Reply #20: Being Rich And Calling Yourself A Christian Is An Oxymoron

[mntleo2]

...as I said in another thread today you cannot be rich and then say you are a Christian. It is plain this was the centerpoint of Jesus' ministry. A good Chrsitian is modest in all things especially when it comes to having more than they need.

Even in the time of Jesus, the rich had certain moral obligations to their communities to give back to it. They had to forgive all debt every 7 years, they had to give to those who lived in poverty, they had to contribute to the better good of the community using their wealth and their free time. Even if a wealthy person did all those things, Jesus said, "It is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle..." The wealthy have construed this to mean something else. They say that there was a gate in Jerusalem that was so small a camel had to get on its knees in order to pass through it. Therefore if they stay "on their knees" somehow it is ok for them to keep hoarding all of what they have taken from the rest of the world. But this is not the message and they know it, it is merely a justification that they use. Therefore if they say they are Christians and do not give up all their wealth, they are liars.

Bush has taken from the poor and middle class in this country by allowing the rich not to not pay taxes to this nation as well as now wanting to repeal the Estate taxes that would only benefit the upper .05%. When he signs it into law he is only benefiting a few priviliged while making the rest of us make up for it to pay for his wars, debt and uncontested contracts that only enrich his buddies ~ one of them being himself. He is part of the rich giving themselves another trillion dollars of our tax dollars to keep and not share. It is incumbant on every American to ask themselves just how this is going to be replaced. Hint: the rich will not replace it and Bush knows this, WE will. According to the Bible, this is totally immoral (worse than adultry) and it is not Christian, it is plain that being greedy and insisting on possessing more than you can use in a lifetime is a terrible sin.

It is obvious, that greed causes most of the misery in this world. With greed as its basis, the lust for wealth causes wars and murder, it breeds starvation and disease, it creates misery and injustice.

Period.

My 2 cents

Cat In Seattle