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GOD vs. Greed
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Just how 60% of the world's wealth got to be concentrated in the hands of 6% of the world's population is a long a complicated story, some of which we will explore below. One of the most startling things you discover when you take a closer look at the tremendous imbalance in the world between the very few rich nations and the many poor nations is that the few extremely rich nations are the Christian nations of North America and Europe. Now, what has been the role of Christianity in all of this? Why have a handful of Christian nations become so rich and powerful and the rest so poor and weak? Maybe the world has come to this because – despite all our church-going, all our prayers, all our baptisms, all our altar calls, and all our professions of faith – we show by our actions and our inactions that we don't really believe what the Bible and especially the Gospels teach, best summarized in the words of Luke 3:11 : "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise". This catastrophe is occurring day after day while millions of middle-class and wealthy people in countries like America enjoy thousands of times more wealth than the poor. Are these people being told that the price which Jesus set for the salvation of those with means is helping those who are without means (the homeless, the jobless, the uninsured, the hungry, the unjustly imprisoned, the sick, the addicted, the oppressed, the outcast, and those not fortunate enough to have been born in the more prosperous parts of the world)? Or do they believe instead what the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, taught ? In a famous speech in 1630, John Winthrop proclaimed :"By divine Providence, some ( like middle to upper class Americans ) must be rich, some poor; some high and eminent in power and dignity, some mean and in subjection." Even Americans who may not identify with these sentiments on the individual level tend to embrace them on the national level, imagining that God has blessed and will continue indefinitely to bless America with fantastic wealth, and that he has apparently ignored, if not cursed, vast portions of people in other parts of the world. We Christians may not be able to explain to our fellow man why GOD allows so much suffering in this world, but some day we may have to explain to God why WE allowed so much suffering to go on, when we had so much abundance with which to help! And clergymen will have to explain to God how they could claim to be his spokesmen, when they did not even know themselves what Jesus laid down as the indispensable requirements for salvation, which we will lay out, mostly in Jesus' own words in the third section of these pages. The Bible's "Golden Rule "*1 :  "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you." The "Golden Rule" is not unique to Christianity.Judaism teaches, "What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man." { Hillel, Shabbath 31a.} Islam teaches, "No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself." { Hidith } Even Buddhists, some whom deny the existence of any God, teach, "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." { Udana-Varga } Can the Gospel's teaching be limited to coats and clothes? I don't see how. And if it extends to other things, is it limited to things? I don't see how. It seems to me that what is true of things is true of other benefits that we enjoy in abundance where others are deprived of those benefits. So if we have more or better health, insurance, employment, talents, opportunities, advantages of culture, environment, or whatever, we who believe in this central teaching of the Gospels should be willing to share those benefits with those deprived of them. This web site is not striving to promote any church, denomination or person, but only Christ, and what he himself identified as the heart of his teaching, i.e. that we must strive to love God above all, that we strive to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves, and that we particularly try to love and rescue those of our neighbors who are most in need of help and love. |
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The vast majority of Americans love Norman Rockwell's paintings and profess to fervently believe in the Bible's Golden Rule. Yet, a century and a half ago, some 550,000 young Americans perished pointlessly in a war between brothers, just because people in our nation's "Bible belt" gave lip service to the Scriptures and to its golden rule, but proved by their words and deeds how little impact those Scriptures' teaching actually had on their lives and on their political decisions. Far from persuading their congregants to "go and do like the good Samaritan", so-called Christian preachers actually gave their blessing to those who brutalized their dark skinned neighbors, instead of loving them. The Alabama Conference of the Methodist Church, for example, proclaimed in January, 1861: "African slavery is a wise, humane and righteous institution approved by God. " *2 And the General Assembly of the Southern Presbyterian Church boasted in 1864: "We have no hesitation in affirming that it is the peculiar mission of the southern church to conserve the institution of slavery and to make it a blessing to both master and slave." And, in an 1862 sermon at Savannah, GA, Episcopalian Bishop Elliott actually condemned opposition to slavery as "presumptuous interference with the will and ways of God." (Emphasis : mine)*3 As for the Roman Catholic Church, a sympathetic historian explained that : "The Roman Catholic Church had taken no position on slavery either before or during the war. 