Thoughts on capitalism out of the Bible

[Soapweed]

This was in the daily Bible reading that Martin, Jr. dilligently posts each day. I appreciate his efforts, and make it a point to read it each day. The following verses from Matthew 25 look to me like God favors and encourages a capitalistic free enterprise way of living.

Matthew 25: 14 - 30
Jesus speaks to his discioles:
"The case of a man who was going on a journey is similar. He called in his servants and handed his funds over to them according to each man's abilities. To one he disbursed five thousand silver pieces, to a second two thousand, and to a third a thousand. Then he went away. Immediately the man who received the five thousand went to invest it and made another five. In the same way, the man who received the two thousand doubled his figure. The man who received the thousand went off instead and dug a hole in the ground, where he buried his master's money. After a long absence, the master of those servants came home and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five thousand came forward bringing the additional five. 'My lord,' he said, 'you let me have five thousand. See, I have made five thousand more.' His master said to him, 'Well done! You are an industrious and reliable servant. Since you were dependable in a small matter I will put you in charge of larger affairs. Come, share your master's joy!' The man who had received the two thousand then stepped forward. 'My lord,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two thousand and I have made two thousand more.' His master said to him, 'Cleverly done! You too are an industrious and reliable servant. Since you were dependable in a small matter I will put you in charge of larger affairs. Come, share your master's joy!'
Finally, the man who had received the thousand stepped forward. 'My lord,' he said, 'I knew that you were a hard man. You reap where you did not sow and gather where you did not scatter, so out of fear I went off and buried your thousand silver pieces in the ground. Here is your money back.' His master exclaimed: 'You worthless, lazy lout! You know I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter. All the more reason to deposit my money with the bankers, so that on my return I could have had it back with interest. You, there! Take the thousand away from him and give it to the man with the ten thousand. Those who have will get more until they grow rich, while those who have not will lose even the little they have. Throw this worthless servant into the darkness outside, where he can wail and grind his teeth.'"

 

[Anonymous]

Any thoughts from the Bible about the one who invested other peoples money in unsafe investments and lost it all and then begged to be bailed out to do it again.

 

[ANGUS327]

Any thoughts from the Bible about the one who invested other peoples money in unsafe investments and lost it all and then begged to be bailed out to do it again.

I think he was one of the thieves that were on a cross beside Jesus.

 

[Lonecowboy]

THE 10th COMMANDMENT-Exodus 20:17
"

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's."

clearly we will be blessed differently- and we are NOT to desire what God has blessed our neighbor with

so trying to take more from the "rich" to make them " pay their fair share"
is totally unbiblical and covetousness! if we are to be taxed it should be a flat tax! no exemptions!

 

[TSR]

This was in the daily Bible reading that Martin, Jr. dilligently posts each day. I appreciate his efforts, and make it a point to read it each day. The following verses from Matthew 25 look to me like God favors and encourages a capitalistic free enterprise way of living.

Matthew 25: 14 - 30
Jesus speaks to his discioles:
"The case of a man who was going on a journey is similar. He called in his servants and handed his funds over to them according to each man's abilities. To one he disbursed five thousand silver pieces, to a second two thousand, and to a third a thousand. Then he went away. Immediately the man who received the five thousand went to invest it and made another five. In the same way, the man who received the two thousand doubled his figure. The man who received the thousand went off instead and dug a hole in the ground, where he buried his master's money. After a long absence, the master of those servants came home and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five thousand came forward bringing the additional five. 'My lord,' he said, 'you let me have five thousand. See, I have made five thousand more.' His master said to him, 'Well done! You are an industrious and reliable servant. Since you were dependable in a small matter I will put you in charge of larger affairs. Come, share your master's joy!' The man who had received the two thousand then stepped forward. 'My lord,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two thousand and I have made two thousand more.' His master said to him, 'Cleverly done! You too are an industrious and reliable servant. Since you were dependable in a small matter I will put you in charge of larger affairs. Come, share your master's joy!'
Finally, the man who had received the thousand stepped forward. 'My lord,' he said, 'I knew that you were a hard man. You reap where you did not sow and gather where you did not scatter, so out of fear I went off and buried your thousand silver pieces in the ground. Here is your money back.' His master exclaimed: 'You worthless, lazy lout! You know I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter. All the more reason to deposit my money with the bankers, so that on my return I could have had it back with interest. You, there! Take the thousand away from him and give it to the man with the ten thousand. Those who have will get more until they grow rich, while those who have not will lose even the little they have. Throw this worthless servant into the darkness outside, where he can wail and grind his teeth.'"

