Friday, September 26, 2008

Need vs. Greed

Yesterday I read Maggi Dawn's post about the Archbishop of York's comments on our financial crisis. Proverbs 14:31 came to mind - "S/he who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God." At this point some would say that those on Wall Street are the needy....but are we not to differentiate between need and greed?

Here is the Archbishop's quote:

"the President of the United States recently announced a $700 billion bailout plans for banks and financial institutions. One of the ironies about this financial crisis is that it makes action on poverty look utterly achievable. It would cost $5 billion to save six million children's lives. World leaders could find 140 times that amount for the banking system in a week. How can they now tell us that action for the poorest on the planet is too expensive?"
http://www.archbishopofyork.org/1981

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen and amen

blessings on your day, lovely lady!

Anonymous said...

that makes me sick that how little in comparison it would take. Makes you wonder what really matters to governments?

Treehugger said...

It's been apparent, for a very long time, that the world's "priorities" are more than a little bit "confused"... when Jesus told us to see to the needs of the widows and orphans, he wasn't speaking in "metaphors", was he?

Jayne said...

Sort of brings it all home doesn't it Roberta? Thanks for sharing this. I shall link it to my blog if you don't mind.

Unknown said...

ABSOLUTELY! YOU TELL 'EM, Archbishop of York!

Beth said...

Jayne's blog led me here. The Archbishop is right and maybe we should use this to be more bold in challenging our government and individuals to do the right thing.

Your blog will be on my must-read list--so glad to have found it. I'm curious about the picture on the header--is that the Island of Iona in Scotland? I was there in 1981 and the picture brought it to mind.

maggi said...

thanks for the link, Roberta!