Es gibt mindestens zwei Punkte, die bei dieser Argumentation in's Auge fallen:
1. Wieso sind dann 14 Wochen gerechtfertigt?
2. Sind Wirtschaft, Arbeitskraft und Geld wirklich Nummer 1 in unserer Gesellschaft?

14 oder 18 Wochen - nun, das sind Beliebigkeiten. In manchen Ländern gibt es gar keinen Mutterschutz.
Aber vermutlich liegt darin einer der Unterschiede zwischen Deutschland und einem quasi gesetzeslosen Staat, an dem wir uns nicht messen sollten.
Aber gerade weil es um Beliebigkeiten geht (warum nicht 19 Wochen oder 17 Wochen?), kann ein Argument dagegen bzw. dafür nicht viel sachliche Schlagkraft haben.
Es geht letztlich darum, einen Wert zu schaffen oder zu stärken.
Und der Wert in diesem Fall ist der Schutz der Mutter und des Kindes.
Warum U.v.d. Leyen etwas gegen die Stärkung dieses Wertes hat, erscheint mysteriös.

Deshalb holt sie einen gebräuchlichen Wert unserer Gesellschaft aus der Trickkiste:
den Mammon.
Sie spricht die Angst an, einen Arbeitsplatz zu verlieren oder erst gar keinen zu bekommen.
Und wir wissen: mit Hartz4 wird's für eine Mutter, womöglich eine alleinerziehende, sehr eng.
Das kann doch keiner wollen, oder? Alleinerziehende Mütter in das wirtschaftliche Elend stoßen!?
U.v.d. Leyen demonstriert mit dieser Argumentation Folgendes:
Der wirtschaftliche Wert sei wichtiger als der familiäre Wert.

Sie befindet sich damit genau in diesem Zeitstrom, der so viele erfasst hat.
Man muss kein geldgeiler Börsianer sein, um den Mammon zu ehren.
Man kann auch Familienministerin sein, die diesem "Geld-Gott" opfert.

Sicherlich können wir auf einem hohen Niveau meckern.
Doch wie geschrieben: unser Vergleichsmaßstab sollte nicht die "Diktatur XY" sein, in der es keinen Mutterschutz gibt.
Gerade in der Frage, welcher Wert höher zu bewerten ist, hätte die Ministerin schon von Amts wegen auf den "Familien-Wert" pochen müssen. Der Hinweis auf die drohende Arbeitslosigkeit einer Mutter wäre dann Aufgabe des Finanzministers gewesen.

Ehrlich:
Mich ekeln solche Episoden unserer Gesellschaft an.
Auf der einen Seite wird darüber - auch auf hoher politischer Ebene - darüber gejammert, dass Familien auseinanderbrechen, dass Kinder verarmen (was mitunter eine direkte Folge von Familienzusammenbrüchen ist), dass unsere Gesellschaft bessere Werte bräuchte ...
und auf der anderen Seite will die Ministerin eine gesetzliche Regelung nicht zulassen, die einen kleinen Teil dazu beitragen könnte, dass Mütter und Kinder ein wenig länger zusammenbleiben könnten.

Stattdessen ist der ganze Stolz der U.v.d. Leyen der Ausbau von Krippenplätzen.
Damit alle arbeitslosen Mütter und alle Mütter, die einen 400-EURO-Job haben, endlich ihr Kind in die staatliche Obhut geben können...

Das ist doch eine Farce!

Wenn wir unser Land von Innen her stabilisieren wollen, brauchen wir eine Stärkung der Familie.
Das kann eine Regierung alleine nicht bewältigen. Aber sie kann Rahmenbedingungen schaffen.
Wenn wir weniger kaputte und mehr stabile Kinder wollen, dann brauchen wir Eltern, die auch Zeit für ihre Kinder haben. Es ist keine Lösung, dass der Staat alles dafür tut, damit Eltern möglichst viel Zeit in einem Beruf oder einem 3.-Job verbringen.
Ein Umdenken tut not.

