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Banks as good neighbors
By Lucy Kolin
pastor, Resurrection Lutheran Church in Oakland, Calif.
As a parish pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), I have spent nearly a quarter century teaching and preaching about what it means to live the life of faith, what it means to not just hear the Word of God but to do it. So it is less a choice than a joyful given for me to be involved in and speaking publicly about matters like Wall Street reform, matters that affect not only members of my own congregation but also many people in my city, state, and nation -- my neighbors all.
Jesus said that the greatest commandment is "love God with all that you are and have and love your neighbor as yourself." We often read "love your neighbor" in terms of charity, not justice. But, as I learned again recently while preparing four young people for confirmation and a mature life of faith, our calling is to look at the world as God created it to be and as it is operating, to examine where the gap lies, and to work publicly to bridge it.
In the prayer Jesus taught, Christians pray, "Give us today our daily bread." Martin Luther defined "daily bread" as much more than healthy and sufficient food and drink. He understood that phrase to include all that we need "to sustain this body and life," so also good governance, housing, money, and trustworthy neighbors, both individuals and institutions. And in teaching about the commandments, Luther understood "you shall not steal" as a call always to "help [our neighbors] to improve and protect their property and income."
As a person of faith and, specifically, as a pastor, I have seen far too many of my neighbors suffer from banks and other financial institutions who fail to act as "good neighbors," responsible to the people of the communities they serve. Of course, my congregation and I will continue to pray and uphold those who suffer, but we will also work to see abuses corrected and reforms instituted. The recent exploitative practices have abused the working poor, crippled the middle class, destabilized entire neighborhoods, dried up credit to small businesses, and caused widespread unemployment. Those practices, often defended in the name of shareholder profit, have not helped shareholders and have led to a loss of bank integrity -- bank "soul" if you will -- and erosion of public trust.
As a person of faith, I know and believe in the reality of sin - for individuals and institutions. But I know and believe in the blessing and opportunity for confession and conversion -- personally and corporately. Banks and Wall Street have an opportunity to publicly acknowledge and repudiate the practices and policies that have caused suffering and loss for so many. They also have an opportunity to embrace new behaviors and policies that can contribute to healing the economy and give real help and hope to families and communities so our nation can regain its economic health and restore its soul.
That's why I am deeply involved in the PICO Network's campaign to hold big banks and Wall Street accountable. That's why I am going to join thousands of people at bank shareholder meetings next week in Charlotte and San Francisco as well as directly on Wall Street itself in speaking up and speaking out. That's why I favor the goal of financial reform legislation being debated in Congress and support a modernized Community Reinvestment Act. That is why I am joining many others to urge local and state governments to use their authority and leverage to push dollars into responsible lending institutions -- institutions that care for all their neighbors, big and little, and do not abandon their moral integrity and responsiveness in the midst of economic crisis. And that's why I urge people of faith around the country to help us hold big banks accountable by taking our pledge at www.OurMoneyOurValues.org.
In vows my confirmation students will soon make, vows repeated at significant moments in the church's life, we commit ourselves to serving all our neighbors and striving for justice and peace in all the earth. So here I stand...I can do no other. And I am pleased to stand with millions of other persons of faith who have come this far by faith.
Rev. Lucy Kolin is pastor of Resurrection Lutheran Church in Oakland, Calif., co-chair, Oakland Community Organizations, and PICO national spokesperson.
By Lucy Kolin |
April 26, 2010; 12:02 PM ET
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Posted by: YEAL9 | April 27, 2010 8:24 AM
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In Thomas Sowell's The Mortgage Boom and Bust, he documents that a study conducted around 2000 showed that whites were approved for mortgages at a higher rate than blacks, but that mortgage performance (non-delinquency or foreclosure) was equal among those who were approved. This implies that blacks and whites were being treated equally assuming they were equally likely to be able to keep up with their mortgages.
Somehow, this got reported in the press as "blacks 60% more likely to be refused mortgage loans," and became an impetus to create more exotic lending products, for which minorities were more likely to qualify but less likely to maintain.
In my neighborhood, subprime-ism generated a whole industry of black conmen and -women, like the one who had an $800,000 wedding at the Mayflower, convincing their marks that they were successful business people and knew how to move money around.
It's good to want to hold the big banks accountable. Let's also turn our attention to the affinity marketers who exploited their brethren.
Posted by: WmarkW | April 26, 2010 1:38 PM
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But was Jesus really the first to say the Golden Rule??? Or did he (or his "biographers"/embellishers borrow it)???
Origins: from Wikipedia
The golden rule has its roots in a wide range of world cultures, and is a standard which different cultures use to resolve conflicts;[3] it was present in the philosophies of ancient India, Greece, Judea and China.
An early example of the Golden Rule that reflects the Ancient Egyptian concept of Maat appears in the story of The Eloquent Peasant which is dated to the Middle Kingdom (c. 2040 - 1650 BCE): "Now this is the command: Do to the doer to cause that he do".[5] An example from a Late Period (c. 1080 - 332 BCE) papyrus: "That which you hate to be done to you, do not do to another".[6]
The Golden Rule was a common principle in ancient Greek philosophy. Examples of the general concept include:
"Do not to your neighbor what you would take ill from him." – Pittacus[7]
"Avoid doing what you would blame others for doing." – Thales[8]
"What you do not want to happen to you, do not do it yourself either. " – Sextus the Pythagorean[9] The oldest extant reference to Sextus is by Origin in the third century of the common era.[10]
"Do not do to others what would anger you if done to you by others." – Isocrates[11]
"What thou avoidest suffering thyself seek not to impose on others." – Epictetus[12]
"It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly (agreeing 'neither to harm nor be harmed'[13]),
and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life." – Epicurus[14]
"One should never do wrong in return, nor mistreat any man, no matter how one has been mistreated by him." - Plato's Socrates (Crito, 49c)."