Customer Reviews

Ethics and World Religions: Cross-Cultural Case Studies

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The book is a presentation of 18 moral dilemmas - problems faced by ordinary people from a variety of cultures and religions. Faced with these problems, the people involved have come to a moral crossroads. Each case study is presented in well-written, concise prose, resulting in compelling storytelling. After each case study, representatives of two relgions dissect the problem and explain how the situation would be viewed and handled in accordance with their religions. A young Indian must choose the life he wants in the U.S. to returning home to marry the wife who has been pre-selected. A chinese wife, learning that she is pregnant, must decide to have an ultrasound test that would almost certainly lead to an abortion if the fetus is determined to be female. A British nurse questions a surgeon's activity when she suspects operations are part of an organ selling scheme. The selling of an organ in one case means survival of the donor's family in the midst of great povery. What the reader comes away with is that there is more than one right answer. The viewpoints of different religions are interesting and sometimes surprising and the reader soon realizes that these issues of ethics are much more complex than they might seem to be at first. This is a book of conflicting loyalties - the stuff from which great drama springs.

There are several marked pages and the cover is very worn, but other than that the book in good shape and works wonderfully for my class. Also arrived on time. Thank you!

This is a great book. The cases are very interesting. Some of the cases are quite long.

The cases in this book are very thought-provoking and help pastoral care students get into the thick of ethical issues. Each case study has two perspectives from different religions, such as Buddhism and Christianity, which reveal both how each religion approaches ethical decision-making and how pastoral care providers can remain open to see the values and benefits of different religions. Christine Gudorf is an excellent scholar...see her other works for more insights into christian feminist ethics. Her arguments refuting agape as "distinterested love" are essential reading for divinity students.