The Ethics of Doing Nothing: Rest, Rituals, and the Modern World

This book explores the theological and moral significance of practices once familiar to many Christians and Jews, such as Sabbath, vigil-keeping, Shmita (the sabbatical year for the land), and fiesta in relation to the twenty-first century economy. Blosser draws primarily on the Christian theologian, Jurgen Moltmann, and the prominent rabbi and religious thinker, Abraham Joshua Heschel in making the argument that humanity's obsession with material production has led to three interrelated evils: the exploitation of workers, status anxiety among the middle and upper-classes, and climate change. Blosser's proposed solution includes returning to "rituals of inoperativity" that will help us "change our understanding of what it means to be human."