Do Religion and Spirituality have a Role in Economics?

Religious Renewal and the Economic Life of Humanity

“the prevailing order appeareth to be lamentably defective.” - Baháʼu'lláh

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At the core of a Baháʼí conception of history and human nature is the idea that humanity stands at a great crossroads of human development, an era where the world as a whole is caught up in the throes of great changes, changes “indicating the passing of the old conditions and advent of the new age of reformation” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá). Recognizing this fundamental transformation is underway, Baháʼís approach all arenas of thought and discourses on societal progress, development, and discourses with a spirit of constructive and transformative inquiry, with the aim to reexamine and reimagine existing disciplines in light of the Baháʼí teachings.

Economics is one such arena Baháʼí's are drawn to, especially to envision what a world striving for unity, justice, and prosperity would look like. Such an aim naturally leads many to the conclusion that the “prevailing order” indeed appears “lamentably defective”, and in that sense, it’s easy to find common ground with a variety of historic disciplines, philosophies, and social movements that have leveled persuasive critiques of political-economy throughout modern history, including Marxism and alternatives to capitalism more broadly.

Our aim is both to explore what principles, concepts, theories and systems are in consonance with fundamental Baháʼí beliefs, but to also to consider where Baháʼí beliefs differ and what unique contributions we stand to bring to these discourses. In this essay, starting from the standpoint that there is perhaps no system of economy today directly aligned with the Baháʼí vision, we will explore the following questions: what are some potent cross-overs or divergences with prevailing economic theories? What fundamental perspectives on religion and religious principles does the Baháʼí Faith offer to the discourse on economy and prosperity? Ultimately, I propose that an evolutionary framework for religion offers a profound impetus to reconsider what religion has to offer on the question of economics.

A Divergence at the Heart of Economy — Conceptions of Exchange

One of the ways that Baháʼí perspectives differ from Marxist or leftist critiques of capitalism, social oppression, and theories of political-economy is how the nature of exchange is conceptualized.¹ Marx's account of ‘Capital’ begins with a fundamental corruption that occurs in the process of commodification, an account that has profound influence on social theory to this day. In this account, this original sin of alienation and exploitation is one of the foundations for the emergence of a class-based society and thus, inevitably, class conflict.

Without qualifying Marxism further, there's a real possibility for a cynical sense to take root, one that sees the germ of capitalistic exploitation as lying in the very act of commodification—that class conflict is genealogically present and capable of substantiating therefrom, as though it were a virus lurking in the DNA of exchange itself. As it turns out, this is just as ‘totalizing’ as the capitalistic belief that insists on identifying the ‘market’ with the norms of exchange under capitalism, as opposed to seeing those capitalistic assumptions as something grafted onto market activity.²

Anthropology, history, and the social sciences more broadly, and as I will contend, a universal renewal of religion, all offer substantial evidence that shows that the fundamental corruption of predatory capitalism is not so much exchange itself, but other elements of the moral-political-economy, such as state power, militarism, violence, slavery etc. More than a century’s worth of anthropological insight, for instance, tells us more about the reality of non-state economies than Marx's account allows, admits, or even could have spoken of at his time given the episteme in which he acted.³ Anthropology in all its subdomains offers a genuine revolution in our understanding of the startlingly diverse examples of human social and economic arrangements across cultures. Historical evidence, likewise, tells us also of the potential inherent in advanced market societies that are pre-capitalist, or even those that operate on totally different notions of economic provisioning. Broadly, such developments aid us in reconceptualizing our understandings of human society, the market, and exchange in a way that moves beyond Marx’s original critique.

Taking historical and anthropological insights into account also complicates the ahistorical and revisionist tendencies of modern economic thought that blankly extend myths of capitalism and modern economic assumptions into the past. The effect of those revisionisms is that modern conceptions become essentialized as human universals and economic conditions that happen to obtain today are seen as 'fated'—latent and inevitable, only awaiting to occur once the ‘right’ circumstances emerge. This is not unlike the same flaw we find lurking in an account rooted in Marx. I think we are only now at the cusp of re-evaluating the full weight of these advancements in understanding brought by these disciplines. As it stands, they have scarcely begun to shift the orthodoxy of modern economic thought, although some signs are apparent that this will change. Perhaps we are still too early to see the full weight of their impact.