'By their silence,' one Catholic writer explained ' our prelates (i.e. hierarchy) divorced this burning political question from church affairs.' " "During the colonial time, the Roman Catholic Church was the state religion in French possessions. All other churches were suppressed. The [enslaved people] were compelled to be baptized. Since the Africans cherished their custom and ways of life, this led to conflict and rebellions. . . the economy of Orleans Territory [which became the state of Louisiana] was based on the cruel system of chattel slavery. Africans and Native Americans were considered property. At the top of society were a few rich [enslaving] owners and at the bottom were masses of [enslaved people]. Individual families and joint corporations owned [enslaved persons]. . . But one of the biggest [enslaving] owners was the Roman Catholic Church. The Jesuits, Capuchins and Ursulines had plantations run by [enslaved] labor and all three engaged in the [enslavement] trade." "Slavery, considered as such in its essential nature, is not at all contrary to the natural and divine law. There can be several just titles of slavery and these are referred to by approved theologians and commentators of the sacred canons (of the Catholic Church). It is not contrary to the natural and divine law for a slave to be sold, bought, exchanged or given." [Instruction 20, June 1866] Frederick Douglass was an extraordinary man, who not only managed to throw off the shackles of slavery but went far beyond the conventional wisdom of his enslavers. In his autobiography, he contrasted the Christianity that characterised America's Southern "Bible Belt", and the Christianity of Christ : 
What I have said respecting and
against religion, I mean strictly to apply to the
slaveholding religion of this land, and with no possible
reference to Christianity proper; for, between the
Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I
recognize the widest, possible difference–so wide, that
to receive the one as good, pure, and holy, is of necessity
to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked. To be the
friend of the one, is of necessity to be the enemy of the
other. I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity
of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding,
women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical
Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but
the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land
Christianity. I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers,
the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels.. . . I am filled with unutterable loathing when I contemplate the religious pomp and show, together with the horrible inconsistencies, which every where surround me. We have men-stealers for ministers, women-whippers for missionaries, and cradle-plunderers for church members. The man who wields the blood-clotted cow skin (whip) during the week fills the pulpit on Sunday, and claims to be a minister of the meek and lowly Jesus. The man who robs me of my earnings at the end of each week meets me as a class-leader on Sunday morning, to show me the way of life, and the path of salvation. He who sells my sister, for purposes of prostitution, stands forth as the pious advocate of purity. He who proclaims it a religious duty to read the Bible denies me the right of learning to read the name of the God who made me. He who is the religious advocate of marriage robs whole millions (of slaves) of its sacred influence, and leaves them to the ravages of wholesale (moral) pollution. The warm defender of the sacredness of the family relation is the same that scatters whole families, – sundering husbands and wives, parents and children, sisters and brothers, leaving the hut vacant, and the hearth desolate. We see the thief preaching against theft, and the adulterer against adultery. We have men sold to build churches, women sold to support the gospel, and babes sold to purchase Bibles for the poor heathen! all for the glory of God and the good of souls! The slave auctioneer's bell and the church-going bell chime in with each other, and the bitter cries of the heart-broken slave are drowned in the religious shouts of his pious master. Revivals of religion and revivals in the slave-trade go hand in hand together. The slave prison and the church stand near each other. The clanking of fetters and the rattling of chains in the prison, and the pious psalm and solemn prayer in the church, may be heard at the same time. The dealers in the bodies and souls of men erect their stand in the presence of the pulpit, and they mutually help each other. The dealer gives his blood-stained gold to support the pulpit, and the pulpit, in return, covers his infernal business with the garb of Christianity. Here we have religion and robbery the allies of each other–devils dressed in angels' robes, and hell presenting the semblance of paradise."*4
" I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the South is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes–a justifier of the most appalling barbarity, a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds, and a dark shelter under which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slave holders find the strongest protection. Where I to be again reduced to the chains of slavery, next to that enslavement, I should regard being the slave of a religious master the greatest calamity that could befall me... I... hate the corrupt, slave holding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land." Are America's Churches more faithful today than they were in Germany a generation ago, or in America's deep south a century ago? We would hope so. Many of today's Germans appear to be ashamed of that part of their "heritage". And yet, a great many southern white Americans who consider themselves "Christians" still wish the Civil War had been won by those who wanted to keep their black brothers and sisters in bondage. And, along with many of their northern brethren, they still resent being forced by federal laws to do out of fear what they are not yet prepared to do for their black brothers and sisters out of love or fairness. In fact, some of those whose predecessors clashed with the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. at every turn, are now trying to dismantle the hard won affirmative action program and they have the gall to use this visionary prophet's own words against African Americans struggling to make up for centuries of unspeakable oppression! If you haven't read that preacher's visionary "I Have a Dream" sermon lately, we invite you to be inspired by it right now by clicking on the link to your left.
