Remember when you were a kid and you asked your Dad or Mom, "Are we rich or poor?" I wish I still had that same innocence--some would say "ignorance"--of reality. Perhaps, we were closer to reality when we didn't have our negative filters on; when we didn't know "better." In much the same way, most of us don't know what being postmodern means, much less whether of not we are postmodern. Maybe we're modern? "So Dad, Are we 'modern' or 'post-modern'?" "Well, son. It's a generational thing. Your grandfather is post-mortem." Wow. That's a really bad joke. Sorry. I couldn't help myself.
Postmodernism is simply the state of being after the modern era. So what's the modern era? These are philosophical definitions of the most recent time periods in history. The modern era is usually defined as the period which sprung from the 17th century Enlightenment period, which in turn, sparked the modern science movement. Are you back in 9th grade history yet? The "modern" era is simply the age when an empirical approach to knowledge emerged. This means that the way we "knew" things was primarily done by verification or experimentation, such as using the scientific method. So let me ask you a question. Do you believe that this is the way we should measure whether something is true or not? Most of us would tend to say "yes." At least when it comes to "science." But why then do we have a different approach to our philosophy of life? If we are consistent, we would also judge our belief systems this way. But we tend to say, "Well, what's good for you is good for you and what's good for me is good for me." We don't hear scientists speak this way about their research.
So why don't we take this approach to the world of science? After all, we have to be fair-minded, right? Why don't we have a care-free attitude toward scientific studies or even scientific truths? I don't really know anyone who has a care-free attitude toward the law of gravity. "Hey man, don't get on me with your gravity kick." This is because even though many don't like the label of being a "modern" the reality is that we are still very much "modern-like." And that is because being rational is not in itself a bad thing--it's a good thing. But being a rationalist is entirely different. That's taking reason and cause and effect to a level it was never intended for.
A postmodern view of knowledge is one that challenges all previous thought. But how is this any different than any human era in history? Well, the postmodern mind cares more about things relating to one another and not so much how or why--that's for the non-relational people. But this kind of thinking can be equally as dangerous as its opposite. There is an underlying arrogance to it. While it seems humble, it undermines all previous thought and judges it too certain. And they are certain about that. We see this all the time. It's your university professor preaching tolerance of all worldviews except any view which claims to be certain of anything. It's your neighborhood pastor telling you God loves you but is not sure if He exists. Its deciding never to marry because it is a commitment based on predicting the future, which is totally uncertain. These are signs of postmodern thought. On the surface is very noble, but underneath is founded upon skepticism.
As a Christian, my goal is neither to be "modern" or "postmodern" or any other classification of historical thought. Rather I want to transcend my surroundings and live by the Truth which never changes--God's Word.
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve (this also means prove) what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2
This is my goal in this life. I want to live free from uncertainty and doubt. I do not want to doubt whether or not I love my wife and I don't think she wants me to either. I want her to know that I love her and she can be sure of it. And the only basis for this kind of certainty is if I am living by eternal truths given by One who is infinitely wise. So as I do, I am proving to my wife that God's will is good and she can know without a doubt that I love her with all my heart. This is how I want to love this world, even if it is not sure about me.
There are many things of which we can never be certain, but there is one thing of which we must be certain:
He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
1 John 5:12-13
I want everyone to have this kind of certainty.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Economics 101: Back to the Basics
The Free Market. What does this mean? Free money? Well, I don't think anyone truly believes that but what exactly is meant when people talk about the "market" as if it were a roller coaster at Magic Mountain? It goes up, up, up. And then down, down, down. It takes you for a turn and then shakes you upside down. Then somehow seems to always drop you exactly at the same place you started. And then why do we get in line again? What is this madness? The thrill of the market. Except this time around we seem to have gotten stuck on the ride and we're waiting for the repair man to "bail" us out.