As I alluded to before, religion, too, has an oustanding role to play in this change. We will consider a parallel movement that has occurred in religion, that we are also, perhaps, still too early to appreciate. We ask ourselves, what relevance do religion and spirituality have in these matters?

If the Baháʼí Faith, and religion and spirituality more generally, have anything to say about economics other than ‘go figure out your theories and formulas’, what exactly do they contribute? If economics concerns itself primarily with the provision of material goods, what is the relevance of ethical and spiritual perspectives? And if they are relevant, if the fruits of the sciences and intellectual disciplines—even just in the last two centuries—have become so apparent, why have religious and ethical contributions not done so as well? Are they languishing on the sidelines, victims of the triumph of science over spirituality? Or is there something deeper going on?

A Macro Perspective on Religion

At the broadest scale, there are two wings, or directions in religious sentiment, behavior, and development that we can observe. One wing concerns the unfortunate grip that traditionalism, fundamentalism, and parochialism can have on religious communities, leaving them all too willing to become like 'handmaids' of the prevailing political-economic order, sometimes to disastrous effect. We might see religious communities captured by prevailing ideologies, supportive of tyranny, and bending the core religious and ethical sentiments towards reifying worldly affairs, however they may be at that time and place. From this perspective, the capture of religion by superstitious, dogmatic, or otherwise circumscribed and close-minded thinking can be seen as a consequence of this tendency that ultimately tends towards disintegration, not just in society but in the fundamental animus of a religious community itself.

The other major direction is constructive: it seeks to draw on religion as a source of inspiration that impels transformative ways of living and thinking. It attempts to build and secure novel approaches to attaining human happiness and advances genuinely impactful perspectives on ethical living, prosperous and functional societies, and on our place in the universe. Baháʼí’s consider these (positive) impacts as comprising the essential characteristics that constitute religion itself; however, both these directions (one towards disintegration, the other integrative) are actually intrinsic to religion at its core.

Put briefly, two interrelated perspectives from a Baháʼí’ 'science' of religion can explain this state of affairs: (1) religion is a universally unfolding spiritual & historical process that impels development and drives progress in the individual and civilization, (2) as an evolutionary and organic process, religions have a 'life-cycle' of emergence, dynamism, growth and attraction, followed by a zenith and then a gradual 'benighting' where the structures and impact become ossified, obscured, and misdirected.

So when we see at one point in history a religion flourishing and contributing novel and genuinely unique contributions to human societies, reshaping and revitalizing the lives of its followers, this follows from its essential role in developing and advancing civilization. These emerge from a fresh, transformative impact on our ways of life, and from inspiration to pursue a vision of advancement. We can see this occur most typically in the early stages following the emergence of a religion (or sometimes from a notable movement of revitalization) and evolving dynamically from there on. This is because religion, while ultimately emerging from a source beyond mere human affairs, also inevitably interacts with, changes, and evolves in accordance with human affairs. No matter the origin of an original revelation, it is always received by a community and evolves from there on out. When later we see such communities losing dynamism and ossifying into dogmatism and traditionalism, drifting away from the essential vitality and truth of the impelling teachings, we can see this process of reception and dialogue with the source at play. When communities come to support human affairs that diametrically oppose that core, we witness how religious communities can become obscured from the creative source that led to their emergence in the first place.

A final component of this is that despite these ups-and-downs, religion overall tends towards development and the re-emergence of the essential core of what makes a spiritual perspective on reality fruitful for personal, social, and societal progress. Baháʼí’s see this as not merely a 'return' to or rediscovery of some perfect past and rejection of the present (a la traditionalism or fundamentalism), but rather as a genuinely novel and greater share of clarity. Fresh progress towards truth and understanding. This dynamic has occurred progressively in a diversity of religious communities throughout history. If we see the aforementioned tendencies in religion towards disintegrative or constructive impacts as a balance, we would suggest that religion weights more towards the constructive end through the instrument of this progressive renewal across time, place and people; however, this balance shifts depending also on the community, place, and time.

Religion in a New Era

So where do we stand now? In this balance of the disintegrative and constructive role that religion plays in the life of humanity, do we presently see it bending more towards the disintegrative, or can we see a building energy towards constructive transformation?

