• Women expressed concern that traditionally patriarchal religions might reinforce the traditionally patriarchal culture of business, preventing women from advancing.
• By its very nature, business can reinforce or complement religious teaching. A good job, for example, gives people the tools to live independently - which one participant in the symposium compared to the Biblical parable of teaching people to fish.