Sunday Morning Quarterbacking
I sat this past Sunday morning in church, wondering once again if too much knowledge is a good thing, wondering if I am going to Hell for thinking the way that I do, wondering if anyone else in this fairly large congregation was thinking what I was thinking. If they were, then I’m afraid they were as uncomfortable as I was.
The opening act of Sunday Morning Quarterbacking with Brent began when my pastor, as he is wont to do, asked a serviceman who was leaving for a 2nd tour of Iraq to stand and be recognized. I have nothing against this in principle; after all, this guy needs plenty of love and prayers for the danger he is about to face. What bothers me is the wrapping up of these soldiers in the almost idolic worship of the flag from the pulpit, the unquestioning support of such a noble cause - the bringing of the holy trinity of Freedom, Liberty, and Democracy to the Satanic Muslim hordes who so desperately need our help. It is just taken as a given that we are Right because we are Americans, and thus the things we do in the name of Freedom and Democracy are Right and Good, not to mention most Christian-like. The blind support of our leaders, no matter what they do or how much they lie, is as further assured as the passing of the collection basket. Meanwhile, visions of Lutheran churches in Germany in the 1930s dance in my head.
The main sermon was straightforward enough: a variation on “You Can’t Take It With You When You Go”, a missive that I had heard from this pastor on several previous occasions. Again, I have no problem with the premise - only the most cold-hearted Scrooge would disagree that it is best not to hoard one’s treasures, and Christian theology has repeatedly stressed the point that it is better to give than to receive. We heard from Paul’s letter to Timothy, “For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.” And, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” And finally, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” (1Tim 6:7, 6:9-10, 6:17-18). There are so many places in the Gospels that Jesus talks about greed and wealth and the lust for material things that one might get the impression that it was a topic that He felt quite strongly about.
Here again, though, is where the alarm bells go ringing loudly in my head. For I have never, in all of the years that I have been attending Christian churches, heard the link made between the greed that Jesus and Paul talk so much about and our economic system of capitalism, especially the unbridled, unfettered brand that is currently in use by the West (or the North), which systemically seems to refute, point-by-point, everything Jesus has to say on the subject. Don’t think I don’t understand the deep doo-doo that I am stepping in by making this statement. Capitalism stands next to Patriotism in the Pantheon of Untouchable Ideals that we Christians dare to criticize at our own peril.
Nonetheless, the sad fact of the matter is, all of the individual donations we give to charities, and, indeed, all of the charities in this country, big and small, and all of the good and righteous deeds that they do will not begin to compensate for the damage that transnational corporations, with the help of international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization, do in our name to the economic health and well-being of the vast majority of the world’s population. In this era of ‘Free Market Uber Alles’, absolutely nothing is supposed to stand in the way of a corporation’s right to make the most profit that it can. It is in this context that economic globalization can be seen as the New Colonialism. For where we once had Nations ruling over ‘uncivilized’ foreign lands by sending in civil servants to run a colonial government, we now have transnational bankers sent in to poor countries to run their economies (into the ground) and open up their markets to behemoth corporations, who swoop in and buy up all major industries, leaving the poor country to once again, as in colonial days, provide raw materials and cheap labor to the wealthy nation. This becomes easier to comprehend when it is realized that when speaking of the world’s 100 largest economic entities, Wal-Mart and ExxonMobil rank ahead of Indonesia, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Poland, and South Africa. It is said in defense of the free market that ‘a rising tide lifts all boats’, when it would be more accurate to say, ‘a rising tide lifts all yachts, while the dinghys sink in their wake’.
While the internals of this subject are complex, and certainly not appropriate for Sunday sermons, there is a fundamental disconnect between what we the people, as individuals, are taught about giving to the less fortunate in the world and then what We the People, as tacit proponents of this unregulated capitalism, take away from the very same people by proxy as a nation represented by corporations.
Whether it is avoidance, or lack of understanding of the issue, or deemed inappropriate by the pastor, it is this disconnect that causes my brain to spazz during sermons like this past Sunday’s. Forget the fact that an American Christian missionary’s message of peace is completely contradicted in most foreign lands by the militaristic and aggressive actions of our government, the poor guy/gal is undermined even more by the Haliburtons, the Bechtels, the Monsantos, the WalMarts, the ExxonMobils, the CocaColas, and the McDonalds. Corporations are amoral. They have no soul. They are neither inherently good, nor inherently evil. Their entire raison d’etre is to make money for their shareholders. They are fundamentally designed to take more than they give, the more taking and the less giving, the better. Any good that they happen to do in a community is purely a coincidence. Certainly there are good people working in corporations, but they are completely subsumed by the very nature of the beast.