As Baháʼí’s see it, the world currently stands in need of a renewal of the core religious spirit that drives forward human progress. Undoubtedly this includes contributing a share to revolutionizing our material circumstances. We firmly hold that religion and spirituality have a meaningful, essential, and inescapable responsibility in answering the question: 'how do we organize our economic affairs in ways that promote universal prosperity, achieves just arrangements for society, preserves the earth and the environments that we inhabit, and fosters healthy human communities?'

"From every standpoint the world of humanity is undergoing a reformation … everywhere the world of mankind is in the throes of evolutionary activity indicating the passing of the old conditions and advent of the new age of reformation." -‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 439

The role that religion plays in fostering ethical development and rigorously exploring answers to questions that scientific investigation can only partly answer is not something that will recede over time. Rather, the time is ripe for us to explore anew religion's function in society and reconsider which developments and holdovers from the past are harmful, and which are helpful and constructive.

Such a dialogue has critical impacts when considering the merits of capitalism and the prevailing economic order of modernity. Baháʼí’s no doubt share many of the same criticisms of capitalism that have been leveraged by various disciplines and thinkers over the past two centuries. In addition to these, we can draw on a highly productive spiritual and moral framework that helps us posit novel origin points for those aberrations that lead to the destructive economic state of affairs we find ourselves in. Baháʼí’s seek to draw on inspiration from the Baháʼí Revelation to propose creative solutions rooted in innovative understandings of human nature and how we structure society. Perhaps most importantly, we draw on the deep well of religious sentiment, faith, and commitment that impels us to persistently advocate for and act towards meaningful change to bring about a better future, while not losing hope in the face of rampant injustices and anguish faced by much of humanity.

“[whatever benefits capitalism may have, this] cannot withhold a thinking person from recognizing that the system is morally and intellectually bankrupt. It has contributed its best to the advancement of civilization, as did all its predecessors, and, like them, is impotent to deal with the needs of a world never imagined by the eighteenth century prophets who conceived most of its component elements..” - Universal House of Justice, Century of Light, p. 135

Notably, these all proceed from a bedrock of spiritual principles—for example, that every human being has inherent nobility and value, that we all share a collective role in securing a healthful and prosperous future for future generations, that certain powerful nations dominating and extracting wealth from others is a deplorable and intolerable condition—that all provide a base for a new vision for both macro-level systems of society and the fundamentals of spiritual and ethical living. This is precisely what makes an ethical and spiritual framework productive alongside a scientific one.⁴ Such core principles motivate us to see how a new vision of human potential reshapes how we inhabit the world and our fundamental conceptions of economy, material need, exchange, and prosperity. The aim is to enable true prosperity while eliminating the abuses characteristic of economic systems enacted so far in human history.

Finally, as an overarching synthesis, the potential offered by an understanding of the process of religious renewal opens the door for sidestepping and passing beyond the perpetual struggles between competing ideologies that blind us and keep us locked into destructive conflicts. In this sense, it is clear that just knowledge alone—such as from the sciences or humanities in the past few centuries—is not alone capable of reorganizing human affairs and tackling the crises that we face, which appear to have only deepened even as scientific progress has advanced. Rather, we need the will to strive collectively, to commit to the welfare of all people, to better organize human affairs, and to confront the challenges we face. In this respect, it becomes clearer that there is no way around the necessity of drawing on the spiritual, social, and moral insights of religion.

1. At this time I purposefully won’t elaborate on how exchange or commodification might be viewed through a Baha’i lens, other than that neither the reviewed conclusions are suitable.

2. If none of this makes any sense, you can DM me or comment below to complain.

3. To Marx’s credit he did acknowledge more of these factors in works and letters towards the end of his life. They undoubtedly do not resolve enough of the gaps, however. Much of Marxist and post-Marxist theory has revolved around resolving these to greater or lesser degrees of success.

4. One may note that many of these focuses have complementary or overlapping concerns with scientific and intellectual approaches, and this is exactly the point. The overlaps should not be seen as signs that one or the other domain (i.e. science or religion) is overstepping its bounds and should retreat in favor of the other. Instead, the overlaps are highly productive and precisely the point, in that they approach common realities from unique angles, and the questions they pose each other lead to mutual refinement.