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Abstract

The paradigm we have outlined for understanding religion and the health of the public rests partly on the credibility of each component idea, and partly on how those components as a whole serve the work of better reflection and action. Here we reflect on one last critical component, the link between the health of the public on one hand, and polity and economy on the other. This link seems obvious, as farming is to weather and climate. However, no aspect is as challenging or contested, and we tread warily in this respect. Faith, health, politics, and economics: each is an aspect of human life that might be designed to rule the others, each has appeared to do so in different times and places, and each is complex beyond measure.

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Notes

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© 2012 Gary R. Gunderson and James R. Cochrane

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Gunderson, G.R., Cochrane, J.R. (2012). The Challenge of Systems. In: Religion and the Health of the Public. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137015259_8

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