Wealth or Jesus: We Must Pick One or the Other
(Ecclesiastes 5:10; 4:8; 5:12; Luke 12:15; Matt 6:24)
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by Rev. Paul J. Bern
The definition of cognitive dissonance is a person’s brain trying to reconcile two contradicting realities. One common example of this is an abusive relationship, where the man/woman obviously understands there’s abuse from their significant other, yet they love them anyway. Often their brain will then develop excuses for such action. It’s their fault or the other person has just been under a lot of stress. The reality is their brain simply cannot accept two different realities that contradict, so it creates yet another. This is never more prevalent than when it comes to wealthy conservatives and Christianity. They are the proponents of policies that contradict much of what Jesus taught.
What the Bible Says About Greed
These “conservative Christians”, who are sitting on 99% of America's wealth, allegedly do so in order for the rest of us to enjoy the windfall of their generosity through increases in top 1% revenue. Let that sink in for a second – an economic policy based upon this notion: 'If we subsidize greed even more than it already is, the rest of society benefits as a result.' When has greed ever benefited a society? While we're at it, what does the Bible say about greed? “He that loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loves abundance with increase: this is also vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10)
It becomes a driving obsession to acquire still more. Once the acquiring has happened, then comes the need to protect what has been acquired. This is selfishness and it is sin, as it is written: “There was a man all alone, he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. 'For whom am I toiling', he asked, 'and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?' This too is meaningless – a miserable business!” (Ecclesiastes 4:8)
Wealth and Christian Living Are Polar Opposites
Once the greed-driven have acquired and secured everything in sight, they're still not satisfied. They are never satisfied with all they have; their eyes always search for more, as it is written, “Then Jesus said to them, 'Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). This coveting begets more greed, which snowballs into more selfishness, and the selfishness begets more coveting and so on – to utter madness! “The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much: but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.” (Ecclesiastes 5:12) By this point, there is no room left for God. Money is now the master of the house, as it is written, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6:24)
Greed Is a Vicious Circle
Seems pretty straight-forward to me, how about you? Greed is a vicious circle that feeds on itself, generating ever increasing amounts or degrees of craving still more. The more that greedy people have, the more they want. Isn’t that what we’ve seen for our entire lifetimes? Isn’t this what “Trickle Down Economics” has given us? In the last 40 years the top economic 1% has grown exponentially, never more so than in the last decade. Yet what has it brought us?
The results we are seeing are an economic failure caused by a cadre of millionaires crying out that they need even more. Many of the same businesses that proved in the 90′s, even with higher taxes, that they could yield historic growth are now fighting a return to those very same tax levels. They now claim economic prosperity isn’t obtainable at those “job destroying” levels of taxation. The fact is, they’re right. Their economic prosperity cannot be sustained at a higher level of taxation. The more we fed into this myth of Trickle Down Economics, the more lower taxes benefited them, the more they expect to expand their greedy nature. To raise their taxes would mean their giant profits would probably be taken down to just, well, significant profits.
What the Bible Says About This Vicious Circle
This isn’t about these businesses making profits, they can easily do that, but they want larger profits, often at the expense of everything and everybody else. What the wealthiest Americans had in the 1990′s is no longer good enough. They want still more. Of course it’s impossible to return to the very same tax rates that brought us the best economic growth in our history, because then their greed would have to return to a lower level. As the Bible says, greed is perpetual and it never ends. We gave the moneyed elites more and now their solution to fix our problems? You guessed it, they want even more. Isn’t that exactly what the Bible warns will happen? Did we not have wealthy Americans up until the 1980′s? The answer is yes, they just weren’t as outrageously wealthy. Trickle Down Economics was the catalyst for the acceptance of greed. It gave those with the most more, and any mention of returning it to their rightful owners is met with a horrific depictions of economic Armageddon.
