A Cry for Mercy
St. Ambrose, one of the Fathers of the Church, and mentor to St. Augustine, said, "God has ordered all things to be produced so that there should be food in common for all, and that the earth should be the common possession of all. Nature, therefore, has produced a common right for all, but greed has made it a right for few." St. Ambrose, Duties of the Clergy, 1. 132. The implications of this teaching which is echoed in the most recent Catholic Catechism are very rich. "The right to private property, acquired by work or received from others by inheritance or gift, does not do away with the original gift of the earth to the whole of mankind. The universal destination of goods remains primordial, even if the promotion of the common good requires respect for the right to private property and its exercise." Catechism 2403.
The teaching of the Catholic Catechism demonstrates that if we produce in order to share, then survival, security and many other such goods will be added unto us. When will we hear such words from our American bishops and priests? The Pope recently referred to a passage from St Matthew's Gospel on false prophets, saying ''He who builds only on visible and tangible things like success, career and money builds the house of his life on sand''.
The inspiration behind this teaching are manifold, but let me cite one passage from Isaiah that anticipates the liberating words of Jesus, "Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers...Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh. Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not." (Isa. 58: 3, 6 - 11)
I cite this magnificent passage because it epitomizes the "economics" of the prophets which Jesus brings to fulfillment. This passage, which informs so much of the teachings of the Fathers, proclaims that love of God can only be granted to us when we practice justice, especially to the poor and weak. What Isaiah is saying is not simply that we must be "charitable" to the poor, as if this were one of the many more or less equivalent duties we have as Christians, but that the love of God is inseparable from sharing the goods of this world with the poor, that communion with God cannot exist outside of solidarity with the oppressed.
The word that is normally translated as "charity to the poor" in the Old Testament is sedakah, which is literally translated as "justice". However, when the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, the word was translated as "eleemosyne", or "almsgiving". This shifted the emphasis from what was originally a central command of Yahweh, that loving our neighbor as ourselves means freeing the poor from oppression, or more generally promoting an economics of sharing, to something extra, a work that is not really required for salvation, something that saints do, but not central to the faith.
But doing justice to the poor is fundamental to the faith. This is the path to economic sanity and health. It is my belief our only hope is to reorganize social and economic priorities to meet the needs of those at the bottom. If the investment bankers had chosen to share the rewards of increased productivity with working people, even to a small extent, rather than retaining all the profits for themselves, the resulting wealth distribution would have prevented the crisis which we now face. A leading economist, William K. Tabb, summarizes the issue well, “Toxic collateralized debt obligations are featured in most discussions, but a central aspect of financialization is the growth in debt itself: government debt (much of it the result of military spending and tax cuts and other “incentives” for corporations and the rich), consumer debt of all kinds, and corporate debt. The explosion in debt creation has powered an economy that has strong stagnationist tendencies. The irrationality of a class divided society is that profits accruing to corporations will not be reinvested to produce things people and the society as a whole need and want, because the purchasing power of the working class is kept limited and the corporate rich will not pay the taxes needed by the state sector to provide desired public goods.” – William K. Tabb, “Four Crises of the Contemporary World Capitalist System”, October, 2008.
It is the economics of sharing that this country has profaned. Thus we have brought judgement upon ourselves. This is a cry for repentance – only then will mercy be shown to us.
Your heart is in the right
Your heart is in the right place brcoll and it is right to say "doing justice to the poor is fundamental to the faith. This is the path to economic sanity and health."
The problem lies not just in the investment bankers, but in an immoral philosophical and economic system that has been purposefully and systematically deregulated by Republican policies such as Reagan's "trickle down" economics theory. GW Bush's policies pushed that theory beyond sense and sensibility which has in affect rewarded mostly those at the very top, the CEO's and his corporate sponsors. Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest sent a clear message that his interest were not about the American people's middle class or poor, but for corporate America to be even greedier. I do not state this just to lay blame, but to identify where the immoral philosophy and judgment are at fault so the problem can be remedied. The problem with Reaganomics is that nothing trickles down to the workers except higher taxes and lower wages and increased inflation. By destroying the middle class by such policies we are creating "the poor" and the conditions for a collapsing economy.
The immoral military expenditures and budgets pushed through by GW Bush and his allies and lobbyist with oil interest and businesses that produce weapons also are to blame for a lack of investment in productive jobs and rebuilding of a collapsing infrastructure of roads and bridges. The mindset of quick profits by investors speculating in real estate instead of in long term investments to create national and international economic stability is an immoral failure of right wing Republican policies of greed. Since there has been no concerted or healthy investment in alternative energy we are reaping the fruits of dependence on foreign oil and an increased deficit by way of foreign policy that has everything to do with oil interests.
