The business of religion

The camp of Occupy London has finally been evicted from outside St Paul’s Cathedral. I had visited the site and talked with a few people. I liked the way they focused attention on the how the current economic crisis is being handled. The camp highlighted the close links between the Cathedral and the City of London. Yet it also had wide support from local UK Churches. Their members feel the economic issues themselves and hear the stories of hardship from their partner communities in developing nations.

The existing systems of banking and regulation have led us to this place of economic instability and rising inequality. The world wide Occupy movement focuses the demands of people around the world for new thinking and new ways of doing business, ways that offer some stability for our futures. Much of the outcry about recent bonuses for bankers at RBS comes from a sense that after the greatest wake-up call in economic history nothing much seems to have changed. Instead austerity, financial instability and increasing inequality seem to be all that is offered.

Student concerns about debts and employment options – and how these play out around the world - now feature in the conversations we hear as Chaplains. In a multi-faith team these concerns are seen within different religious frameworks. Our religious traditions have long histories and have adapted to different economic systems over the centuries. Religions have views about the purpose wealth, and how to combine justice with our personal economic needs. For example, Islamic banking asks fundamental questions about the purpose of money. In Hinduism there is the idea that financial success needs to be seen alongside true devotion if the success is to bring goodness into life.

The Jewish idea of ‘sabbath’ questions the purpose and scope of work, while the idea of ‘shalom’ gives a holistic vision of prosperity. Christianity asks how the poorest are to share in general prosperity.

At a time of economic uncertainty maybe dialogue with the religious traditions about finance and business can give an new angle to the debate. Students from Imperial Interfaith and the Chaplaincy are bringing together a panel of people with varied experience of finance and business. They will be invited to answer questions from students about how their own faith engages with their business practice and what insights it offers for shaping the current situation. Members of the panel are drawn from the Hindu, Muslim, Jewish and Christian faith traditions. Alkesh Patel, is a trader and columnist for the Financial Times. Tarek El Diwany was head of the Islamic Finance department at Prebon Yamane in London and a bond trader. He now writes and consults on Islamic banking and finance. Marcus Bateman is Vice President of Corporate Payments for Barclays Corporate. His current area of responsibility is Product Management for Faster Payments. He is a Licensed Lay Minister (LLM) in the Church of England. Maurice Ostro is Chairman of Ostro Minerals (UK) and Chair and founder of Fayre Share Investments. He is also a trustee of the Anglo-Israel Association and the Council of Christians and Jews.

This is not about finding complete agreement. Religious communities have good questions. Yet, like St Paul’s they cannot avoid their own involvement in the current systems. No one is pretending that religious communities have all the answers. Rather we want to widen the debate about issues that affect all human beings. There is a sense of urgency. Religions with long memories – like political campaigners - know that if current practice is not reshaped with justice then those with the most power will shape things for their convenience and at the expense of the majority. Andrew Willson

Business and Religion : In Dialogue Thursday 15 March, 6:30-8pm in the Business School LGS lecture theatre. For more see www.imperial.ac.uk/chaplaincy or ‘Imperial Interfaith’ on Facebook.