Although there has been a lot of improvement in the South, there are still so-called "people of faith" in that part of the country who still dream of restoring "the good old days". Rev. Steven J. Wilkins, the Presbyterian founder of the League of the South, argues that the South was the only part of the U.S. to remain true to the Bible. The North, he says, abandoned true Christianity and became a heretical society. . . It was this theological divide, and not slavery, that led to the Civil War. . . " We believe the South was the last bastion of Christendom, we want the principles upon which the South stood to be embraced again by the entire country. We want, not only the South, but the whole union to rise again from the paganism that presently prevails. Our goal is to rebuild on the ruins and see this lost civilization restored again by the grace of God."
"When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land."
Notes on the above : *2  The shameful behavior of the Methodist preachers
is especially tragic, in light of the inspired anti-slavery
efforts of their extraordinary founder, some 70 years
earlier. In that connection, check out these historic items:
A web site designed to promote both the old Catholic Church and old South, "President (Jefferson) Davis was not without solace during confinement. A rosary sent by some sisters in Savannah reached him. More notably, comfort was extended by the Vicar of Christ himself, Ven. Pope Pius IX. It took the form of a crown of thorns woven by the pope with his own hands and a portrait of the pontiff autographed with the words from Scripture, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." . . . The crown, with thorns about two inches long, is such that it is hard to see how the pope could have fashioned it without hurting himself. Why did this pope who is a Venerable of the Church . . . seek to comfort Davis, who was not a Catholic? . . . (It should be noted that he was the only European prince of the day to recognize — at least in a de facto way — the Southern nation, the Confederate States of America.)See http://www.catholicism.org/catholicism-south.html *4 The Narrative of his life (until he escaped from slavery) by Frederick Douglass *5
(many of the quotes above, as well as the earlier ones
about the way religious bodies dealt with the
issue of slavery in America, all come from the
chapter "Religion on the American Frontier"
in the book entitled Centuries of Christianity
published by Harcourt, Brace and company of New York, in 1959.)
Here is an additional link to a very interesting lecture by Dr. Terry Matthews on Slavery & Religion in the South Since these lectures date from 1995, we can't guarantee that the links on that site still work. |
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The CHURCH & Native Americans : As a schoolchild, were you taught to revere Christopher Columbus as the heroic discoverer of America? Have you grown at all in your knowledge of the true history of the founding of "America"? America was discovered by Native Americans thousands of years before Christopher Columbus stumbled onto the "West Indies" on his way to the "East Indies". What would Europeans of the sixteenth century have said, had Native Americans landed in England, France, Italy, Portugal or Spain and proclaimed to have "discovered" Europe, and proceeded to invade it? In "American Holocaust: Columbus and the Conquest of the New World" (Oxford University Press 1992), David E. Stannard shows that Columbus wasn't just a slave owner – we could perhaps overlook owning a few slaves since "everybody did it" –. Columbus is the man who initiated a genocide of an entire people. All of the founding fathers had serious flaws, true – but Columbus was in a class by himself. We might as well have the founder of the KKK as a national hero as Columbus. How many people know that Columbus, prior to his career as an explorer, had been a slave trader? And how many know that as a holy crusader he would become responsible for the killing of about half a million Natives and that it was already Columbus who introduced those measures generally attributed to later conquistadors, such as enslaving Indians and hunting them down with dogs? David E. Stannard not only dispels common myths in his work. He tells the reader what was lost: the incredible variety of cultures and the impressive achievements Native Americans had developed throughout the millennia. How well known is the fact that most Native Americans were living in towns and villages as farmers, long before Columbus and that the majority of Native societies in Northern America was organized democratically, including women's right to vote, long before such an idea was conceivable to Europeans? How well known is it that – unlike European cities of the time – the magnificent capital of the Aztec society took its "drinking water . . . from springs . . . piped into the city by a huge aquaduct system" that amazed the Spaniards (p. 5), just as they were amazed at the city's cleanliness and order: "at least 1000 public workers were employed to maintain the city's streets and keep them clean" (p. 5). When Columbus and a handful of Spanish sailors landed in the Caribbean, this was the beginning of "far and away, the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world" (p. x) and cost more than a hundred million lives