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Wall Street and Sermons on Amounts
Denominational leaders are beginning to speak out about the moral collapse of Wall Street's financial markets. Both presidential campaigns seem to be paying attention. Democrats now are pushing the economy as a values issue, especially in Midwest swing states. Republicans no doubt will try. Will "values voters" agree?
Political scientist John Green of the University of Akron told the Associated Press that it won't be an easy sell for either party. "This is daunting, complicated stuff even for sophisticated voters," Green said. "You can make values arguments about the economy. But you'd have to be subtle and complex and require a good bit of discussion -- not the sorts of things presidential campaigns are given to."
It's not that complicated, is it?
The Church of England's two most senior clerics strongly condemned some share traders as "bank robbers" and called for more government regulation of capitalism's greedier instincts. A few days later, the Church admitted that its $9 billion investment portfolio had profited from the work of some of those "bank robbers." Whoops.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops urged White House and congressional officials to consider the human impact of the financial crisis in their efforts to rescue the economy from, "the scandalous search for excessive economic rewards even to the point of dangerous speculation that exacerbates the pain and losses of the more vulnerable are egregious examples of an economic ethic that places economic gain above all other values."
Not the most eloquent argument. Maybe our church leaders should stick with the basics.
I heard a sermon last week that summed up this "daunting and complicated" financial stuff with a few verses from the Sermon on the Mount: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. . . . You cannot serve both God and Money."
Current events show that we continue to try.
By
David Waters
|
September 30, 2008; 4:33 PM ET
| Category:
Under God
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Posted by: monel7191 | October 1, 2008 11:43 AM
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The real (opinion) 'spiritual' problem with our economic system (Capitalism) is that in order for capitalism to maximize its profits it requires an 'amoral' (definition: having no moral standards, restraints, or principles) consumer base.
The 'spiritual' reasoning behind this is because material desires (cravings) take one 'into' the labyrinth and spiritual aspirations lift one out of the labyrinth.
Capitalism produces 'slaves' to materiality and true spirituality, on the other hand, produces (gradually) liberation and freedom. Simple 'Temperance' would cause the madness to grind to a halt.
The 'problem' is rooted in an utter lack of virtue.
.
Posted by: John_Chas_Webb | October 1, 2008 12:59 PM
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Excuse me - treason and greed have ALWAYS been values issues! Wall Street and corporate America landed us in this mess with their free trade nonsense - shipping milllions of jobs overseas, offshoring production capacity and technology. Worse, they have displaced American engineers and scientists and computer programmers with cheap indentured servants from India and China using H1-B and similar temporary guest worker visas. Those workers hate us, loathe us, and steal us blind. They created the hack and back door in the electric passports, have stolen plans for every defense secret from the B1 and B2 bomber to night vision technology and sold it all over the world....ahnd they created VISTA! In a recent post, one referred to America and American's as "...a greedy, war loving, pompus bunch of gluttons". THAT ought to get everyone on the band wagon to end the disgrace of business enjoying our protections, citizenship for their executives, while looting this country and treating their fellow citizens like dirt.
Posted by: mibrooks27 | October 1, 2008 3:17 PM
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MIBrooks,
A HUGE reason we are in the mess we are in right now is because homeowners can't make their mortgage payments and are defaulting on their loans. How many of these homeowners obtained a mortgage with a gun to their head? Do you think that percentage is higher or smaller than the one's that can't pay because they selfishly and irresponsibly bought a house they could not afford?
Don't worry though, you're not alone. We have become a nation of whiners & complainers who are quick to point the finger at others before we first look in the mirror. Sad, really.
Posted by: globalone | October 1, 2008 3:27 PM
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John chas webb: Ugh. Really? Do you believe that? I'm a recovering Catholic and I'm a perfectly moral person, I just don't think there's some omnipotent being watching me. I'm also a consumer and fit right in with the capitalist society.
Capitalism is not feeding amoral behavior, it's merely providing services that are demanded. Clever marketing and immoral behavior can both create demand for things, but there's plenty of demand for perfectly 'good' products and services.
I can not buy guns, beer and porn and still live in a capitalist society. I can also not buy those things without any god demanding that I don't. The problem is not capitalism and the solution is not religion.
Posted by: brianwilliams42 | October 1, 2008 10:42 PM
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"capitalism's greedier instincts"
Who are you trying to kid? Human nature is to obtain as much as possible with the least amount of effort expended. This goes for the prosperity theologists as well as the get rich quick MBA crowd. In both cases, it is the sellers of easy money or eternal salvation that reap the profits.