A very famous man once predicted the future of the "free market":
1. Capitalism will move into a period of overproduction.
2. Wages will be reduced.
3. The worker's purchasing power will be reduced.
4. A surplus of goods will be created.
5. A war will be started to use up the surplus.
6. Postwar stress will end in the system's self-destruction.
Wow. This is frighteningly close to our situation. Today's financial world is run by large corporations, a.k.a. oligarchies, which is the older term for the same thing. The man who predicted this was born almost 200 years ago: The philosopher/social reformer Karl Marx. The above quote is taken from R.C. Sproul's The Consequences of Ideas if you want a further reading of Mr. Marx and friends. It seems as though Marx was right (at least to some degree) but he was just 150 years off or so. So what am I saying? Am I a socialist? Certainly not but that is the immediate response of many who hold strongly to today's capitalism. It is the red trump card they hold in their hand when anyone attempts to point out the faults of the free market economy. Newsflash. McCarthyism has not completely died out. Unfortunately, today's Christian has been caught in the cross-hairs because to be Christian is to be a capitalist--at least this is what American Christianity has come to mean for many. But is this right? Does God believe in free trade? This is a tricky question and I am not writing to defend Marxism nor Capitalism. No. I want to be a Biblical thinker. Let's use the wisdom that God gave us--His Word--not to mention our ability to reason. Wisdom is the ability to properly apply reason from what God has already revealed as true.
Thomas Aquinas was a smart guy. He laid down some pretty heavy stuff in his pivotal work the Summa Theologica. In it, he gives some very good guidelines for the proper use of money and lending. In response to the question "Whether it is a sin to take usury for money lent?" he states:
Simply put, it is wrong to profit from lending money which doesn't exist. He argues earlier that a silver vessel has intrinsic value and can be sold or rented out lawfully for use, but the aquiring of money by using money that does not represent anything real is illegitimate. Wow! That's heavy stuff! Again, I am not trying to prove or disprove the validity of capitalism but merely to properly apply it. Certainly, had we listened to Aquinas our nation would not be in the current bind it is in.
Well, that's what some Philosopher thought in his ivory tower centuries ago. "Why should I listen to him?" you might say. Well, there is yet one more principal from a much higher source of ethical writings:
"If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest." Exodus 22:25
In the Hebrew context, what is meant by "creditor" is one who seeks to extort for selfish gain. We are not to take advantage of those who are in need. And yet this has become a cornerstone of American capitalism. It is usury in the worst sense. What must also be noted in this verse is that interest, in itself is not a sin, but excessive interest, specifically to those who are without the ability to pay it back.
One of the eye-opening realities I learned in my macroeconomics class at Cal State LA (go Golden Eagles!--the diablos for some of you older folk) was the crooked way in which banks "make" money. If an account is opened for $100, and a pretty low reserve amount of let's say $20 is kept, that same $100 is lent out maybe 5, 6, even 10 times over--magically creating capital out of thin air! This is astounding. It is no wonder that we have no more money--it never really existed. I know that I am over-simplifying many complex ideas and concepts about the free market system but I am attempting to speak on the level. The economists, lawyers, politicians, bankers and large corporations who have not upheld these Biblical principles are the ones who got us into this mess. So forgive me if I am a bit skeptical of their solutions.
It is time to get back to the basics. Who says the Bible is antiquated and too "out-dated" to suit the complexity of today's market? Well, it seems those in this camp are the same ones who need it the most.
A very famous man once predicted the future of the "free market":
1. Capitalism will move into a period of overproduction.
2. Wages will be reduced.
3. The worker's purchasing power will be reduced.
4. A surplus of goods will be created.
5. A war will be started to use up the surplus.
6. Postwar stress will end in the system's self-destruction.
Wow. This is frighteningly close to our situation. Today's financial world is run by large corporations, a.k.a. oligarchies, which is the older term for the same thing. The man who predicted this was born almost 200 years ago: The philosopher/social reformer Karl Marx. The above quote is taken from R.C. Sproul's The Consequences of Ideas if you want a further reading of Mr. Marx and friends. It seems as though Marx was right (at least to some degree) but he was just 150 years off or so. So what am I saying? Am I a socialist? Certainly not but that is the immediate response of many who hold strongly to today's capitalism. It is the red trump card they hold in their hand when anyone attempts to point out the faults of the free market economy. Newsflash. McCarthyism has not completely died out. Unfortunately, today's Christian has been caught in the cross-hairs because to be Christian is to be a capitalist--at least this is what American Christianity has come to mean for many. But is this right? Does God believe in free trade? This is a tricky question and I am not writing to defend Marxism nor Capitalism. No. I want to be a Biblical thinker. Let's use the wisdom that God gave us--His Word--not to mention our ability to reason. Wisdom is the ability to properly apply reason from what God has already revealed as true.
