Christian capitalism

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York is an apologist for capitalism. See his May 22 editorial in the Wall Street Journal, "The Pope's Case for Virtuous Capitalism," in which he blesses the "free market" as the hand of the divine. He relied on the great theologian Lawrence Kudlow to assist with the wording of his opus. There is a a good capitalism, one blushing with purity of heart and desire. When Pope Francis questioned the virtues of capitalism, he really was only talking about the non-Christian kind according to Dolan.

"For many in developing or newly industrialized countries, what passes as capitalism is an exploitative racket for the benefit of the few powerful and wealthy."

Us mature capitalist countries have a more highly developed morality. We resist the temptations of greed, materialism, waste, exploitation, and crushing poverty.

"People, acting justly, compassionately and honestly, are the foundation of good economic or business activity. A just economic order relies on both material wealth and on people's openness to the transformation of their hearts in love and solidarity."

There is an old saying, "you shall know them by their fruit." Here in America we have the highest levels of income and wealth inequality in nearly a century. Everywhere you look, God's creation is being gobbled up or poisoned by some of our largest corporations.  Show me the just treatment of people in Appalachia by the coal industry. You can't do that because it is one filled with coercion, negligent homicide, murder, destruction of streams and mountains, worker exploitation, and bribery. Not a week pauses without another story of shenanigans in the financial sector. We just squeaked out of recession caused by ethically bankrupt bad actors in the Wall Street crowd. The list goes on and on. That is a lot of rotten fruit.

Unless I miss my guess, Dolan was doing his very best to placate wealthy Catholic donors after their delicate sensibilities were wounded by the words of Pope Francis. Like this one. Poor babies.

Thankfully, some folks who know a thing or two about virtue and ethics from a Catholic social teaching perspective took issue with Kudlowian theology. This is my personal favorite.

"Cardinal Dolan misses what Pope Francis sees so clearly," Father Christiansen says. "The growth of inequality everywhere including the U.S. is a result of American-style capitalism and the financialization of the economy."

He continues: 

"Stagnation in wage growth and the trickle-up economy has shrunk the U.S. middle class and hollowed out the economic power of those who remain in it. Pope Francis understands this when he links addressing poverty to reversing inequality.  

For generations, Catholic social teaching has understood and taught that improving the condition of the poor means holding inequality in check. Thanks be to God, that Pope Benedict and Pope Francis have underscored that teaching in the most emphatic ways. 

Unfortunately, too many well-to-do Catholics prefer getting their economic ethics from the Acton Institute rather than the Vatican."

Of course, worship of the "free market" as God can also be found among evangelical Calvinists. David Brat is a good example. He is the economics professor with divinity degrees that just won the Republican nomination for Eric Cantor's soon to be vacant congressional seat. Theologically, Brat describes himself as a “fairly orthodox Calvinist.”

“Capitalist markets and their expansion in China and India have provided more for the common good, more ‘social welfare,’ than any other policy in the past ten years. So, as a seminary student concerned with human welfare, I naturally wanted to learn about these free markets.”

I did have to chuckle at China being held up as a fine example of capitalism in action. Doesn't the Chinese government still frown on religion, including Christianity? I am sure all this new wealth will open their eyes to their need to pay lip service to God.

Here is the money quote:

“I think the main point is that we need to synthesize Christianity and capitalism.”

You do not mix the sacred and the profane. Christ warned about the dangers of thinking you can worship God and Mammon. Brat has a 2011 publication titled, “God and the Advanced Mammon — Can Theological Types Handle Usury and Capitalism?", published in Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology. This is a guy that claims to love God and a virtuous Mammon. It is simply nauseating, not to mention arrogant beyond belief.

For as long as there is human sin or evil, there will be corruption and injustice in our economic systems. You can find it throughout human history. The idea that capitalism is somehow more resistant to those failings is preposterous. So how does one read the New Testament and dare talk about "virtuous capitalism?"

A bit too "church of Laodicea" for my tastes (Revelation 3:15-17):

“I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.

So what is with all this praise and worship of Mammon by Christian religious and political leaders?