It's pure capitalist propaganda and the very fact you take it seriously reveals your total ignorance and the fact that you are brainwashed.
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As if his success and achievement were evidence of something unethical and immoral?
This is contrary to one of the basic precepts of Judeo-Christian thought which is that equating worldly status with moral superiority is inherently sinful.
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
It's also propaganda as the very fact that he conceals his tax returns proves he has something to hide. In before "he has the right..."
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More than any other nation, the United States was founded on broad themes of morality rooted in a specific religious perspective.
False and contrary to truth.
This country was built on greed, plain and simple. America is the only country that has never had a national church.
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Regarding mankind, no theme is more salient in the Bible than the morality of personal responsibility
False and contrary to truth.
Jews have believed in the concept of
mitzvot since the beginning of time. The Talmud teaches us that the highest mitzvot is that which is undertaken anonymously,
without any expectation of worldly reward. This is directly contrary to the basic precepts of American capitalism which is that what is good for oneself is good for the community.
The New Testament commands to "give onto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and give onto God that which is God's". Jesus Christ himself endorsed the payment of taxes and emphasized the
triviality of material concerns in one's relationship with government.
The central theme of the Bible is mindfulness of what God asks of us. Second to that is loyalty to one's tribe. That is what the Old Testament is about - loyalty to others, to the Covenant of the Chosen People. There is no "individual responsibility" - only communal responsibility, to do what God asks of us. And he explicitly asks us to be humble and austere in this world.
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Unlike socialism, mired as it is in the static reproduction of things already invented, capitalism is dynamic and energetic
Pure propaganda.
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The Bible's proclamation that "Six days shall ye work" is its recognition that on a day-to-day basis work is the engine that brings about man's inner state of personal responsibility.
"What Would Marx Say"
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At the opening bell, Genesis announces: "Man is created in the image of God"—in other words, like Him, with individuality and creative intelligence. Unlike animals, the human being is not only a hunter and gatherer but a creative dreamer with the potential of unlocking all the hidden treasures implanted by God in our universe. The mechanism of capitalism, as manifest through investment and reasoned speculation, helps facilitate our partnership with God by bringing to the surface that which the Almighty embedded in nature for our eventual extraction and activation.
Capitalism makes possible entrepreneurship, which is the realization of an idea birthed in human creativity. Whereas statism demands that citizens think small and bow to a top-down conformity, capitalism, as has been practiced in the U.S., maximizes human potential. It provides a home for aspiration, referred to in the Bible as "the spirit of life."
This is a sacrilegious statement because the central tenet of Judeo-Christian thought is the superiority of the spiritual over the material.
Man is like God in that he is a spiritual - and not material - creature. As the Jewish saying goes, "The Light of God is the Heart of Man".
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"For why else should a man so labor but to receive reward?"
This is a quote out of context.
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1Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
1Co 3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
1Co 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
1Co 3:7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
1Co 3:8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
1Co 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
1Co 3:10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
1Co 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
1Co 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
1Co 3:20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 3:23 And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
Amusingly, the editor actually changed the phrasing of the quote so it doesn't conform to any standard text, so that people couldn't Google it for the full context.
What Paul is actually saying to the Corinthians is the exact
opposite of what the columnist is saying. He is saying that people should labor in this world
with no expectation of material gain because they are spiritual beings and God will reward them for their humility with "all things" in the afterlife.
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The Bible is not a business-school manual. While it is comfortable with wealth creation and the need for speculation in economic markets, it has nothing to say about financial instruments and models such as private equity, hedge funds or other forms of monetary capitalization.
False and contrary to truth. The Bible is inherently and thoroughly hostile towards speculation.
Jesus Christ threw the moneychangers out of the Second Temple. The downfall of the Jewish kings was directly blamed on their greed and rapacity. Most of the protagonists of the Torah are people who gave up a materially rich life to follow spiritual callings - Moses, Abraham, Joseph.
The land of Canaan was described as "rich with milk and honey", but the Hebrews didn't seek to increase their lot or "invest" in the place - they took it by force. God approved. The point is, the Torah puts a higher value on divine purpose than "free trade".
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No country has achieved such broad-based prosperity as has America, or invented as many useful things, or seen as many people achieve personal promise. This is not an accident. It is the direct result of centuries lived by the free-market ethos embodied in the Judeo-Christian outlook.
What a small, ignorant argument.
No country had achieved such broad-based prosperity as Sumeria.
No country had achieved such broad-based prosperity as the Roman Empire.
No country had achieved such broad-based prosperity as Victorian Europe.
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Furthermore, only a prosperous nation can protect itself from outside threats, for without prosperity the funds to support a robust military are unavailable.
False, ignorant and contrary to truth.
All standing armies throughout history are supported by exploitation of subject peoples. Benjamin Franklin was critical of making the eagle our national symbol precisely: the eagle is strong because it preys upon the weak. This is why the eagle has historically been identified with military prowess.