Up Jumps Cognitive Dissonance
And there you have it. There’s the cognitive dissonance I mentioned at the beginning of this posting. The top 1%'s political ideology completely contradicts the realities we’ve seen, and those the Bible supports. They preach Christian values at the same time they advocate a policy that says giving into greed will benefit our society. They vehemently denounce abortion while advocating war and conquest, resulting in 1.2 million civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan alone from 2001-2021. So unborn babies get a great deal of attention in churches, but once you're born, you're screwed, especially if you live in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, etc., etc.
The human brain simply can’t handle two conflicting realities, so it creates one of its own. The more we allowed the wealthy to have, the more they asked us to give. We did this to the detriment of our own economy and ourselves. If trickle down economics works, shouldn’t their success and our success mirror one another? Moreover, as they gain, we gain. You know, like 'a rising tide lifts all boats'? However, that isn’t what happened because life no longer works that way thanks to the top economic 1%. The more the top 1% gains, the more they want, and they've made it mandatory that everyone else chips in to achieve their goals.
The Rich Have Sunk All Our Boats
Think of a small fishing boat. If weight is equally dispersed it’ll stay buoyant and afloat. But what if the weight shifts more forward or backwards, what happens? The boat becomes unstable. Now imagine if suddenly all the weight is shifted forward, what would happen? Simple – the boat would suddenly suffer instability, capsize and then sink. As our nations’ wealth rushed to the top 1% in the last decade, that’s exactly what happened – our boat capsized and then sank.
Does this contradiction between faith and political ideology suggest that conservatives believe Jesus supported greed? It looks to me like they believe he condemned homosexuals and demeaned women, and considered the poor as lazy people seeking a handout. So why not perpetuate the belief that He would have supported greed? Don’t let the Bible scriptures sway your views, it’s much easier to simply allow yourself to give into and concoct a delusional reality.
A Maze of Contradictions
What religious conservatives have done is a complete distortion of the Christian faith. The so-called “prosperity gospel” doesn’t even fit into the very nature of what Jesus lived and died for. Every economic stance they support benefits the wealthy at the expense of the remaining 99% of us. How does it make any sense to have a portion of American society that pushes themselves as the Christian majority, the party of values and decency, and yet their entire economic stance contradicts what the Bible and Jesus says about greed?
What religious conservatives claim to follow isn’t Christianity at all, and it sure doesn’t emulate Jesus. Remember what Jesus said about that, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required”, meaning those who have the means to make a difference should do so unreservedly and unselfishly. Yet, to a religious conservative this is essentially “socialism”. It’s allegedly unfair. But isn’t Christianity about giving, loving, and helping those who cannot help themselves? These are the principles I try my best to live by as a practicing Christian.
Don’t Put Any Labels on Me
But I’m neither Republican or Democrat. I'm neither liberal nor conservative because I think there are good points to both sides. On one hand I could be considered conservative because I am in favor of small government, private ownership and free enterprise. But I could also be considered liberal because I'm a firm believer in universal health care (no, not Obama-care because it seems woefully inadequate to the task), free public higher education, and a $14.00 per hour minimum wage. We all know that the two-party US political monopoly lacks faith and morals. They envy the rich, and all of that rhetoric the “good” Christian Republicans use against people, yet none of it is true. Yet there they are, a walking contradiction. A political party who supports faith in God above anything and policies that favor greed over everything.
The Real Jesus
The Jesus I worship is a man who we should all strive to become because he is the Son of the Living God. Jesus was a man who didn’t casually judge people, who stood up for those who couldn’t stand for themselves, who never felt slighted or that life was unfair. Jesus was wary of people who spoke of God on their lips but lacked true faith in their hearts. He was a man who embraced everyone, even those who disagreed with him. A man who personified everything mankind should be. As for certain religious conservatives, who knows what they are worshiping. If the policies they support are reflective of the faith they follow, it sure isn’t Christianity and that man sure wasn’t Jesus.
Greed and Jesus; Why They Are Incompatible