Shows how economics functions as the dominant religion in America today In this provocative book Scott Gustafson argues that economics functions in our current global culture as religions have functioned in other cultures. He describes and analyzes the rituals, pilgrimage sites, myths, prophets, sacraments, and mission of Economics to show how the Economy is our de facto God. Discussing such topics as debt, economic terrorism, globalization, and money as the Economy's sacrament, Gustafson's At the Altar of Wall Street encompasses a broad sweep of history, philosophy, culture studies, economic ideas, and religion in its trenchant analysis. Catholic Books Review "An excellent review and critique of our current economic system's sacred and unquestionable beliefs and activities. . . . Provocative." Ethical Perspectives "A stimulating and well-written meditation about how economics functions in our current global culture." Harvey Cox  (author of  The Secular City ) — Harvard Divinity School "It is daily becoming more clear that consumer capitalism is not just an economic system. It is a fully developed culture and, as Gustafson shows in this skillfully researched book, a full-blown religion. Replete with its own rituals, doctrines, sacraments, and theology, Economics has become the most powerful alternative to Christianity, all the more threatening because few people recognize its spiritual pretensions. No one who reads this extraordinary account will be able to think about religion or economics in the same way again." Robert H. Nelson  (author of  Economics as Religion ) — Independent Institute "In this intriguing book Scott Gustafson applies a new theological lens to American public life. Religion has always addressed political and economic affairs, but now, as he explains, economics actually  is  our religion. Gustafson shows that much conventional wisdom about the workings of American society is based on `secular' economic myth and illusion, and he insightfully explores how religion today has put on an economic disguise." Christian Century "Gustafson incisively lays bare our faith that capitalism will simultaneously make us rich and save us from the moral and material excesses of those riches." Scott W. Gustafson has served as a seminary professor and a Lutheran (ELCA) pastor for over thirty years. He is currently an independent stock-market investor in Herndon, Virginia. At the Altar of Wall Street The Rituals, Myths, Theologies, Sacraments, and Mission of the Religion Known as the Modern Global Economy By Scott W. Gustafson William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company Copyright © 2015 Scott W. Gustafson All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-8028-7280-7 Contents Preface, x, Introduction, 1, 1. Economic Rituals, 10, 2. Economic Myths, Metaphors, and Rhetoric, 32, 3. The Economy's Theologians, Prophets, Reformers, Terrorists, and Priests, 51, 4. Corporations: The Religious Communities of the Economic Faithful, 89, 5. Money: The Sacrament of The Market Economy, 108, 6. The Economy's Global Mission, 142, 7. Is Economics Civilization's Primal Religion?, 168, 8. Beyond Our Current Religious Configurations, 187, Bibliography, 206, Index, 216, CHAPTER 1 Economic Rituals Each day on Wall Street begins with a simple liturgy. A presider ... stands at a podium and rings a bell. For the next eight hours exchanges occur that determine the well-being of the market for that day that bring either hope or despair to the participants in the ritual. This experience of a bull-market "heaven" or a bear-market "hell" is indistinguishable in effect from revivalist experiences of being "saved" or "damned." A simple economic exchange becomes something "more" than that within the ritual parameters of the Wall Street market. The day ends, of course, exactly as it began: with a ritual ringing of a bell. The stock market is the soul of capitalism, and capitalism is the soul of the nation. Jon Pahl, Shopping Malls and Other Sacred Places The Power and Function of Ritual Human life is replete with rituals. We don't think about them much. We just participate. We uncritically believe our rituals are synonymous with reality itself. Our Economic rituals hold such power over us. We rarely think about them, we seldom see an alternative to them. As such they have a strong hold over our lives. Confucius (551-479 bce) was the first person to understand the power of ritual (li). Over two thousand years before modern sociologists began to discuss ritual, Confucius described ritual (li) as objective prescriptions of human behavior that bind human beings together. Rituals are meaning-invested roles, activities, relationships, and institutions that foster communication and create a sense of community between diverse people. Rituals include all formal conduct from table manners to greeting employers or employees. Weddings and funerals are obviously rituals. Others, like public transactions b