Those of us who were born and raised in the shadow of the Cold War were taught unquestioningly that Communism=Bad and Capitalism=Good. Compounding this idea was the fact that Communism=Atheism, so Capitalism must =Godliness. Socialism was considered Communism’s ‘lesser-of-two-evils’ cousin, but I could never account for the existence of Christian Socialist parties in Western Europe. It now makes too much sense to me. People assume that to attack any part of capitalism is to attack ‘our very way of life’. Well…that’s true. Our very way of life needs to be examined critically and soberly to determine without predjudice how we got where we are and how we are maintaining this ‘way of life’. It is an almost impossible task, given the reflexive jerking of the knees whenever the subject is broached. People just don’t want to hear about it - “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” It would be like finding out that the way your father got wealthy was by secretly owning a porn magazine. And that’s how he met your mother. We prefer daddy to tell us the more romantic version, whether it is actually true or not.
This, then, is the sad state of my mind as I listen to the Sunday sermon. To those who would say that the pulpit is no place to pierce the myths and enlighten the masses to the more unfortunate truths about our nation, I would say “if not there, where?” If not our moral leaders, then whom? Pastors have a great influence over the thought processes of their congregation. Many pastors are fond of the saying, “The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it!” I’m afraid that many in the congregation believe a variant of this that goes, “My pastor said it, he believes it, so that settles it.” When pastors promote the flag, the sheep salute. When they offer no comment on war, or the ecological condition of the planet, this is a tacit endorsement of the status quo. And when they give sermons about our obligation to give, rather than receive, and never tie in the systemic contradictions of our economic system to this obligation, then they are, in my humble opinion, abrogating their responsibility as moral leaders. This is a highly unpopular opinion, especially in evangelical Christian circles, and it is causing me to re-examine where I attend church (I won’t let the door hit me on the way out), and in what setting I would be most spiritually fed.
Posted on August 1, 2006 12:00 AM
Comments
Thank you for the honest thoughts and questions. They are some I find myself asking more and more lately. It's nice to find that you're not the only one asking uncomfortable questions in a room full of comfortable folk.
Keep following Jesus:)
Posted by: Josh | August 1, 2006 8:21 AM
Right on! Let us all think about what we hear in church, not just accept it. It's OK to be critical of leadership, to disagree and be angry. Let me know when you find this place!
Posted by: andrew | August 1, 2006 12:44 PM
While your criticism of those who equate "American" with "Christian" is timely and important, your comparison of the modern American evangelical church and the German churches who supported Hitler is over the top. If America is today's Nazi Germany, then write about that shocking and bigger truth, rather than making insinutations about it in an article about your pastor. If you want to propose socialism, make the case--don't just bash capitalism.
I would like to read an article with real ideas for change--without being a carbon-copy of the current liberal hot topics. Genuine friction of faith and government is a crucial role we need to play. But this article felt a little like politics in sheep's clothing.
Posted by: Luke Woodard | August 1, 2006 3:10 PM
Luke,
I've been doing this constantly, but I have to recommend Jaques Ellul's "Presence of the Kingdom" to anyone interested in this article.
As a member of the French Resistance during World War II, Ellul draws parallels that are built on experience. His book also shows just how far off much of the American church is.
If you can find a copy of that book, jump on it. it will blow you away.
Jordan
Posted by: Jordan Green | August 1, 2006 3:16 PM
First, economics is not one of my strengths, but…
Might we be missing the point here?
Recently I have been doing a lot of thinking about this entity called capitalism and I haven't quite arrived anywhere that I would consider comfortable with my opinions - I'm still deciding I guess. This I do know: capitalism is a form of economy that thrives on greed and competition. That is the whole point. Entrepreneurs shadily compete for the choosy consumer in a synergistic relationship that is intended to benefit both. The seller as well as the buyer need to be crafty and creative in order to survive, and in this way quality products are ensured at a reasonable price. Competition provides this guiding “invisible hand” for our economy. All this and a government that picks and chooses when it will interfere and who for.
