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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAnother idiot trying to use the Bible to justify screwing the poor
By ARYEH SPERO
Who would have expected that in a Republican primary campaign the single biggest complaint among candidates would be that the front-runner has taken capitalism too far? As if his success and achievement were evidence of something unethical and immoral? President Obama and other redistributionists must be rejoicing that their assumptions about rugged capitalism and the 1% have been given such legitimacy.
More than any other nation, the United States was founded on broad themes of morality rooted in a specific religious perspective. We call this the Judeo-Christian ethos, and within it resides a ringing endorsement of capitalism as a moral endeavor.
Regarding mankind, no theme is more salient in the Bible than the morality of personal responsibility, for it is through this that man cultivates the inner development leading to his own growth, good citizenship and happiness. The entitlement/welfare state is a paradigm that undermines that noble goal.
The Bible's proclamation that "Six days shall ye work" is its recognition that on a day-to-day basis work is the engine that brings about man's inner state of personal responsibility. Work develops the qualities of accountability and urgency, including the need for comity with others as a means for the accomplishment of tasks. With work, he becomes imbued with the knowledge that he is to be productive and that his well-being is not an entitlement. And work keeps him away from the idleness that Proverbs warns leads inevitably to actions and attitudes injurious to himself and those around him.
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203806504577179303330474134.html
No mention of a certain fellow named Jesus anywhere....
Enrique
(27,461 posts)this guy runs a sweatshop.
Skittles
(152,965 posts)yup
HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts)And a mighty giant bastard who mixes religion and right-wing boilerplate at that.
11 Bravo
(23,922 posts)He mentions abortion, homosexuality, or the right to keep and bear spears and slingshots: 0
rfranklin
(13,200 posts)John 3:17
But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
Prov. 14:31
Anyone who oppresses the poor is insulting God who made them. To help the poor is to honor God.
SaintPete
(533 posts)You never hear these Bibliophile-capitalists refer to these quotes:
"At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts. And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the LORD's release" (Deuteronomy 15:1-2).
"...in the seventh year you shall let [your Hebrew slave] go free from you. And when you send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed; but you shall supply him liberally from your flock..." (Deuteronomy 15:12-14).
LeftishBrit
(41,192 posts)'No theme is more salient in the Bible than the morality of personal responsibility'? - Then why are the Ten Commandments either about revering God and avoiding idolatry, or how to treat other people; and the one commandment that deals with work is about not working on the Sabbath? Why do the very same Proverbs insist that 'A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed'?
What about the following from Leviticus:
'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you'
And
'If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you.'
And from Deuteronomy:
'Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.'
htuttle
(23,738 posts)Obviously it's not meant to be taken literally; it refers to any manufacturers of dairy products.
Bluerthanblue
(13,669 posts)Last edited Tue Jan 31, 2012, 12:21 PM - Edit history (1)
so many of the admonitions against wealth and selfishness lay.
The New Testament talks a lot about the welfare of the poorest, about our obligations to one another and against hoarding wealth and affluence.
His 'bible' rejects this.
"this" being Jesus & the New Testament.
Larkspur
(12,804 posts)and some of the Old Testamant profits chastised the wealthy and the powerful for abusing the poor, the widows and the orphans. Jesus' teaching was in line with those Prophets.
Bluerthanblue
(13,669 posts)there are plenty of admonitons in the OT about taking care of widows and orphans- and for making sure that the poor don't go hungry.
The rules about leaving the corners of you fields to be gleaned etc. The Rabbi also glosses over the fact that 'usuery' ( money lending) is prohibited and says that there is nothing wrong with the way Romney made his money....
yet Ezek. 22:12 says:
"In you they have taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and profits, and you have injured your neighbors for gain by oppression, and you have forgotten Me," declares the Lord GOD.
putting those who profit from lending in pretty bad company.
The last line of the OP is what I was trying to address with my reply. Jesus took a pretty unbending stand against material riches. Sorry I didn't say this better.
ProfessorGAC
(64,425 posts)Those are from this guy's holy book. So, it's on both sides of the christian divide.
GAC
Bluerthanblue
(13,669 posts)I understand that. I was trying to respond to the OP's pointing out that there was no mention of Jesus.
Sorry that I didn't state it better.
ProfessorGAC
(64,425 posts)I thought you'd really like that post and wasn't sure you saw it. Glad you saw it now.
GAC
LeftishBrit
(41,192 posts)Bluerthanblue
(13,669 posts)it does. I'm sorry I didn't say what I was trying to more effectively.
Larkspur
(12,804 posts)I can't remember their names or Bible verses, but on parable was about a wealthy man who hoarded his wealth and then God took his life. The other was about the wealthy man who refused to help Lazarus the poor man and in the afterlife found himself in Hell looking up at Abraham and Lazarus in Heaven. Martin Luther King Jr. gave an excellent sermon about the first parable.
Bluerthanblue
(13,669 posts)I think that Jesus' words against earthly, material riches and his unconventional associations are a part of why he was rejected.
He was pretty radical.
Zoeisright
(8,339 posts)I only wish there was a hell so he could burn in it.
Fawke Em
(11,366 posts)That passage is about honoring the Sabbath (the seventh day) and keeping it Holy.
What the passage is saying is that you can work all you want Monday through Saturday (or Sunday through Friday - Jews - or Saturday through Thursday - Muslims) - if you want to work - but on the Holy Day, you MUST rest and you MUST honor your God.
That guy is a doofus. I can't believe he's a so-called religious leader.
JHB
(37,132 posts)...just because you call it "maximizing profit" doesn't mean you don't redistribute wealth.
For Republicans, "redistribution" means "doesn't redistribute upward fast enough".
DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)"We call this the Judeo-Christian ethos, and within it resides a ringing endorsement of capitalism as a moral endeavor."
Piece of shit charlatan.