We are witnessing the bad fruits of policies that put short term and narrow interests of those at the top into practice for the last eight years. The seeds of which we can identify come from Reagan's theory of trickle down economics which is a capitalist system of greed for the wealthy which creates the poor. It was Reagan who began taxing unemployment insurance compensation. Now McCain wants to tax health benefits! But at the same time, McCain wants to keep the tax cuts for the wealthiest, thereby keeping the burden of taxes on those at the bottom.
If people cannot identify where specifically the problems lie in economic decisions by leaders, they will be unable to know why they are to repent and what they are to repent of. Repentance means not repeating again what was greedy policy. It means rooting out the evil policies that enable the greed and enable wars.
If we are to enable charity and truly help the poor, we must change economic policies that will transform a system of greed for the wealthy to a system that is responsible and acts in prudence and love towards one's neighbor in need. Policies that favor slave labor wages at 50 cents an hour in foreign countries and creating unemployment here are not the sort that help the poor, but create the poor from what used to be the middle class. That is a system in which if the middle class is eliminated then they cannot buy the products or pay any taxes. It is a system that was doomed for failure in the long run, however those at the top profited immensely at the expense of the middle class and the entire economy.
Boyd R. Collins, Pax Christi
Boyd R. Collins, Pax Christi member
You have summarized my beliefs about this economy almost perfectly, butterfly. The repentance I called for is the repentance of those at the top for their utterly anti-Christian attitudes and practices. My criticism of this economic structure is based on solid Christian principles. While I hear many analyses of the faults of this economy and those who profit from it, very few of them look to the Catechism and the scriptures which contain the antidote to this spiritual madness. I would like to join with those like you who understand so clearly the immoral economic practices at play in a dialog that places them in the context of Christian teaching. Though it may seem obvious to you and me that these practices are a denial of Christian teachings, many of those at the top believe that they are sincere Christians even as they condemn millions to shameful poverty. I believe that it is our duty to show why these practices are wrong, not merely because they result in economic crises, but because they violate God's will for this world.
Boyd, thank you for your
Boyd, thank you for your reply and for addressing this spiritual crisis that manifests itself in the economic collapse. When I look at problems or crisis or at the suffering or harm caused to others by certain selfish or greedy policies, my seeing through the situation always leads me to the scriptures, to the words that are written in my heart by Christ. "Love thy neighbor as thyself." The Prayer of St. Francis is also a key to direct our faith to practice a righteous faith.
Many seem to have a disconnect of faith when they look at problems and fail to see the root cause because of that disconnect. They will look to the world for answers, when the answers from God are what they should seek. It is as if their faith and love were not first in God, but in their own agenda. The interpretation of their God and who He truly is may also be cause for the disconnect. Many believe that God is external, out there. This is cause for much disconnection to God who lives within. Many do not find Him within because they don’t really believe yet that He is there. They do not seek and therefore do not find.
I worked for a Christian who had such a disconnect and thought that the way to run a business and treat employees was for business sake only. It became an egotistical way concerned more with self-preservation than anything else. The world of business was its own law and was disconnected from God's laws. The teachings of Christ were disconnected in favor of adhering to socially accepted business practices, what was allowed by law, rather than to Christian principles. It became a master/slave relationship, rather than a Christian relationship of serving each other.
I see this disconnect in politics as well. People claiming to be God-fearing, God-loving, moral discerners of truth and righteousness, but their actions speak otherwise of a disconnect. They exhibit a spirituality that sheds more darkness than light, more death than life, more despair than hope, more division than unity.
We need divine assistance to show the way. This takes an act of humility toward God, not once, but daily and consistently. But, before we can show the way we need to learn the way, hear the way and see the way, practice the ways that do not violate God's will for us to "love one another."
Jesus was confronted with the same sort of problems we are confronted with in telling the truth of our God and father’s will. Many had the wrong idea about who God Is, so they did not recognize God in Jesus. In order for the Word of God to live, Christ’s life must live within us and in our being. If His word and his life is in our being, we can help bring His Kingdom of love and life into the world.
Boyd R. Collins, Pax Christi
Boyd R. Collins, Pax Christi member
Thank you for your thoughtful and heartfelt reply. I would like to extend my own reply by pointing out that the principles you give voice to also have economic consequences. The Christian principle relevant to this crisis is first of all the universal destination of goods. The Catechism describes it beautifully, "In the beginning God entrusted the earth and its resources to the common stewardship of mankind to take care of them, master them by labor, and enjoy their fruits." Catechism, 2402. St. Ambrose, mentor to St. Augustine, said, "God has ordered all things to be produced so that there should be food in common for all, and that the earth should be the common possession of all. Nature, therefore, has produced a common right for all, but greed has made it a right for few." St. Ambrose, Duties of the Clergy, 1. 132. What this means concretely is that is that Christians should rejoice in sharing their goods with others, especially the needy, and that we should construct an economy based on human need rather than demand for increasing profit.
