As I look back on the work I have done and consider its meaning for me now, I perceive multiple processes in play, and some of which I was not actually aware at the time of the writing. Taking this into consideration now, I believe, is important in introducing this work to others. The writing itself should stand alone, at least to an extent, but no presentation or portfolio can fully convey what was the original ambition, because the work itself defines what it is as it progresses. Put another way, as I researched and write, ideas, questions, and concepts emerged in the process, demanding my attention. Such work, I think, is always as much a matter of discovery for the writer as it is for the reader. This being the case, I feel it is valuable to discuss how the work itself was created. In this way my evolution as a writer and thinker will be more clear, just as the guiding motives for the work – and the changes along the way – will add what I hope is more dimension to it.
The research I conducted on religion in the workplace will, I believe, serve as an excellent template for examining the processes described above. The exact subject was “Religious Ethics in the Non-Religious Workplace,” and I approached this subject with a great deal of interest. I was very much aware of the wide range of possibilities in the subject itself, so I made the decision to focus on Christian ethics, and specifically in North American business environments. Other faiths and circumstances of the subject aside, I felt that this approach, based on a dominant religion in an area with a long history of commercial presences, would best enable me to investigate the implications. I was as well guided by what I think was a sensible awareness of my own limitations; that is, some familiarity with the main elements would better allow me to focus on the relationship between the kinds of ethics, and I did not want to make my study more difficult by taking on a religion of which I was largely ignorant. This choice, I should add, was not based on an unwillingness to investigate the unknown, but more on a practical understanding of how I might most effectively explore my main subject.
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As the processes of research and writing occurred, I discovered something interesting to me; namely, that my initial ideas were by no means valid. Our coursework over the semester notwithstanding, I still had a general belief that I would find Christian ethics as virtually mirrored in North American business ethics, at least in overt ways. This sense was based on my assuming that the predominantly Christian societies would inevitably emphasize the ethics of the faith in their commercial ranges. This was and is true to an extent, but I was surprised to uncover fundamental differences. On one level, I was compelled to think seriously about the actual concept of work in Biblical eras, which gave me an important awareness of very different ideas of it as compared to the modern. On another, I was faced with the enormous factor of obedience, and how an ancient Christian belief in serving God first must conflict with modern thinking, even among devout Christians, as to their obedience to the job or employer. In essence I came to see I was not merely examining sets of ethics, but how the ethics themselves reflected the different worlds creating and promoting them. All of this was the “discovery” process which I now see as integral to any research.
That process was exciting, but it also required me to shift my writing strategies and adapt what had been my organizational plan. More exactly, I had anticipated a degree of similarity between Christian and business ethics so strong, I would only need to emphasize. The element of contrast I discovered changed all of this, and I then was obligated to weight the impact of each contrast, as potential or real. In a sense, the writing began to dictate itself and in exponential ways; each new idea or possibility demanded address, as well as an appropriate place in the analysis as a whole. Along these more practical aspects of the writing, I learned as well how important it is to edit as the writing happens. It is helpful to maintain a structure of some kind, even as new ideas must be incorporated, in order to ensure that the work has balance.
This need for structure goes to another reflection, in that disciplinary approach has a new meaning for me after the course and upon reviewing my own work in it. I fully understand the need to employ a particular disciplinary focus, particularly as I have learned how subject matter may easily go beyond expectations. This is not a thinking that has changed for me in any real sense, in terms of value. What has changed is that I believe, or am at least considering, the idea that any real disciplinary approach should be interdisciplinary to some extent. The project discussed here, for example, centered on ethics, and this was my guiding focus. At the same time, and as I realized in the course of the work, I can only do justice to that field of study when I comprehend its meaning of, and relationship to, others. It is important for me to understand that conditions of work in Biblical eras if I am to gain any idea of how ethics apply to them. Similarly, a basic sense of how Christianity exists in modern society is necessary if I am to explore how followers relate their faith to their employment. None of this translates to “equal” and varied disciplines in play. Nonetheless, it does seem that some awareness of the impact of other disciplines is necessary if virtually any subject is to be addressed correctly.