As long as they made the money legally and not at he demise of others, nothing wrong with making money--- its the "love of money" where the problem comes in, at least imo.

 

[hypocritexposer]

This was in the daily Bible reading that Martin, Jr. dilligently posts each day. I appreciate his efforts, and make it a point to read it each day. The following verses from Matthew 25 look to me like God favors and encourages a capitalistic free enterprise way of living.

Matthew 25: 14 - 30
Jesus speaks to his discioles:
"The case of a man who was going on a journey is similar. He called in his servants and handed his funds over to them according to each man's abilities. To one he disbursed five thousand silver pieces, to a second two thousand, and to a third a thousand. Then he went away. Immediately the man who received the five thousand went to invest it and made another five. In the same way, the man who received the two thousand doubled his figure. The man who received the thousand went off instead and dug a hole in the ground, where he buried his master's money. After a long absence, the master of those servants came home and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five thousand came forward bringing the additional five. 'My lord,' he said, 'you let me have five thousand. See, I have made five thousand more.' His master said to him, 'Well done! You are an industrious and reliable servant. Since you were dependable in a small matter I will put you in charge of larger affairs. Come, share your master's joy!' The man who had received the two thousand then stepped forward. 'My lord,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two thousand and I have made two thousand more.' His master said to him, 'Cleverly done! You too are an industrious and reliable servant. Since you were dependable in a small matter I will put you in charge of larger affairs. Come, share your master's joy!'
Finally, the man who had received the thousand stepped forward. 'My lord,' he said, 'I knew that you were a hard man. You reap where you did not sow and gather where you did not scatter, so out of fear I went off and buried your thousand silver pieces in the ground. Here is your money back.' His master exclaimed: 'You worthless, lazy lout! You know I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter. All the more reason to deposit my money with the bankers, so that on my return I could have had it back with interest. You, there! Take the thousand away from him and give it to the man with the ten thousand. Those who have will get more until they grow rich, while those who have not will lose even the little they have. Throw this worthless servant into the darkness outside, where he can wail and grind his teeth.'"

As long as they made the money legally and not at he demise of others, nothing wrong with making money--- its the "love of money" where the problem comes in, at least imo.

TSR, you're speaking of "Greed" and I agree with you, but is it the Government's responsibility to regulate greed?

There are many "rich" people that are also charitable. The Koch brothers are criticized for being "rich", but they also give millions to charity......are they "Greedy", or "charitable"?

And if the Government tries to regulate their "greed", will they be as charitable?


I have said this many times, but.....

If we know government is guilty of waste, corruption, crony capitalism and duplication, then why would we want to give them access to more of the taxpayers' money, before the ability to misappropriate that money is taken out of their control?

 

[TSR]

This was in the daily Bible reading that Martin, Jr. dilligently posts each day. I appreciate his efforts, and make it a point to read it each day. The following verses from Matthew 25 look to me like God favors and encourages a capitalistic free enterprise way of living.

Matthew 25: 14 - 30
Jesus speaks to his discioles:
"The case of a man who was going on a journey is similar. He called in his servants and handed his funds over to them according to each man's abilities. To one he disbursed five thousand silver pieces, to a second two thousand, and to a third a thousand. Then he went away. Immediately the man who received the five thousand went to invest it and made another five. In the same way, the man who received the two thousand doubled his figure. The man who received the thousand went off instead and dug a hole in the ground, where he buried his master's money. After a long absence, the master of those servants came home and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five thousand came forward bringing the additional five. 'My lord,' he said, 'you let me have five thousand. See, I have made five thousand more.' His master said to him, 'Well done! You are an industrious and reliable servant. Since you were dependable in a small matter I will put you in charge of larger affairs. Come, share your master's joy!' The man who had received the two thousand then stepped forward. 'My lord,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two thousand and I have made two thousand more.' His master said to him, 'Cleverly done! You too are an industrious and reliable servant. Since you were dependable in a small matter I will put you in charge of larger affairs. Come, share your master's joy!'
Finally, the man who had received the thousand stepped forward. 'My lord,' he said, 'I knew that you were a hard man. You reap where you did not sow and gather where you did not scatter, so out of fear I went off and buried your thousand silver pieces in the ground. Here is your money back.' His master exclaimed: 'You worthless, lazy lout! You know I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter. All the more reason to deposit my money with the bankers, so that on my return I could have had it back with interest. You, there! Take the thousand away from him and give it to the man with the ten thousand. Those who have will get more until they grow rich, while those who have not will lose even the little they have. Throw this worthless servant into the darkness outside, where he can wail and grind his teeth.'"

