The starting point of the work is that an analysis of the value bases of critical social issues is difficult to carry out in any qualified sense from an unstructured basis and that attempts to do so easily result in relatively superficial discussions of particular issues. Instead, we suggest how this might be viewed from a more holistic ethical and systems theological perspective.  In doing so, we review a new framework that aims to distil relevant issues regarding necessary trade-offs and how this can be done. Broadly speaking, this consists of a kind of Socratic dialogue that systematically examines the value base of the decisions that need to be made, as well as whether the effects of the decisions become unacceptable and thus need to be modified vis-a-vis the normative system embraced by the decision-maker. We discuss the role of theologians in this and emphasize that they should take a larger place in discussions on how to deal with complex societal crises, and the main point of this work is therefore to demonstrate the importance of a systematic and transparent method for filtering out critical components from ethical and theological standpoints, and to clarify the effects of the trade-offs between fundamental values that are made in real decision-making situations.