thoughts on investing and taxes

I've learned a few things lately concerning money that are very interesting to me. First I've learned that if one makes enough money they have opportunities to make or keep money that others don't. For example I looked at savings account rates today and saw that an account of $100,000 can make 1.75%, or $1,750 a year. The same account will give .10% to any amount under $24,999. For my personal purpose the account would hold $1,000 and make $10 a year. So $10 vs. $1,750. 

Another example is something I hope to do someday. You can pay for a life insurance policy that lasts for twenty years to cover you if something should happen. While you're covered for twenty years, if you have the means, you can save enough money to no longer need life insurance. If you don't make enough money you can never get out from under that payment of life insurance. So if you have enough money, eventually no life insurance payments. If you don't make enough, you make life insurance payments. 

These are just two small examples of how people with money have opportunities to make money. People without money do not. Now I'm all for this type of system where people can work hard and have chances to get ahead and do well. I'm not against making money or being wealthy. I find it interesting though many breaks like this are available to the rich and not the poor. I struggle with the idea that we should feel bad for people making a lot of money because they pay more taxes. I hear people argue that the wealthy pay most of the taxes and that's wrong. They say they are punished for succeeding. Considering all the breaks wealthy people have I don't think it's unfair if they pay more taxes. They certainly aren't being punished by banks, insurance companies and others. It makes a lot of sense biblically and economically if everyone has the chance and incentive to succeed. If the poor get more money they will spend and invest which will cause us all to have success. Since the poor don't get the same opportunities as the rich we ought to do something to level the playing field so others have the incentive to work hard and enjoy success too. So let those with money seek after and enjoy the benefits of making more money with their investing. Let also those with little money have a chance to succeed. In the long run if the poor prosper, we all prosper. 

life??

I'm going to get right at it in this one. Is it Christian to vote for a candidate who is pro-choice? We need to examine the terms first. In college I was told that if I were in a debate I was never to refer to someone as pro-choice but rather pro-abortion. An interesting move, very calculated to try to reframe the debate but it's false. I've yet to meet anyone who calls themselves pro-choice who is also pro-abortion. Let's be honest and let people define their own positions as opposed to building straw men. The fact is nobody wants abortions, they're awful events. 

Many christians say the right-wing pro-life stance is the biblical one. I have a few questions if that's true. First of all what is meant by pro-life? Is it that we should only care for a child while in the womb but not too much after that? (I'm sure pro-lifers would say no but I don't know of many pro-life protests centered around the care of children after being born) Also should pro-life mean babies only? What about the poor, oppressed, widows and outcasts...the ones the Bible repeatedly tells us to look after? The problem with the right-wing position on abortion is it's too limited. Abortion is made illegal but little noise is made about other options. A consistent ethic of life is sorely needed. 

Speaking of ethics, what exactly is the biblical position on ethics? Is it that something is wrong in every single situation? Or is it more that certain things are wrong in most situations but could be  right in others? I think of Biblical stories like Joseph taking away the livelihood of farmers to provide food for a nation in famine. (taking away someone's livelihood is generally a bad thing) Or what about Jesus healing some and not others? It seems God does things based on the situation. So let's apply this to abortion, again nobody wants abortions it's a bad thing. But if in a bad situation (like an unwanted pregnancy) what are the options available to a woman? If right-wingers had their way abortion would be off the table and so would any other option. It seems that if some democrats had their way abortion would be legal but no help would be offered to young mothers and their children in need. (what I mean is the loudest message from Democrats on abortion is that it should be legal, not much else is as loudly proclaimed)

In an ideal world abortion would be unnecessary but so many things are not ideal. We don't always offer the necessary help to mothers in need, we don't always practice responsible parenting or birth control, we make mistakes and get punished instead of finding mercy. The fact is abortions will happen if they're made illegal, they will just be much more dangerous and nobody will have the opportunity to offer other options. The approach we need to take is to work towards measures that decrease abortions. We need to focus on adoption, birth control, education, strengthening families and decreasing poverty. Outlawing abortion and criminalizing women in tough positions is not helpful. As Christians we need to come together and put forth a Biblical option that will move the debate forward. I think focusing on viable alternatives and responsible birth control is a way to do that. So, yes, one can be Christian and vote for a pro-choice candidate. 