in five centuries. This issue is so important that we have created an entire web site called "ColumbusNoHero.org consisting of several sections and many pages. How well known is it that in the Spanish missions in California the natives were forced to do slave labor and died in the thousands and that the missions were "furnaces of death that sustained their Indian population levels for as long as they did only by driving more and more natives into their confines" (p. 137)? Not long ago, white people who wrote about this period demonstrated much less compassion for the fate of the Native Americans. Paul Hutchison and Winifred E. Garrison, for example, wrote in a chapter entitled "Religion on the American Frontier": A wise Native American asks : Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea) Mohawk ( from "A Cherokee Feast of Days," by Joyce Sequichie Hifler ) Recommended reading : Sex, Race and Holy War excerpted from the book American Holocaust by David Stannard Genocide of the American Indian Peoples
I must confess that I have not read the book Mein Kampf, myself. But in it "Adolf Hitler gave the genocide of the Native Americans as the concept that gave him the idea he had for Eastern Europe, ridding them of undesirables to make room for the master race. Hitler's mistake was that he believed that American would be on his side, since he was only doing what we had already done. . ." ( I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has read the book and who can confirm or correct that assertion, with page and edition information if at all possible.)
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The CHURCH & Europe's Jews : On Dec. 7th, 1941, there was a little article in the New York Times that didn't get much attention in America, perhaps because it was buried on page 33, or because Japan was bombing Pearl Harbor on that day. But you can be sure that German Catholics, who were already engaged in hunting down and trying to exterminate fellow human beings of a rival faith, noticed such news reports and their Nazi rulers surely made sure they didn't miss them.
Looking back on this period, the Roman Catholic historian, Gordon Zahn, came to the sad conclusion, "The German Catholic who looked to his religious superiors for spiritual guidance and direction regarding service in Hitler's wars received virtually the same answers he would have received from the Nazi ruler himself." ( from German Catholics and Hitler's Wars Zahn, Gordon c. 1962, Sheed & Ward L.O.C. 62-9102)
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What have we learned ? "If the bible is universally diffused in Hindustan, what must be the astonishment of the natives to find that we (Christians) are forbidden to rob, murder and steal; we who in fifty years, have extended our empire... over the whole peninsula... and exemplified in our public conduct every crime of which human nature is capable. What matchless impudence to follow up such practice with such precepts! If we have common prudence, let us keep the gospel at home, and tell them that Machiavelli is our prophet, and the god of the Manicheans our god." [ http://www.informationclearinghouse.info ] Napoleon Bonaparte said that "Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich." but it might be more precise to say that "Religion is what keeps the oppressed from rebelling against their oppressors." If this is what Karl Marx meant when he called religion "the opium of the masses", then I concur with that assessment. We asked at the outset :"If our God is so wise, then how could he let this world get so messed up ?" or "If our God is so good, then how can he let so many suffer so much ? "
God help Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, and the long line of other fundamentalist charlatans, when they have to answer to God for all of the innocent people whom these deceitful salesmen have led astray ! In 2003, a formerly very Conservative Republican congressman who had become governor of the state of Alabama was inspired to promote tax increases on the wealthy interests of his state in order to promote the common good of the needier citizens of his state, on the grounds that this is the way he read the Bible. His efforts failed, thanks in part to the opposition of the local leadership of the Christian Coalition. Much of his inspiration was derived from the work of a local Christian scholar, Dr. Susan Pace Hamill. An Argument for Tax Reform, Based on Judeo-Christian Ethics, published in the Fall, 2002, Alabama Law Review. While running for president in 2007, the former governor of Arkansas, Republican Mike Huckabee did something very unusual for a Republican politician. He "criticized executive pay, sympathized with labor unions, denounced “plutocracy,” and mocked the antitax group the Club for Growth as “the Club for Greed”. " [ http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/weekinreview/30kirkpatrick.html?pagewanted=print ] |
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"This little museum (now) is of great importance in the history of slavery because over a period of two centuries, through its doors, millions of slaves entered it to be baptized before being sent off on their arduous journey to the colonies in the Americas. The bulk of the slaves exported to the new world departed the shores of Luanda (in Angola). . .
