“And the young man saith unto him, ‘All these things I have observed, what lacketh I yet?’ Jesus said unto him, ‘If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell that which thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. But when the young man heard the saying, he went away sorrowful; for he was one that had great possessions. And Jesus said unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. “ Matthew 19: 21-24.
The moral of this story is astonishingly simple, yet it is a subject which is seemingly beyond the grasp of many Republicans. Christ, in this story, was warning us against worship of a false god, money, and with the greed and averice that comes with that worship. The conditions of Christ’s day were in many ways, analogous to today’s. Let’s examine the political, social and economic conditions in Roman Palestine during the time of Christ.
Roman Palestine had no middle class. There were the very poor, (about 99% of the people) and there were the very wealthy (1%). This is similar to what is happening in the United States today. 1% of the United States has a disproportionate amount of the wealth, and the middle class is steadily shrinking. This is the impetus of the Occupy movement.
Recently, the head of the Family Research Council, a far right-wing religious group, stated that Christ would not have approved of the Occupy movement, and he was “pro business”. This is misreading the Gospel, at best, but more likely, it is an attempt to pander to the religious right, who are more like the Pharisees that Christ regularly called out for their hipocracy.
The problems that the Occupy movement has been calling to our attention are not imaginary. They are real problems, that require solution. Its true that the Occupy movement is short on solutions. However, the lesson in the Parable of the Talents, (Luke 19: 11-28), is not that we are to support corporate greed, but that God does not expect us to be indifferent. To see the sins that corporate America, and our politicians inflict upon the people of the US and do nothing is in itself a sin, and Christ would have spoken out against it.
Indeed, in the Gospel according to Matthew, quoted above, He did just that. He pointed out that those who worship wealth, and who are wealthy simply for the sake of money, will find it difficult if not impossible to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who oppose the Occupy movement in their non-violent opposition to corporate greed, corruption, and the unholy marriage of corporate America to our politicians are opposing the will of the people for change. Let them look carefully to their souls as they contemplate how much profit they will make this Christmas.
1 comment:
I don't think we are at the point that 99% are poor and 1% are rich. Yes the 1% is rich but the median income in the US is 50,000. So half the country is making over 50k per yr. I think 50k counts as middle class. The upper 1% makes 380k per yr and up or if you go by wealth they own 8.7 million in assets or more. So while the occupy people are saying 99% of the people are not getting a fair shake there is still half of those people making a good living. Yes there are problems that need to be fixed but I don't think turning a park into a rat infested hell hole is going to help.
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