The failure of the US House of Representatives to pass the financial services rescue plan (nee “bailout”) has caused me to consider further how Christians define themselves. Who are Christians and what are their basic principles? How do these principles apply to the rescue plan?
From Luke 6 (NIV), we can find these two verses dealing with the wise and foolish builders:
48He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.
A verse that deals with the building of a home is rather appropriate for today’s economic circumstances. Shouldn’t there be rewards for those who build houses well, and shouldn’t there be troubles for those who don’t? Do those verses entice the listener to pay heed to the words for building well, or do the verses warn of the consequences of building poorly?
Also, in Luke 6 we find prior verses that deal with loving one’s enemies:
32If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ lend to ’sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Are those who committed sins the ones who built houses poorly? Are those who committed sins the ones who must suffer the consequences? Is there only one consequence of a poorly built home, or are there many?
The Christians of American politics are most often represented by Republicans who cling to the identity of a Christian nation, along with a few Blue Dog Democrats who are simply conservatives wearing a different badge. Together, they represent conservative Americans who are “Christian” with “family values” and together they decided to punish the sinners and their fellow man at the same time. These conservative Christians wish to cling to their money rather tightly. They prefer a free market system that rewards winners and punishes losers. They prefer to remain distant when others are having or will soon be in troubles.
It can be a challenge to understand the financial crisis facing the United States (and much of the rest of the world), but it really is a rather simple thing: people who built [financial] houses poorly (through greed) tried to make a buck more than they deserved. Maybe the citizens who spoke most loudly to their representatives, these citizens who frequently self-identify as Christians, wish to impose penance upon the wrongdoers, those who were too greedy for their own good. Maybe these Christians are greedy themselves. Do Christians have rules regarding the profiting from their fellow man? The Jews certainly gave us plenty of financial rules to follow in the Old Testament, but Jesus reportedly wiped away some or all of those rules depending on your viewpoint or self interest. The economic rules of the ancient Jews are in direct contradiction with the economic rules of modern capitalism. Can greed on any level make followers forget the tenets of their religion?
Luke 6 also warns us of holding the proper perspective on our problems, specifically our shared problems that may not be so obvious:
41Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
When it comes to punishment, pain and penance, Christians are quite good at providing all three. The predominantly Christian citizenry has spoken: those big corporations and banks on Wall Street must be punished for their wrong doings and they should not profit from taxpayer dollars. To follow the wisdom of Luke, Christians cannot see the plank stuck in their own eye because they can only point to the speck of sawdust in their brother’s eye.
The plague of the financial system is the lack of confidence in the value of assets that support the value of credit. Even if we don’t like it and even if we don’t use it, the free flow of credit does run the economy and without that flow the economy slows down like a dreidel losing the momentum to spin. When Christians do not help their fellow man, they do not help themselves. The judgment they make upon others returns as judgments made upon them.
When a home burns down, there are Christians who go help the victims. When there is an auto accident, there are Christians who go help the victims. When there is a need for a organ transplant, the are Christians who go help the victims. There are Christians who will contribute a great deal of money to all of these victims to help relieve them, however slightly and imperfectly, from their despair. However, when the only visible consequence to a victim is the lack of funds in a bank account, the Christians are nowhere to be found.
Could this be a simple misunderstanding? Certainly. Could this be the voices of a few controlling the actions of the many? Certainly. Have these Christians been presented the complete picture of this problem so that they can make an informed decision? Maybe not. One would think that if these Christians had a fuller understanding of the predicament faced by all, their choice of support would be different.
What Would Jesus Do? Would he bail you out? Would he bail himself out? Remember, Jesus was a martyr.
Editor’s note:
In a Time online magazine article on October 3, David Van Biema asks, “Foreclosures: Did God Want You to Get That Mortgage?”
Has the so-called Prosperity Gospel turned its followers into some of the most willing participants — and hence, victims — of the current financial crisis? That’s what a scholar of the fast-growing brand of pentecostal Christianity believes. While researching a book on black televangelism, says Jonathan Walton, a religion professor at the University of California Riverside, he realized that Prosperity’s central promise — that God would “make a way” for poor people to enjoy the better things in life — had developed an additional, toxic expression during sub-prime boom. Walton says that this encouraged congregants who got dicey mortgages to believe “God caused the bank to ignore my credit score and blessed me with my first house.” The results, he says, “were disastrous, because they pretty much turned parishioners into prey for greedy brokers.”
Read the article at Time
The article concludes that “magical thinking can prevail.” In other words, if you pray, and you do it right, God will favor you and let you have a better deal on your mortgage, so you don’t end up like the 90-year-old lady who shot herself in a failed suicide attempt in her foreclosed home. She must have not been doing the beg to the deity thing right.
Also, still no magic for amputees.
Update
Is Fannie Mae a Christian organization? In a revised CNN.com article located at the same link as shown above, Fannie Mae has forgiven Addie Polk’s mortgage. The ole gal is still in the hospital and suffering with her self-inflicted injuries, but Fannie Mae came to the rescue stating “Given the circumstances, we think it’s appropriate.” Is attempted suicide the way to a bailout for your mortgage? For thousands of others who are behind on their mortgages, is Fannie Mae tempting them to attempt suicide? Do Christians award attempted suicide with an erased mortgage?
Perhaps this seems like an organization who has committed some form of questionable business practices repenting for their sins, but Fannie Mae only had indirect responsibility for Addie’s predicament. The story states that in 2004 (when Addie was about 86 years old), Countrywide Home Loans gave Addie a 30-year mortgage on her home for $45,620. I don’t know about you, but I think that Countrywide was a little too optimistic that Addie would survive to her 116th birthday to pay off that mortgage. How does a woman her age have an income to justify payment of the mortgage? If she needed money at Age 86, did they really think she would miraculously gain sufficient income to serve herself and pay her mortgage? Also, according to the real estate website Zillow, Addie’s home has a current market value of $58,000, which happens to be about the same market value as back in 2004 when she got the mortgage. So, where was the collateral for a woman who, statistically, only had about 4 more years to live (attempted suicide notwithstanding)? Did Countrywide take advantage of an 86-year-old woman who should have been counseled against such a mortgage? Had they never heard of a reverse mortgage? Where were the ethical standards in this transaction? I would like to see a counselors statement showing that Addie was of sound mind and body and had a complete understanding of her circumstances and options when she executed the mortgage documents. This situation makes me sick and those involved should be prosecuted for what they have done.
This is a case where Wall Street bailed out Main Street in a game of cover-your-ass. Is attempted suicide the path the only path redemption and is debt erasure an act of atonement?
