Articles

Just War and Interventionist Foreign Policy

[1] The January 13, 2003 issue of The New Yorker published an article about a manufacturer of artificial limbs from Staten Island. He wanted to help the victims of the civil war in Sierra Leone, in which amputation had been a key form of terrorist activity. [2] He had difficulty finding a way to carry […]

Congregational Strategies for Invigorating Lutheranism’s Just PeaceMaking Tradition

[1] This paper was originally presented as a PowerPoint based lecture at Pacific Lutheran University on February 10, 2003, for a conference titled Two Kingdoms Collide: A Lutheran Perspective on War, Peace, and Social Justice.1 [2] “Just peacemaking” Lutherans have not often used that terminology2. We have, however, engaged in just peacemaking, often even as […]

Comments on “Caring for Health”

[1] In a meeting I was recently asked what I thought about Wittenberg’s statement of institutional values. All I could think to say was “Values are good. These seem fine.” (It had been a long meeting.) I suspect that some readers may have a similar reaction to the proposed social statement “Caring for Health: Our […]

An Interview with Robert Holland

JLE: You have been involved in the ethics around business and corporations for a long time…. how do you see the field changing? Have the issues changed, have approaches changed, have priorities changed? BH: I see this question as a call for the history of the development of business ethics. The field of business ethics […]

A Review “from the Field”

[1] I serve the church as President and CEO of Immanuel Health Systems (IHS), Omaha, Nebraska. IHS, which began its ministry in 1887 under the leadership of Rev. E.A. Fogelstrom, is affiliated with the Nebraska Synod, ELCA. Over the years, Immanuel became of a pillar of the Augustana Synod with its Deaconess Institute and “works […]

Caring For Health: Our Shared Endeavor: A Review

[1] Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are both corporate and individual consumers and providers of health care in the United States of America. As such, we are bound and committed to care for the health and well-being of ourselves and our neighbor as Jesus commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves. […]

Luther on the Family

[1] It is fitting, if frustrating, to find myself working on this article while my pre-adolescent child is throwing a prolonged fit over her mother’s inability to accommodate one more companion animal in the household. I am a divorced single parent, currently getting a snootful about my maternal shortcomings. It comes with the territory of […]

A Review of Navigating Right and Wrong: Ethical Decision Making in a Pluralistic Age

[1] A significant number of books have appeared in recent years that address the subject of ethics in view of the spirit of relativism that is deeply rooted in our pluralistic culture. Daniel Lee’s book makes a distinctive contribution in addressing this challenge. Lee, Professor of Religion at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois has […]

Review of Kurt Senske’s Executive Values

A review of Executive Values: A Christian Approach to Organizational Leadership [1] The claim of this book is quite clear: “We will be successful, whatever we do and wherever we go, if we faithfully follow the Golden Rule of Leadership, and live our life for an audience of one – Jesus Christ” (p. 158). This […]

Shareholder Advocacy

[1] Taking activist positions on issues of society is not a new endeavor for United Methodists and followers of the Church’s founder, John Wesley. Historically, the denomination is known for its involvement with political and social struggles that impact individuals locally and globally. The General Board of Pension and Health Benefits of The United Methodist […]