This may be why many thinking Christians are at odds with capitalism. It is not easy to live a life of selflessness when the society in which one lives demands a certain amount of selfishness for basic survival. So what are we to do? We have seen forms of communism and socialism earlier and elsewhere, albeit under iffy leaders, that did not fare nearly as well as our capitalism. Why? Corruption on all sides; government, corporation, and consumer. The demise of a selfless economic system is a selfish people. Maybe this is the point. Maybe the problem isn’t the economic system. Maybe it’s the people who feed it.
Oh us and our pride.
Personally, I like communism - on paper. I would petition in front of the president’s house – painted poster-board and everything – if I thought the root of the problem was the economic system itself.
Not to mention the fact that it is a lot easier to be selfless for yourself than it is to be selfless for others. Somewhere within us we have subscribed to this unwritten societal rule that we are allowed to unabashedly give in to greed and selfishness if it is at the benefit of someone else, because then we are generous (or something equally praiseworthy), which is how our government probably feels. I guess you can be greedy for others but not generous for others. I have a feeling that leaders of our nation wouldn’t be hailed for willingly giving away our prosperity and comfort to benefit a few African nations. What would even the most liberal of liberals say if we, as a nation, gave up so much that we traded places financially with, lets say, Ghana? It is much easier to be generous than it is to impose generosity on a people whose well being one is responsible for. So what are we to do? Can we really find a cure by treating the symptoms of the illness with no regard for the disease itself? C.S. Lewis once wrote that pride is by nature competitive. Pride. Self-centeredness. Selfishness. Greed. Maybe we here is where we should fight our battles - and the pulpit is of our most essential strongholds.
Oh, by the way, I am 20. I am member of the MN National Guard, currently serving in Iraq.
Posted by: zach binsfeld | August 2, 2006 8:51 AM
here here anonymous!
I've been doing alot of thinking lately as well. A rather dangerous pastime... but it seems to me that capitalism is one of the fundamental reasons that America continues to thrive and grow. It's unfortunate that communism doesn't work, but the sad truth is that it doesn't - maybe on very small scales, but ultimately corruption and greed will cause it to collapse.
I know that I was raised to believe that Communism = Evil, but in our small group a couple of nights ago we were discussing the idea of money and heaven. I came to the conclusion that there would be no money in heaven, why would there be, there'll be no greed? anyone else like to share their thoughts on this?
at any rate, I believe capitalism to be the primary factor in America's thriving economy, but I also believe it is the resposibility of the church, not the government, to see to the needs of the poor and oppressed.
Jordan, I agree whole heartedly that we must question what we are being taught from the pulpit, and I really do appreciate your article. I'll be looking for "Presence of the Kingdom" as I continue to ponder these ideas.
Posted by: Ben Howe | August 2, 2006 12:35 PM
It seems easy to forget that the Kingdom of God is not of this world. Capitalism or Communism can never be a way to utopia because of one big fat reason--SIN.
Whether we are pro capitalism or pro-communism is rather irrelvant to the gospel of Christ. Politics is about power, worldy power. And it's distracting.
The transient and insidious nature of this world is such that we buy into all the wrong things instinctively.
Dialogue and debate is great for the mind, to a point, but the soul and the Kingdom of God has reasons for which reason knows not.
Be like Jesus --
Be like Jesus --
when that fails then...
Be like Jesus --
That is the only answer that works.
PS- Ben and Zach.... I've just decided --you're my heroes for the week!
And Zach, rock and roll. Thank you.
Posted by: Lisa DeLay | August 3, 2006 11:41 AM
First of all, I appreciate all of the comments. A few responses:
Luke- My reference to Germany in the '30s was a very real response to the constant beating on the Romans 13 drum. I wonder again, out loud, how far we as Christians are supposed to take this verse? To what end are we supposed to submit ourselves to the governing authorities, and over what cliff are we supposed to follow them? As for real ideas for change, I would have thought scrapping capitalism for a Christian-based socialism qualified, but I'll try to come up with something bigger next time. As for the details of my little plot to take over the world, you'll have to read my book, when it is published- the details are in there. But here are a few sources of inspiration while you're waiting:
'Unto This Last' by John Ruskin, 'The Politics of Meaning' by Rabbi Michael Lerner, The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs, 'Another World is Possible If...' by Susan George, 'Globalization and its Discontents' by Josep Stiglitz, 'The No-Nonsense Guide To Poverty' by Jeremy Seabrook, 'The Culture of Make Believe' by Derrick Jensen, and anything by Wendell Berry.
Zach- I agree with much of what you have to say. Like I said, Jesus speaks more about greed than almost anything else (with the possible exception of hypocrisy).