Thomas Aquinas was a smart guy. He laid down some pretty heavy stuff in his pivotal work the Summa Theologica. In it, he gives some very good guidelines for the proper use of money and lending. In response to the question "Whether it is a sin to take usury for money lent?" he states:
I answer that, To take usury for money lent is unjust in itself, because this is to sell what does not exist, and this evidently leads to inequality which is contrary to justice...
Accordingly if a man wanted to sell wine separately from the use of the wine, he would be selling the same thing twice, or he would be selling what does not exist, wherefore he would evidently commit a sin of injustice. In like manner he commits an injustice who lends wine or wheat, and asks for double payment, viz. one, the return of the thing in equal measure, the other, the price of the use, which is called usury...
Now money, according to the Philosopher (Ethic. v, 5; Polit. i, 3) was invented chiefly for the purpose of exchange: and consequently the proper and principal use of money is its consumption or alienation whereby it is sunk in exchange. Hence it is by its very nature unlawful to take payment for the use of money lent, which payment is known as usury: and just as a man is bound to restore other ill-gotten goods, so is he bound to restore the money which he has taken in usury.
Summa Theologica: Treatise on the Cardinal Virtues (QQ[47]-170): Question 78
Simply put, it is wrong to profit from lending money which doesn't exist. He argues earlier that a silver vessel has intrinsic value and can be sold or rented out lawfully for use, but the aquiring of money by using money that does not represent anything real is illegitimate. Wow! That's heavy stuff! Again, I am not trying to prove or disprove the validity of capitalism but merely to properly apply it. Certainly, had we listened to Aquinas our nation would not be in the current bind it is in.
Well, that's what some Philosopher thought in his ivory tower centuries ago. "Why should I listen to him?" you might say. Well, there is yet one more principal from a much higher source of ethical writings:
"If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest." Exodus 22:25
In the Hebrew context, what is meant by "creditor" is one who seeks to extort for selfish gain. We are not to take advantage of those who are in need. And yet this has become a cornerstone of American capitalism. It is usury in the worst sense. What must also be noted in this verse is that interest, in itself is not a sin, but excessive interest, specifically to those who are without the ability to pay it back.
One of the eye-opening realities I learned in my macroeconomics class at Cal State LA (go Golden Eagles!--the diablos for some of you older folk) was the crooked way in which banks "make" money. If an account is opened for $100, and a pretty low reserve amount of let's say $20 is kept, that same $100 is lent out maybe 5, 6, even 10 times over--magically creating capital out of thin air! This is astounding. It is no wonder that we have no more money--it never really existed. I know that I am over-simplifying many complex ideas and concepts about the free market system but I am attempting to speak on the level. The economists, lawyers, politicians, bankers and large corporations who have not upheld these Biblical principles are the ones who got us into this mess. So forgive me if I am a bit skeptical of their solutions.
It is time to get back to the basics. Who says the Bible is antiquated and too "out-dated" to suit the complexity of today's market? Well, it seems those in this camp are the same ones who need it the most.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
An Open Letter to the President
Dear Mr. President,
I am exceedingly glad that you have been made our 44th president of these United States despite the racism that has plagued our country for hundreds of years. However, I am concerned that you may be the victim of mistaken identity. It seems that there are many who would, without a moment’s notice, lay their life down for you. This kind of great loyalty is to be commended and has frankly been absent from within our borders for quite some time. It has indeed been a long time since we have had such a leader with such strength, humility, and outspokenness against the injustices of our time. “Hope” is your badge and “change” is your right arm. You are loved by many and have the devotion of millions. You are seen as the one who will restore justice inside our borders and peace from without. You have promised us a bright future and put many at ease with your candor and great smile. You speak as one with great authority and yet whisper gently into your children’s ears. Your voice is heard as the marriage of grace and truth.
"May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him! For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight. Long may he live; may gold of Sheba be given to him! May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day! May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field! May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed! Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!"
Psalm 72:11-19
Your humble subject,
Justin the lesser
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