Abstract
As Catherine Cornille rightly pointed out in her book ‘Meaning and Method in Comparative Theology’ (2020), ‘comparative theology does not engage in comparison for its own sake [. . .] but in order to gain deeper understanding of a topic of religious interest’ (16). Indeed, the comparative theologian often develops her work as a member of a religious or spiritual community. As such, she is cognitively and practically beholden to her community. Furthermore, she is beholden to those traditions she has engaged as her interlocutors, meaning she similarly responsible to the communities of those traditions. Affectively, the comparative theologian goes beyond being a mere academician to being a public scholar. It is my goal to illustrate this connection between comparative and public theology by elaborating the theologically prescribed diets of Roman Catholics and Jains, viz. the consumption of other animals and animal by-products. The exploration illustrates how, along with learning from one another’s insights, can affect the public good insofar as it impacts our responses to the worsening environmental crisis.
Presenters
Robert M. McDonaldDoctoral Student, Comparative Theology and Philosophy Program, Claremont School of Theology, California, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Catholicism, Jainism, Religious Vegetarianism, Diet, Comparative Theology, Public Theology
