What Hath God to Do with American Capitalism?
When Election Day closed with
President Obama having won the day, taking with him a couple of new Democratic Senators
to boot, needless to say I was quite happy.
The President and the Democratic Party aren’t God’s Party, any more than
the Republican Party is. There are
places where I don’t agree with the President, but I believe he and the
Democratic Party more represent my values than does the alternative. If he had lost, I think that things might
have been rocky going forward, but as we have for more than 200 years, we would
survive. After all, we survived George
W. Bush’s eight year reign (though not without some major problems we’re still
sorting out)!
In recent days I’ve been hearing a
lot of doom and gloom from partisans on the right, both political and
religious. Franklin Graham has used his
father’s legacy to gain public legitimacy, and commenting on the election,
declared that Obama’s election had placed the United States on the “path
of destruction.” Al Mohler, the fundamentalist
president of Southern Baptist Seminary, has declared this to be “an
Evangelical disaster.” Are things
really as bad as these two suggest?
Well, apparently, they’re in good
company. Word comes that the owner of
one of the largest coal mining companies, Robert
E. Murray, is so distraught by the election outcome that he’s ready to start
firing employees. Since the
election is only days in the past, and the President hasn’t had time yet to
shut down the coal business, you wouldn’t think someone would have to be so
preemptive, but such is not the case. Word
is that Murray, who is accused of forcing employees to attend a Romney rally,
will start laying off workers at two of his companies (156 on Wednesday – the day
after the election). Now that’s his
right, but it does seem a bit peevish.
But that’s not the whole of it. Murray couched his vitriol in the form of a
prayer to God, lamenting America’s turn against free-wheeling capitalism, which
apparently is divinely blessed and authorized.
I’ll not reproduce the entire prayer, but consider these excerpts:
The American people have made their choice. They have decided that America must change its course, away from the principals of our Founders. And, away from the idea of individual freedom and individual responsibility. Away from capitalism, economic responsibility, and personal acceptance.
We are a Country in favor of redistribution, national weakness and reduced standard of living and lower and lower levels of personal freedom.
Now, I’m not
anti-capitalist, but where do you find in Scripture any hint that God favors it
and that God is against any form of redistribution? If anything, Scripture seems to favor
it. After all, the early Christians
lived in community, sharing their resources, so that no one would be without
(Acts 4). Torah describes the practice
of Jubilee, so that every fifty years, all property reverted to its original
owners.
But the prayer doesn’t
end there. Mr. Murray, seemingly echoing
Mitt Romney’s comment about the 47%, laments that the “takers outvoted the
producers.” Though asking for
forgiveness for the acts he must now take, he does so seeming to believe that
he is the righteous one (and the Obamaites the evil ones):
Lord, please forgive me and anyone with me in Murray Energy Corp. for the decisions that we are now forced to make to preserve the very existence of any of the enterprises that you have helped us build. We ask for your guidance in this drastic time with the drastic decisions that will be made to have any hope of our survival as an American business enterprise.
Like I said, it’s
his company, and he can fire employees, if he so desires, but is it right to do
so in the context of prayer? Is Mr.
Murray really doing this as a servant of God?
If coal ceases to be a viable energy source, it won’t be because of
decisions made by President Obama, and the decline of coal usage won’t be a
sign of American weakness. Now, I am concerned about the many people employed by the coal industry, many of whom suffer debilitating health issues as a result of their work. But I'm also concerned about a world that is growing warmer and more polluted as a result of its use -- endangering the lives of many more (including the families of those employed by this industry). So, here's a question, is it God’s will that we continue to pollute the air
and waterways with all of this coal? Could it be that there are other sources of
energy that will in the long run be cheaper, more efficient, and better for the
environment?
I realize that this is a
business, and that owners make business decisions, but really, this prayer? To which god is it being offered? Somehow
I don’t think this is the God of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob
and Leah, or the God of Jesus.
Comments
You are such a hypocrite. You lust after the possessions of others and you try to justify your coveting by claiming that since the early Christians shared their possessions, that should mean that the US should legislate something similar. Why do you have more right to my possessions than I do.