the Breakdown

So I'm sweeping my floor on a Saturday afternoon and I'm having one of those recurring inner dialogue moments, so why not blog about it. I've been thinking about the pharisees and their political agenda, not so much the specifics of it but the fact they had a very strong one. The Pharisees were basically a group who believed that ritual keeping was going to be a chief way the Kingdom of God was brought about. (not sure they used the term "kingdom of God" but the idea applies) That in and of itself is not a bad thing, we all have rituals and traditions we adhere to. The problem with the Pharisees wasn't so much that they were all about the law while they really needed to be about grace, a valid critique to be sure but not the main one. (it seems strange to me that this would be the issue since the Pharisees weren't familiar with the Christian notion of grace we have today) If I'm understanding them correctly the Pharisees were basically a group of people interested in their own agenda, not so much God's agenda. Jesus seems to blast them for following rules they made up along the way and missing the point of so much of God had already told them...love God and people...rules and agendas must serve that end, not the other way around. 

Ok, fast forward to today. Certain christians are acting very much like Pharisees concerning politics. There has been a group of people who created a political agenda and said that if that agenda were realized then we would be a Godly nation. For example, gay marriage. Conservative Evangelicals (not necessarily a bad thing to be by the way) have said gay marriage is undermining traditional marriage, going against God's plan for families and just plain bringing us down. They created an agenda around this issue and have been working that plan for some time. I have no problem with the conservative political view on this issue except when it's used as litmus test for the sincerity of people's faith. I mean if you don't agree with that all the faults laid at the foot of the homosexuals then somehow your not a christian to a lot of conservative evangelicals. The issue with this type of agenda has been it's narrow focus on certain ways of being Christian and certain ways of expressing that in the public arena. This, to me, sounds an awful lot like the Pharisees. A focus on rules and a certain political agenda made up by people to decide who's in and who's out in Christianity. 

My hope is that all this silliness is behind us in trying to use politics as a test for the sincerity of our faith. (although I doubt it is, I still have hope) I believe political stances are important and, in some cases, need to be strong. We must influence politics with our faith but we can't judge others because of their different opinions. Feel free to debate, persuade and fight for your view but not at the expense of ostracizing and hurting others faith. This might help us to understand a bit better what Jesus meant when he said in Luke 17 that it would be better to "tie a millstone around your neck, and be thrown into the sea, than to trip up one of these little ones". 

Government or the Church?

The idea of the kingdom of God is a massive topic and it has been much misunderstood. It's not another place we will someday fly off to after life is done, rather it's God's real presence crashing into our world and forever changing it. In other words, we don't need to wait for the kingdom to arrive someday, it's available to us now because of Jesus Christ. This was the point of Jesus coming to us, to inaugurate a new reality by which the world would ultimately be redeemed...and we are now part of this already/coming reality. God wants to make all things new, redeem and restore all of creation, through this project of the kingdom of God...including our politics.

One thing this means is politics isn't inherently a bad thing and neither are governments. There's an idea out there (that I grew up under) that says the Church can and should take care of the worlds problems and government is really a distraction form that mission. (It’s a bit of a straw man, I know, but it will help make my point) It's a false choice to think we must choose between the church and government. I believe in the separation of church and state but not to the exclusion of one over the other. I believe the church needs government in our current context to accomplish many of the things God has called us to do. For example, the church can be there for victims of flooding but it can't repair broken levees. It also can't give health care to those who need it but can't afford it. The church simply does not have the resources for such things.

On the other hand the government needs the church. The problem with the church's involvement in politics has been one of identity. The church has tried to play the role of government far too much, especially conservative evangelicals. If we rightly remember our identity as members of God's kingdom we don't need to be the government, rather we can stand outside it and speak prophetically to those in power. We desperately need to reclaim our identity as kingdom members and specifically prophets. Our government needs kingdom members to speak out for values such as poverty, life and justice. We are not called to tie ourselves to a political party (although if you do it's ok) or pick some Biblical values over others. We must be wholly Biblical people in our politics, those in political power need us to be.

I believe in the separation of church and state, absolutely. But I don't believe in the separation of public life from our values, our basic values, and for many of us, our religious values. 

Jim Wallis 


More reading on the Kingdom of God

Back Again

I want to start blogging again with a narrower focus: politics. I hope to be able to write about this topic in relation to my faith with the goal of sparking discussions and deepening my own (and maybe yours too) relationship with and commitment to Christ. I sincerely hope some of my friends and family will join in, even if only in their minds. I feel an urgency at this time because we face a major election and also a real turning point in the history of faith and politics in this country. We are moving away from one sided politics in Christendom in the US and we need to do some soul searching. I hope you will join me in this search. There are others who are far more eloquent and apt to take on this subject, I only do it with the hopes of influencing my own sphere. Feel free to comment or not.