Should we spread the wealth? Is it justified that some crown themselves as overseers of justice with the seemingly "benign" intent of making things fair? If you've been through childhood :) then you probably remember that someone always had more toys than you, someone always had more friends than you, many were better looking than you even. Why is it that "money" is crowned so regally? Among all these other properties this one is chosen as the one in which sod topped men need to come along and straighten everything out. Why not grab those Victoria's Secret winged babes and scar their face with a bit of acid in order to make sure the hags out there have a fighting chance? Why not take little Willie aside and explain that Mervil needs more toys and on threat of force we need him to be more generous. Then, if Willie still clings to his things, give license to Mervil to submit a complaint before a trusted board of smarties who will make a "supposed" fair judgment to settle the quarrel. Better yet, all the barren women out there, they need babies too. It's a crucial thing for Pete's sake! Distribute babies evenly! Maybe we just need to make sure no one has any reason to be jealous of others.
I have a few thoughts on why money is singled out as the major battle ground amongst the world's power brokers. "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows." I Timothy 6:10 ASV. A book written over thousands of years predicted the tragic role that money would play in so many world events. Here is a list of the evils that man has created because he covets wealth and the status that follows:
- prostitution
- pornography
- alcohol *
- gambling establishments
- lottery pools
- child sex rings
- drugs
- identity theft
- some churches are just about money
- wars have been fought for wealth. Hitler was slobbering for his coveted "Lebensraum."
- Pharmaceutical Drugs
- ADHD
Now the items on the list above are not all inherently about the evil pursuit of money. Anything promoted despite the harm it causes people would fall into my description of "root of evil" category. Not all pharmaceuticals are bad obviously, but when a drug is not researched to an exhaustive degree before you begin promoting doc offices to prescribe it to lambs and sheep in order to control ADHD it takes a new and darker shade. The drug Gardasil was almost foisted, without consent of the parents, on 11 year old girls in the state of Texas. It had not been researched or tested thoroughly enough and yet Governor Rick Perry of Texas tried to lead the noble charge to mandate it for all 6th grade girls. One of his staff has a cozy relationship with Merck(the drug's manufacturer) and let's not be naive about the major moula that was involved with Rick Perry's mandate attempt. At $120.00 a shot, it stood to be a rewarding venture for quite a few. We all want to believe that no politician would ever sell preteen girls into guinea pig status for "Giant Pharmaceutical," but don't be hasty with that assumption. A judge was caught receiving money from the owner of a detention center for juvenile's for helping fill the beds with innocent teens. 1,000 of those convictions have been overturned to date. Maybe more.
My premise is this: We can't and should not trust other, equally fallible men with the golden goose! If we do not have checks and balances in place it will grow to the enormous, wasteful proportions that we witness right now in America. A man made system of redistribution is based on the premise that we should reward covetous envy. I do not object to real outreach to real destitution. Disabled folks, helpless children, elderly people, etc. In times past, charity was a mission of the church. When a church handles this, we have the opportunity to hand them not only nourishment for their bodies, but nourishment for the soul! The bread of life and living water. I am in the unenviable position of knowing what it's like to be kind of desperate, but we hope to keep the fire and determination to dig our way out. When you give people a chance to lay down and give up, it's another wrong altogether.
*Many will disagree that alcohol needs to be on this list. Wine is fine they say. That's a personal decision. Notably, Budweiser does not do commercials on damaged liver and drunk driving death rates. The abuse of fried chicken is indeed egregious, but it will only damage the arteries of the fried chicken abuser.
No comments:
Post a Comment