I fought and I fought and I fought myself not to have to get into this again, but Wallis makes me so angry I have to post this stuff to get it off my chest. First, he is at it again with taking Scripture out of context on the topic of minimum wage:
What does the Bible have to say about the minimum wage?
The prophet Isaiah said: "my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain ... " (65:22-23).
James, who was the sibling of Jesus, and probably knew what his brother thought about things pretty well, said "Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord."
I'm pretty sure the Bible doesn't have anything to say about minimum wage except what we put into it.
Second, in simple terms, I've always felt that the term theology meant the study of God. Wallis feels different:
What is at risk here is a genuine opportunity society. It's a "fraud," I would say, when the average CEO of a Standard & Poor's 500 company made $13.5 million in total compensation in 2005, while a minimum wage worker made $10,700. Thirty years ago CEOs made 30 times what their average workers made. Japan and Germany are still at about that ratio. Now in America its 400 to 1 – which means the average worker has to work a whole year to make what their boss makes in one day. This is wrong; it's an injustice; it's a theological issue.
Hmmm. I theological issue, never thought of it like that.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Finding Peace and Joy in a Life with Christ
Must Read List
- Grace Matters - Chris Rice
- How Soccer Explains the World - Foer
- We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families - Gourevitch
- The Quest for Cosmic Justice - Sowell
- Four Souls - Peterson, Kronberg, Medefind, Sklar
- Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali
- Dark Star Safari - Paul Theroux
- The Bitch in the House - Cathi Hanauer
- The Bastard on the Couch - Daniel Jones
- A Long Way Gone - Ishmael Beah
2 comments:
“The theorist of the new Democratic religious offensive is liberal evangelist Jim Wallis, author of the book God’s Politics.
Wallis is an over-reacher himself, arguing that biblical verses directly mandate certain public policies. He suggests that a few lines in Isaiah, for instance, mean that we should only cut international trade deals that include the labor and environmental strictures demanded by trade unions. Who knew that four out of five biblical prophets oppose NAFTA?
Wallis reminds us that Jesus wasn’t ‘pro-rich,’ and extrapolates from that that Christians must support higher taxes. Now, the New Testament obviously enjoins us to care for the poor. But what mix of policies is best suited to do that is a practical question. Conservatives happen to think everyone is best served by a low-tax, high-growth economy and by social policies — e.g., welfare reform — that encourage the inner-city poor to work and marry.
To pretend that this mix of policies is forbidden by Christ is a frank abuse of religion. We can draw from the New Testament broad principles — value human life, care for the poor, create a free and just society — but we don’t receive guidance about how to handle capital business expenses in the tax code or whether Medicare reimbursement rates are too high or too low. Jesus didn’t work at the Brookings Institution.” – Rich Lowry
As you probably know I don’t think highly of Lowry. Intellectually he’s pretty much a conservative bat-boy and politically he’s really nothing but a Republican hack.
Now, if he can demonstrate what a fool Wallis is in a few sentences, I’m not too worried.
WAIT – of course I’m worried! Most “Christians” and even many Christians and even more Americans are (intentionally) dumbed-down dolts who reason with emotion and are fed only spiritual milk! Oi Vey!
“The theorist of the new Democratic religious offensive is liberal evangelist Jim Wallis, author of the book God’s Politics.
Wallis is an over-reacher himself, arguing that biblical verses directly mandate certain public policies. He suggests that a few lines in Isaiah, for instance, mean that we should only cut international trade deals that include the labor and environmental strictures demanded by trade unions. Who knew that four out of five biblical prophets oppose NAFTA?
Wallis reminds us that Jesus wasn’t ‘pro-rich,’ and extrapolates from that that Christians must support higher taxes. Now, the New Testament obviously enjoins us to care for the poor. But what mix of policies is best suited to do that is a practical question. Conservatives happen to think everyone is best served by a low-tax, high-growth economy and by social policies — e.g., welfare reform — that encourage the inner-city poor to work and marry.
To pretend that this mix of policies is forbidden by Christ is a frank abuse of religion. We can draw from the New Testament broad principles — value human life, care for the poor, create a free and just society — but we don’t receive guidance about how to handle capital business expenses in the tax code or whether Medicare reimbursement rates are too high or too low. Jesus didn’t work at the Brookings Institution.” – Rich Lowry
As you probably know I don’t think highly of Lowry. Intellectually he’s pretty much a conservative bat-boy and politically he’s really nothing but a Republican hack.
Now, if he can demonstrate what a fool Wallis is in a few sentences, I’m not too worried.
WAIT – of course I’m worried! Most “Christians” and even many Christians and even more Americans are (intentionally) dumbed-down dolts who reason with emotion and are fed only spiritual milk! Oi Vey!
Post a Comment