Instead of this, Christians need to take aim at the fundamental cause of the immorality - money. Market logic uses only monetary calculations. Money is our common god, our central value, and provides the principles for all our main relationships and activities. It is what the prophets called "idolatry". The world is seen exclusively through capitalist eyes: fragmented into units in accordance with economic criteria and credentials, i.e. profitability. These are not Christian categories, but those of the most materialistic among us, who currently rule our economic relationships.
Do we have the spiritual strength to throw off the tyranny of money? If we do, then we can at last truly begin to live the life of the spirit, the life of solidarity, especially with the poorest among us. When will we have a spirituality that frees us from the demon of money?
I do not agree that "the
I do not agree that "the fundamental cause of the immorality" is "money." I believe the immorality is in the greed and lust for more money at everyone else's expense, the love of money and making money into the idea of success as a human being.
It is the idolatry or love of money with its associated disorders of power attributed to having money and the desire to control or dominate others and keep others subservient and dependent that is immoral.
I do agree that we should construct an economy based on human needs rather than demand for increasing profit. The root here is building up a foundation premised on need rather than profit for a few at the top. Rather than excessive profits in the form of money going to those few at the top, it should be going into investing in what are the needs to sustain us. Instead what we see are speculators in the markets increasing the prices for goods and farmers unable to subsist or earn enough money to continue to grow crops. I think that food, energy, housing, healthcare and education are basic essentials that we all need. Rather than food being on the stock exchange or energy futures sold as commodities they should not be in the commodities exchange. The mortgage banks also should not be able to charge so much interest for a home that it prices many out of the market with no tax advantages and increases profits to the extreme to banks and takes way too long to pay off, putting an excessive drain on people's incomes for thirty years or more. Healthcare should be about care and not for profit.
Money is not evil; the love of money is the root of all evil.
Boyd R. Collins, Pax Christi
Boyd R. Collins, Pax Christi member
I was probably a bit too broad in identifying "money" as the root of the immorality. What I was trying to say, too briefly, is that the current economic system, which is based on money, inherently privileges profit over human need. It cannot be reformed because because it is based on this prioritization which is embodied in the exchange value of money. We must free ourselves from this domination of money values over human values. The love of money is baked into the present system. The current system cannot be reformed because it is based on the competition of capitalistic enterprises for profit. We should start with a clean slate and base the new system on Gospel values.
Your concerns are greatly in
Your concerns are greatly in need of public expression. It is painful and disturbing to hear, in this election cycle, that "its all about the economy" - and that character doesn't matter, past associations don't matter, shady current associations don't matter, distorted religious formation doesn't matter. Only the "economy" matters, meaning that my private material well-being and security are what matters. What a self-centered nation we have become! Self-indulgence has become our #1 concern. The Gospel of Life is fading from us, becoming of no concern, in the shadow of our "economic" threats.
The Church needs to awaken, before the patience of God is tested to the point of insult. Where are our prophets? Where are the fearless and faithful voices of Truth? Are we all so preoccupied with maintaining our personal "economic" states, that we have become, in practice, pagans?
We are reaping what we have sown, and the bitter harvest has only become to be gathered and set at our feet. We need to repent, and soon.
Thomas
More insanity from a one
More insanity from a one celled brain!
Not to worry my friends! God has things in control. He always was ! Is now! And always will be! No one taught Him patience, but that He is!
Through His gift of the aging process He has leveled McCains ascention to the power of the Presidency! Through divine plan, men of his age find it almost impossible to establish and maintain an election!
Being the sum total of his life's experiences, as are we all, Obama will self desrtuct, offering too much, to too many, and delivering none!
Is Nader the choice of God and the nation? Is he a consistant opportunist? I know for an absolute certainty that he is not the choice of the church! But that has nothing whatsover to do with what God wants!
I quote a very unchristian source, Mr. Henry David Thoreau. "I know many a man who goes about his daily tasks, pushing a twenty by forty barn ahead of him!" Most of us, self inclusion here, find it impossible to view any but the "barn" we push!
Charity? Justice? Right? We must find them in ourselves and then move them to the other side of the barn!
Let go! Let God! Tried and tired! but true!
God bless us all and guide us through these troubled times!
james Edward