Look at most powerful militaries throughout history. The Athenians (Delian League). The Spartans (the helots). The Romans and British (their empire). The Middle Ages - the most militarized period in history - was propped up by raiding, which was also a major cause of the Crusades.
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Having radically enlarged the welfare state and hoping to further expand it, President Obama is attempting to justify his cuts to our military by asserting that defense needs must give way to domestic programs.
The strawman argument is correct. Rome fell because of centuries of military overspending and the diminution of public service. The emphasis on the military over the civil also corroded the loyalty of the Roman populace.
All strong military powers ultimately self-destruct, either due to civil war (Rome), biting off more than they can chew (Germany), economic meltdown (Ottomans, British), or being assimilated by other cultures (Mongols). The countries with strong civil programs are the ones that endure (Byzantines, China).
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At the end of Genesis, we hear how after years of famine the people in Egypt gave all their property to the government in return for the promise of food. The architect of this plan was Joseph, son of Jacob, who had risen to become the pharaoh's top official, thus: "Joseph exchanged all the land of Egypt for pharaoh and the land became pharaoh's." The result was that Egyptians became indentured to the ruler and state, and Joseph's descendants ended up enslaved to the state.
False and contrary to truth.
It was not AFTER years of famine they gave up their "property" - it was BEFORE the years of famine that they put their crops in granaries because Joseph told the Pharaoh that seven years of prosperity would be followed by seven years of famine.
The people of Egypt and Israel were not punished for this - they were rewarded. Joseph's family suffered through the famine and came to Egypt to find food. Joseph had been treated badly by his family, but he selflessly honored his loyalty to the tribe that cast him out, and they became wealthy and important. Again, the recurring theme of the Torah - honor, loyalty, doing what God asks of us, come before material considerations.
The Egyptians did not become "indentured" - the Hebrews did. The Egyptians did just fine - it was because of Joseph's scheme their nation did not starve to death from the famine. The enslavement and subsequent Exodus of the Hebrews happened because of the petty jealousy and xenophobia of the Egyptians, who forgot the good turn the Hebrews had done them by using their covenant with God to save the country from famine.
The Torah tells us that Moses grew up well-to-do, but he left all that behind because he sympathized with a Hebrew slave being beaten by an Egyptian overlord. The point is contrary to that made by the article - that the status quo is NOT just - that sympathy, compassion for the weak and moral fortitude against seduction by material things is the path of the righteous.
When the Hebrews fled Egypt, they were fed first with
matzo, and later with
manna - food that fell from Heaven. They did not have to work for it; God provided it. Faith is more important than anything else in the Torah.
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Many on the religious left criticize capitalism because all do not end up monetarily equal—or, as Churchill quipped, "all equally miserable." But the Bible's prescription of equality means equality under the law, as in Deuteronomy's saying that "Judges and officers . . . shall judge the people with a just judgment: Do not . . . favor one over the other." Nowhere does the Bible refer to a utopian equality that is contrary to human nature and has never been achieved.
Sacrilegious and contrary to truth.
Jews and Christians alike believe there WILL eventually be "a new world" where justice reigns.
Jews and Christians alike believe that we must live our lives with compassion and humility as we await the coming of the Chosen One - whether Jesus or some yet-unborn man of Jewish heritage.
The entire point of the Torah is that through observance of God's law, man can overcome his base nature.
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Both history and the Bible show the way that leads. Countries that were once economic powerhouses atrophied and declined, like England after World War II, once they began adopting socialism. Even King Solomon's thriving kingdom crashed once his son decided to impose onerous taxes.
Property is theft. The Bible also condemns Sodom and Gomorrah for their greed and lack of compassion. What is evil is not the taxes, it is Solomon's greed.
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The motive of capitalism's detractors is a quest for their own power and an envy of those who have more money. But envy is a cardinal sin and something that ought not to be.
God begins the Ten Commandments with "I am the Lord your God" and concludes with "Thou shalt not envy your neighbor, not for his wife, nor his house, nor for any of his holdings." Envy is corrosive to the individual and to those societies that embrace it. Nations that throw over capitalism for socialism have made an immoral choice.
Strawman. Pride is a sin. Capitalism's detractors want a better world.
The Torah also commands that "thou shalt not take thy Lord's name in vain". This is generally interpreted as "don't lie", but what it actually means is that using the Torah to justify selfish motives is a capital sin.
TLDR version: Capitalist propaganda written for people who are ignorant and have never sat down and read the Torah, much less understand it.
Also case in point about people like Jubber who talk about 1984/Brave New World being most susceptible to the methodology described in that book...the appropriation and mutilation of spiritual iconography by political causes.
"Freedom Is Slavery" - as in 1984, rewriting the works of Shakespeare so they mean the opposite of what they originally meant. The very fact that this guy retold two Biblical stories not only inaccurately but also in a deliberately mistruthful way (the anecdotes from Corinthians and Exodus) should be enough to prove that this is propaganda aimed at manipulating you, Jubber. But then again, you are ignorant...you are brainwashed...and you are too weak and foolish to break your own programming.
