Low interest rates are one big factor in the temptation to greed found among mortgage lenders. Alan Greenspan, when he was Federal Reserve Chairman, was not being evil in continuing to lower interest rates; he wanted to keep the economy growing even though the country was pursuing a war and paying for that war on credit. Perhaps his political bosses told him, “Keep the economy humming.” Who knows? All we know is that, for example, in 2001, we saw news stories that stated, “In an effort to battle U.S. market conditions this year, Greenspan has been forced to roll up his sleeves and unleash five 0.5 percentage cuts in the Federal funds rate. This drop from 6.5% to 4% is unheard of and the current rate is at its lowest level in seven years!” In the beginning, these rate cuts were necessary to help the market in the post 9/11 recovery. The thing that opened the door for the predatory lenders was keeping the rate so low for such a long time and lack of oversight.

‘Hurray!’ said the banks. 'Let’s make money off of these low interest rates and package lots of attractive mortgages.' But the banks added to the conditions that made for the sin of greed, because they didn’t just sell people on the idea of low fixed interest rates, they tempted home buyers with the idea they could get even lower interest rates by choosing variable rate mortgages and even interest-only mortgages.

Meanwhile, there were these two wars still going on and the wars were being paid for on credit. This disastrous run-up in debt, in turn, lowered the value of the U.S. dollar abroad. The falling dollar meant that the U.S. had to pay for its oil abroad with ever more devalued currency. At the beginning of the Iraq war, oil was selling for $25.00 a barrel, but remember those were dollars worth far more than the dollar is worth today.

Those who produce oil today are making money and the banks, the construction industry and the real estate market are losing money. Investors follow the money and they are moving away from buying up bad debt and moving into commodities. Investors are not only driving oil prices up further, they are also buying corn and wheat and inflating those prices as well. And people whose very lives depend on stable prices in foods are now starving.

If we only think about sin individualistically, then it is easy to miss how many short-sighted and even morally wrong acts go together to create great, big disasters for many, many people.

It is also important to remember that many of those making the decisions that created this huge mess are not themselves evil people. After all, what’s wrong with stimulating the economy? Isn’t it a good idea to help people buy a home who’ve never been able to afford one? Don’t we owe it to our investors to make them a profit? These discrete acts look OK in themselves if you don't connect the dots.

This is why it is important to do our moral reasoning in context. This is why it is important to see the connections between war and starvation, between easy credit and temptation, between individual sin and collective responsibility.

It’s too easy to think about sin just as an individual. ‘I’m not greedy,’ you tell yourself. Yes, but together human beings are greedy and you are part of humanity whether you like it or not. And so am I.