Book Review: Doing the Right Thing

The book Doing the Right Thing (2013) was authored by Scott Rae, though it was supposed to be authored by Chuck Colson. This book was to be the companion piece to the video series Doing the Right Thing, which was the last large project Colson dedicated himself to prior to his death last year. Doing the Right Thing is an exploration of moral development based upon a natural law approach. 

Before providing my impressions of this book, the ethical thing would be for me to let the reader know that I am a proudly certified Centurion, having completed the year-long worldview training program begun by Colson about 10 years ago. Therefore, my perspective on the book is influenced by my admiration for Chuck Colson and the Colson Center for Christian worldview.

With that out of the way, I really enjoyed this book. Rae did an admirable job of presenting this important work on ethics and morality. He begins by showing how we are in an ethical mess using examples from the business world, crime, pornography, and the media, noting that any rational person admits there is something wrong with the world. He goes on to discuss the incoherence of relativism and the inability of anyone to consistently hold to subjective morality.  He then proceeded to make a thoughtful case for objective morality, which Christians believe is grounded in the God of the Bible. He makes an associated case for the development of virtue, which is sorely lacking in a relativistic, individualistic culture. He concludes the book by applying the groundwork to the issues of what does it mean to be human, ethics in the marketplace, and ethics in the public life.

We need a revolution in ethics and virtue if our society is to succeed. This book by Rae provides a useful groundwork for exploring ethics and virtue in an accessible format. I haven't reviewed the video series, though having read the book, I want to. I happily recommend this book. 

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com® book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”