{"id":248,"date":"2014-04-17T18:46:20","date_gmt":"2014-04-17T18:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/the-big-picture\/?p=248"},"modified":"2014-04-08T20:03:35","modified_gmt":"2014-04-08T20:03:35","slug":"does-the-moral-consensus-on-human-trafficking-apply-to-economics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/the-big-picture\/2014\/04\/does-the-moral-consensus-on-human-trafficking-apply-to-economics\/","title":{"rendered":"Does the moral consensus on human trafficking apply to economics?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/a>By Joseph Sunde<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Over at the\u00a0Kern Pastors Network blog<\/a>\u00a0and here on Patheos<\/a>,\u00a0Greg Forster uses\u00a0The Locust Effect<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u2013<\/em>\u00a0Gary Haugen\u2019s new book on violence, poverty, and human trafficking \u2013\u00a0as a springboard for discussing the reach and interconnectedness of various Christian commitments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe moral commitments that mobilize evangelicals to fight human trafficking have much broader application,\u201d he writes, \u201cand point to the possibility of a larger Christian vision for the public square.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, for whatever reason, we continue to stall when it comes to expanding, integrating, and applying things in this direction:<\/p>\n

These days, trafficking is the only public issue evangelical leaders are comfortable identifying as a gospel imperative. As a result, our people are highly mobilized and accomplishing a lot. On every other public issue, however, we\u2019re paralyzed by endless debates. There are no shared commitments, nothing we\u2019re allowed to agree on; there is only division between the Right and the Left. So we produce a lot of heated rhetoric, and nothing gets done\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026This perpetual division over everything has to change if the gospel is going to speak to the culture, if Christians are going to have an impact in the public square, and if local churches are going to be forces for flourishing in their communities.\u00a0The human trafficking issue proves there is a way out of this dilemma, because it shows that we do have shared moral commitments. \u201cThe Locust Effect\u201d is a good example of how to apply those commitments beyond just trafficking.\u00a0The Kern Pastors Network<\/a>, the\u00a0Oikonomia Network<\/a>, and others who are working to integrate faith, work, and economics can carry these principles even further.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Forster proceeds accordingly, applying such commitments to the realms of work and economics.<\/p>\n

\u201cBringing justice, dignity, and flourishing to a culture starts with upholding the equal dignity of all human beings,\u201d he writes, which implies plenty for how we orient our approach to economic engagement. \u201cOne thing this requires is that everyone\u2019s rights of work, property, and exchange are equally protected,\u201d which leads us to \u201ca much broader set of public questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Examining the life and contributions of Josiah Wedgwood, the 18th-century businessman and abolitionist, Forster teases out some of these questions, eventually concluding:<\/p>\n

If the church is against slavery, it must be for freedom \u2013 not anarchy or libertarianism, but \u201cinstitutions that recognize the fundamental dignity and worth of all people,\u201d in [P.J.] Hill\u2019s fine phrase. If the church is not in favor of that, then in the long run, it\u2019s not really opposed to slavery. When the faith and work movement says that all people are made to be stewards of the world, this implies we need a social order that treats all people as stewards \u2013 stewards of their own lives, stewards of their relationships with one another, stewards of the shared concerns of their civil communities, and stewards of the whole world, through the vast, global web of communication and exchange.<\/p>\n

Over and over again the Israelites were reminded: \u201cThe Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery\u201d (Deuteronomy 7:8). Let\u2019s follow his example and work for a social order that upholds the equal dignity of all people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From the Acton PowerBlog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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