First, it is assumed that any ethic, moral, or virtue can be possessed in degrees. This is similar to the Socratic idea of virtues occupying a range of middle ground in between two vices, which can be had in degrees as well. Using this assumption, it is possible to place an effectively numeric value on each element of their personal beliefs. Next, it is reasonable to assume that people, when choosing a church or other value-based organization that does not have mandatory participation, they will select one that has corporate beliefs that closely approximate their own belief structure. Therefore, let an individual belief structure be represented by function F(e), where ‘e’ indicates any moral ideal. Therefore, the corporate belief structure of any organization can be defined based on the ensemble average of all possible F(e) defined by every member/participant in the group, as well as a baseline set of founding beliefs, G(e), or
Equation 1
where N is the population of the group, k
i is the relative influence of person i on the group, and kC is the relative influence of the group’s original charter or founding principles. From this representation, it can be easily shown that the divergence of individual values from those of the organization at large follow a Gaussian curve, resulting in a normal distribution, with a relatively low variance. This information will be used later to address the free-rider problem.
Arguments:
In Nancy Folbre’s book, "The Invisible Heart," the most commonly referred to problem through out the book is the lack of caregiving in our society as it stands today, the increasing economic incentives against caring, and the economic undervaluing of caregivers. Individuals existing within a church environment have a variety of defenses against such issues.