Instructions on the theology of greed

The Vatican took the wind out of liberation theology's sails with its doctrinal reprimand in 1984. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger argued that liberation theology was seeking a political solution to economic injustice, borrowing too heavily from Marxism.

Impatience and a desire for results has led certain Christians, despairing of every other method, to turn to what they call "marxist analysis."

Their reasoning is this: an intolerable and explosive situation requires 'effective action' which cannot be put off. Effective action presupposes a 'scientific analysis' of the structural causes of poverty. Marxism now provides us with the means to make such an analysis, they say. Then one simply has to apply the analysis to the third-world situation, especially in Latin America.

The "Instruction" argues that addressing the exploitation and economic injustices found in many developing Latin American countries was an appropriate target for the body of Christ, but liberation theology applied the wrong tools. Ratzinger made it clear that the "Instruction" was not to be taken as tacit approval for the ethically bankrupt dictatorships and multinational corporations responsible for the injustices.

This warning should in no way be interpreted as a disavowal of all those who want to respond generously and with an authentic evangelical spirit to the "preferential option for the poor." It should not at all serve as an excuse for those who maintain the attitude of neutrality and indifference in the face of the tragic and pressing problems of human misery and injustice. It is, on the contrary, dictated by the certitude that the serious ideological deviations which it points out tends inevitably to betray the cause of the poor. More than ever, it is important that numerous Christians, whose faith is clear and who are committed to live the Christian life in its fullness, become involved in the struggle for justice, freedom, and human dignity because of their love for their disinherited, oppressed, and persecuted brothers and sisters. More than ever, the Church intends to condemn abuses, injustices, and attacks against freedom, wherever they occur and whoever commits them. She intends to struggle, by her own means, for the defense and advancement of the rights of mankind, especially of the poor.

Much has changed in the past three decades. Cardinal Ratzinger is now Pope Benedict XVI. Communism has largely been discarded as an economic foundation. Capitalism is the only economic game in town. Liberation theology has been replaced by slavish free market worship. The economic injustices that spawned liberation theology have disappeared as we bask in a paradise where profit serves the common good and ethics are practiced with the skill of a monk in prayer. The Pope's encyclical warnings about the need for ethical capitalism have been taken to heart across the world.

"Profit is useful if it serves as a means toward an end. Once profit becomes the exclusive goal, if it is produced by improper means and without the common good as its ultimate end, it risks destroying wealth and creating poverty."

Here are a few highlights from the recent fortnight for economic freedom celebration.

In the United States, poverty levels have reached the highest levels in five decades.

The ranks of America's poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net.

Europe is mired in an economic crisis of debt, unemployment, and austerity. The bottom is nowhere in sight.

The economic crisis spreading across the developed world has clear winners and losers. Corporations have been reporting record profits and hoarding wads of cash.

The poor and middle classes have shouldered by far the heaviest burdens of the global political obsession with austerity policies over the past three years. In the United States, budget cuts have forced states to reduce education, public transportation, affordable housing and other social services. In Europe, welfare cuts have driven some severely disabled individuals to fear for their lives.

But the austerity game also has winners. Cutting or eliminating government programs that benefit the less advantaged has long been an ideological goal of conservatives. Doing so also generates a tidy windfall for the corporate class, as government services are privatized and savings from austerity pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest citizens.

I am sure the irony of the unethical people responsible for the global recession also benefiting from austerity measures pursued in the wake of the crisis is lost on the less fortunate.

And then there are the ethically bankrupt rich that have stashed at least $21 trillion in tax shelters to avoid contributing to the common good while the poor, sick, disabled, and old suffer. While some quibble about the exact amounts, their only counter is patently stupid.

He also pointed out that if tax havens were stuffed with such sizeable amounts, "you would expect the havens to be more conspicuously wealthy than they are".

Money stashed in a private bank is not going to "trickle down" to the locals. The fact that Cayman Islanders are not driving Ferraris hardly disproves that trillions are socked away in secret accounts in private banks. I prefer my red herrings fried with a hearty helping of chips, thank you.

For all the talk of ethical capitalism, economic disparities have grown along with greed and fiscal shenanigans. It does raise the obvious question. When will Christians "become involved in the struggle for justice, freedom, and human dignity because of their love for their disinherited, oppressed, and persecuted brothers and sisters?" Or does the "preferential option for the poor" mean that their numbers will increase and they will suffer slow and terrible death? Perhaps widespread misery is one of the miracles required for the canonization of Ayn Rand.

One would hate to think that the doctrinal reprimand of liberation theology was nothing more than an attempt to short-circuit a popular movement for social justice grounded in the teachings of Christ. Then again, the slashing of the safety net for those in need by politicians invoking Catholic social teaching warranted only a mild rebuke while health insurance coverage of contraception had the bishops gnashing their teeth and taking to the street. Christ was not a fan of hypocrisy. As a matter of fact, He despised it.