From here:
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby opened the discussion, which was part of the Trinity’s Institute’s conference on Creating Common Good: A Practical Conference on Economic Inequality, Jan. 22 to 25. Examining scriptures from both the New and Old Testaments, he said, “There is an ambivalence, an acceptance of wealth as blessing and yet a hesitation, a doubt, a fear about its consequences.”
Of course, examples of people who have created great wealth and used it for the common good, such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, spring to mind and are reason to give thanks, he acknowledged. There is no biblical injunction against all personal wealth but, he said, there is an injunction against “the systematic and indefinite accumulation of grossly unequal [wealth in] societies.” That, he said, “always leads to abuse, even if every wealthy person is generous, because the asymmetries of power means that wealth allocation becomes a matter of paternalism not a basic issue of justice.”
There has never been – nor, I contend will there ever be – a society in which there is not an allocation of grossly unequal wealth. The difference between capitalist inequality, an inequality from which, as a salaried archbishop Welby derives considerable benefit, and socialist inequality is that the poor in capitalist countries tend to be far better off than the poor in socialist countries.
As Winston Churchill observed, the only equality that socialism manages to spread is equal misery – apart from the ruling elite, of course, who appropriate grossly unequal wealth.
I can’t help wondering if Welby believes his own Gospel – the one where the poor are blessed and a camel going through the eye of a needle is easier than a rich person going to heaven. In Welby’s red Christianity, the rich young ruler would not be invited to sell everything he had and give the proceeds to the poor: his wealth would have already been confiscated by the state, depriving him of the choice. But that’s what socialism is all about: removing choice.
Christians are found in all political and economic perspectives.
…but consistent Christians aren’t. I don’t recall Christ having rescinded the commandments forbidding theft and covetousness.
Joy Smith is a Conservative who stands up for social issues like human trafficking.
John Mackay is a Liberal who has been criticized for his pro-life stance.
Tommy Douglas was a socialist/NDP who is best known for starting universal healthcare (Christians who support socialist policies can look to passages in the Bible like Acts 4)
In my opinion, all three people are excellent Christian role models who display different facets our of faith in the public arena.
The CoE in all its many constructs is considered the ‘establishment church’. The reason for the decline of the ACoC is a many fold equation. Teaching, tithing all come to mind for starters. Too many old maintenance poor buildings are not attractive either. In the Diocese I am in, Church House is in the real estate business……..selling and demolishing antiquated buildings. What the brain trust should be doing is centralizing. Instead, they wring their hands and bemoan…………all the while collecting rather substantive pay cheque’s I might add!
Hi Jim
While I was focusing on the fact that legitimate/consistent/true (whatever the term) Christians can be found in all political stripes, I do not disagree with much of what you say. However, I think that you might be surprised on actual ACoC salaries. The Charities directorate lists the top 10 salaries (if they have 10 full-time staff) for every charity in Canada which means you can see what Bishops make. Here is a small sample:
Diocese of Edmonton has one person making over $80,000 and four people making between $40-79k.
Diocese of Calgary has three people over $80,000 and three people between $40-79k.
Diocese of Athabasca has one person making over $80,000 and two making less than $40,000.
Diocese of British Columbia has one person making over $80,000 and nine people making between $40-79k.
Diocese of Niagara has three people making over $80,000 and seven people making between $40-79k.
Perhaps I am looking through the salary levels here in Alberta but these salaries don’t seem terribly excessive to me… even if you add in clergy housing.
Which many do not get.
Appreciate the input Ed/Anglican. It might appear at first blush that I am ‘slagging’ the whole of the Canadian Church. I am not just to be clear. There are pockets of sustainable growth……somewhere I am sure.
I like your comments… while I attend an ACoC church, I am relatively new to the denomination. I certainly see many challenges that it faces as a denomination but there are some good things happening within it as well (perhaps in pockets as you suggest).
Capitalism for the poor………..Socialism for the rich.
Oh, an Objectivist. 😀
Christians who want to pool healthcare resources should only feel free to do so among themselves, and have no right forcing others into such schemes. “Thou shalt not steal” doesn’t specify the m.o. of the theft.
pleae see my reply below; also, when speaking of Acts 4, don”t forget Acts 5 esp verse 4 – no support of socialism here.
Hang on folks. Many anglo Catholic’s I have met are left of centre in terms of social issues.
I tire of the whole Conservative-Liberal-Socialist rant. There was a time when classic Liberalism was nothing to be ashamed about…….when a conservative could be progressive………..when a socialist was not a communist in disguise. Now……….none of this is evident……at least from my vantage point.
There was also a time when liberal meant someone who was only generous with his own money, who believed in small government, self-reliance, and a free market; in short, a free man – that is classical liberalism. What you appear to laud is progressive liberalism, which indeed is socialistic. There was never a time when a Christian shouldn’t have been ashamed of that, as it flies in the face of God’s Word. This leaves the Christian no warrant to address “give us this day our daily bread” to Caesar.
I tire of the rant, too, especially by those who act as though they see themselves as wiser and more compassionate than God by espousing the economics and politics of theft and envy cloaked in faux compassion for the poor. All the Welfare Plantation has accomplished is the creation of a permanent underclass cum grist for abortion mills and prisons – now that’s real Christian charity, isn’t it?
Spot on. I didn’t think there was any room for we ‘fellow traveller’s’ as I am wont to call us.
You have terrific capacity for getting the ‘bigger picture’.
There is always felicitous inconsistency, as kingdom of the left hand issues are not salvific. But I challenge you to test your fellow-traveling against the crown and covenant claims and rights of Christ, and to look at the destination fellow-traveling brings a society to – unless you believe Orwell and Chambers to have been blowing smoke. Christ has proprietary rights in His people (ie,”bought with a price”), one of which is their allegiance. The fellow-traveler serves two masters.
You bring compelling insight to this ‘thread’. My thanks for your insightful observations.