Curtis W. Stofferahn is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Sociology at the University of North Dakota.
When “Farming and Faith Collide”: The Role of Agrarianism and Libertarianism in the Opposition to the ELCA’s Statement on Genetics and Faith
March/April 2018: Dignity, Challenge, and ELCA Social Statements (Volume 18 Issue 2)
Leland L. Glenna, Curtis W. Stofferahn
In 2010, a controversy erupted over the draft of a new social statement on genetics, as some people in farming communities claimed the document labeled using genetically engineered crops as sinful. Glenna and Stofferahn use this case study as a jumping off point to dive into what libertarianism looks like the United States today, particularly in an agrarian context. Can this political stance on the common good be compatible with Christianity?