Hmmmmmm. Religious economics? Perhaps it can find a haven within   
heterodox economics?  
  
It is difficult for me to make sense of the notion that there is some   
special branch of economics called "religious economics." We must   
acknowledge that many of the contributors to economic thought were   
ministers of a church and, like Adam Smith, moral philosophers. But   
didn't all of this end before the turn of the 20th century?  
  
Of course there is a relationship between ethics and economics. But   
ethics is not the same as religion. Religion implies "blind faith."   
Ethics is different. How can someone who has blind faith approach   
questions of economic policy from a neutral standpoint? How can she   
judge whether a particular economic policy is likely to achieve its   
objective, regardless of the moral significance of the objective? And   
isn't the presentation of judgments about the suitability of the means   
to achieving ends the main function of the economist?  
  
One can readily understand how a person in Iran would be interested in   
"religious economics," whatever that is. But shouldn't we make it clear   
that religion and economics today are worlds apart. Mixing the two is   
like mixing oil and water.  
  
At the university where I taught in Oman, the only social science that   
was not taught from an "Islamic point of view" was economics. I am   
pretty confident that the reason for the exception is that the religious   
censors did not realize that there was more to economics than its   
contribution to business administration.  
  
Best wishes,  
  
Pat Gunning