As long as they made the money legally and not at he demise of others, nothing wrong with making money--- its the "love of money" where the problem comes in, at least imo.

TSR, you're speaking of "Greed" and I agree with you, but is it the Government's responsibility to regulate greed?

There are many "rich" people that are also charitable. The Koch brothers are criticized for being "rich", but they also give millions to charity......are they "Greedy", or "charitable"?

And if the Government tries to regulate their "greed", will they be as charitable?


I have said this many times, but.....

If we know government is guilty of waste, corruption, crony capitalism and duplication, then why would we want to give them access to more of the taxpayers' money, before the ability to misappropriate that money is taken out of their control?

The gov't is all many people would have. We just have to have gov't officials that aren't corrupt.
Several months ago at another site there was a discussion on charitable giving. Someone said true charitable giving should be done anonymously, I'm not so sure I don't agree.

 

[hypocritexposer]

As long as they made the money legally and not at he demise of others, nothing wrong with making money--- its the "love of money" where the problem comes in, at least imo.

TSR, you're speaking of "Greed" and I agree with you, but is it the Government's responsibility to regulate greed?

There are many "rich" people that are also charitable. The Koch brothers are criticized for being "rich", but they also give millions to charity......are they "Greedy", or "charitable"?

And if the Government tries to regulate their "greed", will they be as charitable?


I have said this many times, but.....

If we know government is guilty of waste, corruption, crony capitalism and duplication, then why would we want to give them access to more of the taxpayers' money, before the ability to misappropriate that money is taken out of their control?

The gov't is all many people would have. We just have to have gov't officials that aren't corrupt.
Several months ago at another site there was a discussion on charitable giving. Someone said true charitable giving should be done anonymously, I'm not so sure I don't agree.

and would they still get a tax credit?

there has to be some Government support, I agree, but if the Government takes over all responsibility for support, then why would there be a need for charity?

Charity makes me feel good and I give more.....if I feel the Government supports enough, then I don't give anything.

I see beggars everyday, but I feel I support them already through taxes paid, so I rarely give to the "windshield washer". I quite often will offer to buy them food, but they'd rather have cash, for some unknown reason :???: So I'll give canned food at the food bank, but even that is government supported, so why should I have to donate after tax dollars to that cause?

How much does that Government support cost the taxpayer, compared to what is given to those that receive the support?

I'd rather give it directly to them, receive an incentive to do so, a tax credit, and I would give more.......

too much of my tax dollars are going towards waste, corruption, crony capitalism/bailouts and duplication.....why would I give again?

Those receiving support should be asking for less my tax dollars to be spent more responsibly, not more tax dollars

 

[Martin Jr.]

When you give to a charitable organization you should take into account what percentage is actually given back out. Some have highly paid workers and some have many volunteers.
What about the government? I have heard that only about 20% actually goes to help people. I wonder if that is right, the Government does not put out anything to let us know.
Here is a good site to read:
www.drlwilson.com/articles/what_is_charity.htm

 

[hypocritexposer]

When you give to a charitable organization you should take into account what percentage is actually given back out. Some have highly paid workers and some have many volunteers.
What about the government? I have heard that only about 20% actually goes to help people. I wonder if that is right, the Government does not put out anything to let us know.
Here is a good site to read:
www.drlwilson.com/articles/what_is_charity.htm

Good point Martin.....


Here in Alberta, I remember them a few years ago "privatizing" some Government services.....I'll use the what you would call the DMV, as an example, what we call the licensing bureau.

The government contracted out the service. It is done more "inexpensively" now. And the companies that now run them seem to run more efficiently without the government bureaucracy involved.

The taxpayer gets more "bang for their buck" and it is also more of a "user pay" type of system.

Why should a taxpayer that rides the bus, pay for the services of the licensing bureau?


Not the only reason, but one of the contributing factors to Alberta being able to maintain a "flat rate provincial income tax" (10%)


Add up your costs, divide by your population, and set your tax rate accordingly. If the citizens are leaving your province/state, due to tax rates, or job opportunities, you better adjust your tax rates (both corporate and personal)


I also remember when costs needed to be reduced in Alberta, they required "out patients" to do their own shaving before surgery..........

 

[Steve]

and would they still get a tax credit?

personally I think getting a tax credit for charitable deductions is wrong..

I won't fault a person for taking a legal deduction

but it is really a scam to avoid taxes and peddle influence and used by corporations, wealthy and politicians to fund their agenda.. not to be charitable..

it should be abolished,.. same with the tax free status of organizations.. way to much abuse these days..

most churches would not be hurt as most don't run at a profit..