Woeker
Geschreven door Mark Van Steenwyk: 24 november, 2004
Dank aan optredend als slijm voor het wijzen op dit artikel van de Lezer UTNE op woeker. Het is kort, zo controle het uit. Hier is een steekproef:
Veruit de grootste moraal
het kwaad van onze tijd is wat de Bijbel de zonde van woeker roept. Het is
zeer basis van het kapitalistische systeem. Het heeft schuldslaven van niet gemaakt
de slechts volledige Derde Wereld, maar ook het grootste deel van de Eerste Wereld, waar
de consumenten zoeken ongeduldig aan encumber zelf met schuld door krediet
kaarten en hypotheken. In één keer riep de kerk woeker de „koningin van
zonden " en geweigerd het sacrament aan zijn vaklieden. Hoewel het heeft
verliet nooit officieel deze morele positie, zeer weinig Christenen
buiten Katholieke Arbeider heeft de beweging om het even welk idee dat zulk een
het onderwijzen zelfs bestaat.
Wat is woeker? De woeker leent iemand geld en laadt hen rente. Door veel van kerkgeschiedenis, werd de woeker beschouwd als sinful. IT schijnt dat protestants in het algemeen er niet in zijn geslaagd om woeker met veel ernst te behandelen, overlatend het aan katholieken en neo-katholieken zoals C.S. Lewis om de kwestie te richten.
Hier is sommige bijbelse verwijzingen naar woeker (dit is enkel een snelle dwarsdoorsnede):
Uittocht 22:25 Als u geld aan één van mijn mensen onder u leent die behoeftig is, ben niet als een financier; laad hem geen rente.
Leviticus 25:36 - 37 Neem rente van geen soort van hem, maar vrees uw God, zodat uw landgenoot kan blijven onder u leven. U moet niet hem geld lenen bij rente of hem verkopen voedsel bij een winst.
Deuteronomy 23:19 - 20 Laad uw broerrente, hetzij op geld of voedsel of iets anders niet dat rente kunnen verdienen. You may charge a foreigner interest, but not a brother Israelite, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything you put your hand to in the land you are entering to possess.
Nehemiah 5:6-11 When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, "You are exacting usury from your own countrymen!" So I called together a large meeting to deal with them and said: "As far as possible, we have bought back our Jewish brothers who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your brothers, only for them to be sold back to us!" They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say.
So I continued, "What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let the exacting of usury stop! Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the usury you are charging them-the hundredth part of the money, grain, new wine and oil."
Psalm 15
LORD , who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?
He whose walk is blameless
and who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from his heart
and has no slander on his tongue,
who does his neighbor no wrong
and casts no slur on his fellowman,
who despises a vile man
but honors those who fear the LORD ,
who keeps his oath
even when it hurts,
who lends his money without usury
and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things
will never be shaken.
Ezekiel 16:5-8
"Suppose there is a righteous man
who does what is just and right.
He does not eat at the mountain shrines
or look to the idols of the house of Israel.
He does not defile his neighbor’s wife
or lie with a woman during her period.
He does not oppress anyone,
but returns what he took in pledge for a loan.
He does not commit robbery
but gives his food to the hungry
and provides clothing for the naked.
He does not lend at usury
or take excessive interest.
He withholds his hand from doing wrong
and judges fairly between man and man.
Can anyone tell me a good reason why Christians practice usury? It seems that most people assume that capitalism is a good, and since it depends upon things like usury, we shouldn’t be critical of usury. Though the passages above are dealing with Israel, it seems, at the very least, Christians shouldn’t charge interest to one another. I would also argue that we shouldn’t charge interest for others. It is an oppressive system that the church should alleviate. Some churches that have started credit unions. Some churches help people buy homes or pay for college with no interest loans. But the Church should no longer blindly accept a practice that is clearly non-Christian.
for further reading . . .
- None Found
“It seems that most people assume that capitalism is a good, and since it depends upon things like usury, we shouldn’t be critical of usury.”
In my experience, few people consider capitalism “good.” Even the most stalwart champions of capitalism within the church admit that it is an imperfect system; usually it is framed more in terms of a “necessary evil” or as “the least evil system.” Christians practice usury because they practice capitalism and, though they see the flaws in that system, they see very little alternative. Charging interest on a debt is not nearly as serioius a problem, in my opinion, as the amount of personal debt American Christians are willing to take on to obtain what they want.
Well said, Van. It’s ironic that Moslems have demanded ethical, usury-free banking in the UK - and got it because they act in sufficient numbers - whereas christians have not even attempted to challenge the usury culture and tend to assume it cannot be changed.
Andy Gr-
I haven’t heard about Moslems in the UK doing this, but it sounds interesting. I’ve noted in the Twin Cities here a small but vocal number of socialists. I wonder if socialism will rise in the US like it did in Canada, the UK, and continental Europe. It would make sense given that this seems to be the trajectory of much of Europe (especially the scandanavian countries) and Canada as well.
I’m not particularally fond of socialism, but it might be a little more humane than some of the horrifying things that laissez-faire capitalism has done (especially in the “guilded era” of the industrial revolution).
I think there’s less socialism around than there used to be, even in Europe. So there’s a gap in the market for a new alternative to capitalism; there are (a few) stories of people embracing Islam for precisely this reason. Could this be part of a new christian paradigm?