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Date: | Tue, 20 Jun 2000 13:13:28 EDT |
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In a message dated 06/20/2000 12:23:04 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
<< If the essense [sic] of the teaching
of Jesus of Nazareth is "Love your God with all your strength . . ." and
"Love your neighbor as yourself", I would not say that such a teaching is at
all incompatible with the production of wealth. Such production should not
be carried out by means of exploitation, or with a view toward creating
greater disparity, and reinforcing power relationships that make human
brotherhood more difficult.
>>
but if the essence of teaching is to be found in the exemplar of the lived
experience of Jesus of Nazareth, then the production and accumulation of
wealth is incompatible. I dare say that the image of Jesus driving the
moneylenders from the temple serves as a large exclamation point -- the point
being that the "production of wealth" (don't you just love these capitalist
euphemisms) has no place in the holy place of god. further, to blithely add
a shibboleth against engaging in exploitation and power relationships while
accumulating wealth is disingenuous; any fair examination of the record of
the accumulation of wealth in any historical period shows that exploitation
and the creation of power relationships are fundamental to such accumulation.
jb....
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