Ben- I agree there'll be no money in Heaven- why would there be? I must say that capitalism IS the primary factor in America's thriving economy- but at who's expense? This is a very deep subject, and I'm no expert, but I'm on the road to learning. A few of the above-mentioned books provide great insight into this question.
Lisa- I wrote a song called 'A Little More Like Jesus' and I'd like to sing it for you now...actually if you go to www.brentbourgeois.com (this is a site under construction, but the songs are there), at the bottom of the home page is a music player. Scroll to the 10th song and I'll sing if for you there. ;)
Gotta run....
Peace,
Brent Bourgeois
Posted by: Brent Bourgeois | August 3, 2006 7:01 PM
Brent,
Might I suggest you (and others thinking about these important issues) also tackle the papal encyclical "Centesimus Annus", written by John Paul II? One point he makes about communism/Marxism is that it does not (and cannot) value the inherent worth of the worker, only the value of the work the worker can produce.
Here's a quotation from "CA":
"34. It would appear that, on the level of individual nations and of international relations, the free market is the most efficient instrument for utilizing resources and effectively responding to needs. But this is true only for those needs which are "solvent", insofar as they are endowed with purchasing power, and for those resources which are "marketable", insofar as they are capable of obtaining a satisfactory price. But there are many human needs which find no place on the market. It is a strict duty of justice and truth not to allow fundamental human needs to remain unsatisfied, and not to allow those burdened by such needs to perish. It is also necessary to help these needy people to acquire expertise, to enter the circle of exchange, and to develop their skills in order to make the best use of their capacities and resources. Even prior to the logic of a fair exchange of goods and the forms of justice appropriate to it, there exists something which is due to man because he is man, by reason of his lofty dignity. Inseparable from that required "something" is the possibility to survive and, at the same time, to make an active contribution to the common good of humanity."
The folks at the Acton Institute might be able to help you in your thought on this matter, too.
Posted by: EV | August 4, 2006 6:50 PM
Brent,
I didn't realize your article actually proposed the idea of "scrapping capitalism for a Christian-based socialism". Fortunately, in this country, you are free to embrace personal socialism at anytime. Open a joint bank account with a homeless person, each of you depositing according to your ability to produce, each withdrawing according to your need. Any reservations to this arrangement? Of course--the flaws in this scenario are the same flaws that have caused nationwide socialism to fail.
On the other hand, I will say the early church had something special, and valid for today. Within the church, they practiced a form of socialism where goods were gathered as 'common' resources for all. The setting is key: elder-supervised, restricted to believers in a single community of faith, and based on the generous love of Christ, not a desire to simply redistribute wealth. They never picketed for Roman government to implement their idea on a national scale--why not? They lived under a brutal regime (of course, not as brutal as ours!), but didn't write about how much better the world would be if only the government would do such and such.
In a democratic republic, should we voice Christian values in the debate? Absolutely. But will the kingdom of God only progress to the degree the civil government embraces our values as policy? Do we have to wait for government to feed the poor? Is the cause of Christ handcuffed because of capitalism, and will only be freed by socialism? The church, not the government, is called to be the force of benevolence, generosity, compassion, and justice in the world.
Posted by: Luke Woodard | August 9, 2006 7:27 AM
Luke,
While i agree strongly with your last paragraph, I have to step in regarding your first paragraph.
Nationwide socialism has not failed. Some countries have struggled under the weight and cost of their socialism, but nations like Finland and Norway have thrived.
Even here in the U.S., our government is a cross between capitalism and tempering socialism. If we were an unbridled capitalist nation, 12 year-old boys would still be digging for coal in West Virginia, and we'd still be owing our souls to the company store.
Jordan
Posted by: Jordan Green | August 9, 2006 8:09 AM
A few thoughts:
One. Having problems with rampant, unregulated abuses of capitalism does mean we instead choose socialism.
Two. The reason why capitalism can be flawed is that it responds (you cannot deny this) to those with money to spend. It doesn't produce the things that are needed by people who can't signal the market with cash. Their needs are not taken care of in a capitalistic system, and this often leads to their unintended neglect and even exploitation. (one example: subsistence farmers being forced off their land by economic necessity - they can't compete with subsidized grain from the developed world). The only way that the invisible hand of the market will care about the poor is if they become consumers. A self-perpetuating cycle of absurdity that should be regulated/curbed by government (a la Keynes).
Posted by: Anonymous | August 11, 2006 2:42 PM