Normally this might be seen as a conflict between liberal and conservative Christianity, and it is true that the effort to portray Christianity as a handmaiden of capitalism comes more often from conservative and fundamentalist Christians. In Christianity Incorporated, however, Michael L. Budde and Robert W. Brimlow argue for a different understanding. According to them, both liberals and conservatives share similar assumptions about the ultimate role of Christianity in a capitalist society: “Foremost among them is the notion that Christianity must be “useful” in order to be a legitimate player in our contemporary world. It must help people perform their duties as defined by the secular status quo, not from within ecclesial traditions unless the two are identical. In addition to enabling people to work within the existing order more efficiently, Christianity must also boost people emotionally and psychologically during stressful times, and must enable them to be good citizens, employees, consumers, patriots, and family members.” “Indeed, for Christianity to be relevant today, it must do for the whole of society what chaplains do for the armed forces — meet spiritual needs and personal crises, provide legitimation and explanation for the way things are, and generate loyalties to the collective and its purposes.” The thesis is that Christianity has become a “chaplain” for capitalism; they take as their model military chaplains who are outsiders with fundamentally different values, but who must learn to function within an alien system without rocking the boat or challenging the system’s premises. As such, Christianity has begun to lose its “soul” and abandon its own most fundamental values: “By telling employees that spirituality properly pursued makes for happy corporate functionaries, a wealthy firm, and a stronger nation, corporations further the absorption of Christianity by the capitalist worldview and culture, in the process robbing the church of its prophetic and eschatological qualities. The church falls victim to idolatry on the installment plan.” The authors are Catholics, but they do not hesitate to find similar problems in the Roman Catholic Church. One entire chapter is taken up by a critique of the 1991 encyclical Centesimus Annus: "Christianity Incorporated" Christianity Incorporated: How Big Business Is Buying the Church, Michael L Budde, Robert W Brimlow “What the pope describes and justifies...throughout Centesimus is a chaplaincy church. In John Paul’s view, the function of the church’s social teaching is twofold: first, not to responsibly confront concrete problems in all their aspects (presumably because there are other social institutions more expert), but to provide an ideal orientation for these practical practitioners; and second, to try to moderate what he believes are “excessive” outcomes of corrupt institutions and practices.” “Thus John Paul simultaneously accepts and justifies those institutions and practices — at least in an abstract general sense — as normative, as the way economics, for example, ought to be, and then complains because the results of economics-as-it-outght-to-be are anti-Christian, unjust, and oppressive. ...[T]he church described by John Paul sees itself as subordinated to the social reality of democratic politics and market economics. By accepting that subordination willingly and deferring to the power of the empires, the church relegates itself to the role of loyal cheerleader, commentator, and confessor.” Does any of this really matter, though? Budde and Brimlow certainly think so, just as much as they think that capitalism and Christianity are not mutually supportive. They argue that it comes down to a question of “formation”: the process of developing habits, affections, values, and dispositions. This is a communal process which occurs over time and is like a process of initiation. The authors believe that to the extent that capitalist formation succeeds, Christian formation fails — thus a good capitalist isn’t likely to be a very good Christian. As a result, they are not concerned so much with an excess entanglement between church and state so much as an excess entanglement between church and corporation. What are we to make of these arguments? I think that the authors are probably right that corporate capitalism has had a profound impact on the practice and doctrines of Christianity in America. However, is that really news? Christianity has been in bed with powerful institutions since the very beginning. Christianity was readily adopted as justification for the institutions of the Roman empire, of medieval feudalism, and of slavery. These institutions and more influenced the doctrines and practice of Christianity in ways which continue to reverberate today. Yet Christianity has survived — indeed, it may be that Christianity’s ability to adapt to changing political and economic systems has helped to to survive and thrive. Of course, this does not mean that the influence of capitalism has not been negative, but as a non-Christian I am not predisposed to regard any particular outcome as positive or negative in the same way that the authors are. I am, however, very happy to see these sorts of criticisms being brought out — Christianity would be very boring if all Christians thought the same and none challenged the status quo. "Christianity Incorporated" Christianity Incorporated: How Big Business Is Buying the Church, Michael L Budde, Robert W Brimlow This book was written with a Christian audience in mind, but it is written well enough and is engaging enough to be of real interest to others. The authors’ discussion of how large corporations have been quietly taking over the funeral business is particularly fascinating and well worth the time of any reader. On the whole, the book offers a good explanation of a Christian perspective on American society which is not usually heard from.