Wer praktische Beispiele für den Zustand von etlichen Kindern bekommen möchte, möge mit Eltern einer Grundschule reden (Folgendes von mir so vernommen):
- Kinder einer dritten Klasse raufen miteinander. Eines der Kinder wird auf den Boden gedrückt. Ein anderer Drittklässler nutzt die Chance und tritt dem Liegenden gegen den Kopf.
- Grundschulkinder benutzen Wörter, die wirklich fern davon sind, hier genannt zu werden (und ich hätte keine Schwierigkeit, Wörter wie "Arsch" oder "Scheiße" niederzuschreiben).

Und das verwundert nicht, wenn man weiß, dass manche Eltern ihre Kinder um 07:30 Uhr in den Hort geben, das Kind dann bis 12:30 Uhr Unterricht hat und anschließend wieder im Hort verweilt, bis 16:30 Uhr. Dann holt die beruflich gestresste Mutter ihr Kind ab und verbringt mit ihrem Kind bewusst vielleicht noch eine Stunde (neben all dem Aufräumen, Essen machen, Telefonieren...).
Vorausgesetzt, dass die Mutter nicht alleinerziehend ist, bekommt das Kind den Vater noch für das Gute-Nacht-Küsschen mit oder wahlweise am Wochenende, wenn sich der Vater eigentlich von seiner Arbeitswoche erholen will.

Und wenn so ein Kind seine Eltern weitesgehend über eine Wochenendbeziehung erlebt und der Einfluss von Schulkameraden, fremden Menschen, PC und Fernseher prägender ist, dann ist es m.E. ein soziales Naturgesetz, dass solch ein Kind seelische Störungen bekommt - abgesehen davon, was es in den Folgejahrzehnten an seine Kinder weitergeben wird.

Das passiert, wenn das Motto ist:
"Alles für den Mammon!"

“Always write and work at the edge of your ability. If it isn’t two words away from falling over, it’s not worth doing.” M. John Harrison

I can't believe that the mastodon Bush is still trying to get Congress to pass a, what is it, 700 billion dollar bailout plan? The US  is a nation of debt — my family included — and now it's gone big time with flashing lights and slippery poles. Why should the taxpayer — and that's the middle class — come to the aid of big business when our pockets have already been fleeced while this government, like a slick conjuror, diverted the American people's attention with the war in Iraq? The Bush regime has already spent 10 trillion! And I'm sure dogsbody Bush threw this bone to the Senate because he hopes to lick the senators where they like to be licked the best.

Why can't Wall Street save itself? Why not go to the moneybags, banks, instead of empty purses, taxpayers? And what kind of profit can the taxpayers expect to receive if this bailout plan works?

It's a shambles. It's like we are watching the US government slurping up a plate of spaghetti noodles in the hopes of being satiated when all it will create is a distended belly of more debt.

Margaret Atwood has written a non-fiction book about debt and the art of thrift, it's called Payback, and she has an interview in the London Times and  talks about a phrase spoken of the dead: “He has paid his debt to nature. It means you've borrowed something - the physical part of yourself made up of natural elements - and you're paying it back by dissolving into nature." This has some wisdom in it for what's going on now. I just wish I could see it.

The BBC has a good scrub down on the dirty laundry: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7631321.stm

What we need is more of this: “The rebirth of wonder.” Ferlinghetti.

Something is rotten in the state of Mammon.

I just can't figure why a country's leader, in this case Mandible Bush, would want to cripple a nation he espouses to love with the same fervor as his God. If you're in your lover's bed, why would you want to defecate in it?

McCain is for the gobblers of this society, the ones who want to lick the trough clean and then regurgitate a pea for the rest of us and call it a feast.

I don't know if there is a quick fix, like the bailouts, or a slow one, like the taxpayers getting squeezed like lemons until the juice runs down the politicians' legs.

What needs to happen, I think, is some major heart surgery. But it can't be clean. The heart, which is rotten, needs to be yanked out and left to beat out the torpid blood of a nation engorged on debt. (And my family is part of this problem, too, and part of this world, also.) Let's sink so we can rise. We are all the landsknecht of a feudal government that demands we spend in order to thrive.

The pagans had the right idea. In order to ensure another harvest they would make a human sacrifice. But instead of the taxpayers being the oblation, what the American taxpayers need to make happen is that it's the financial world that goes into the bog with its belly full of dollars.

And what's with the Palindrome? She reads backwards as she does forwards, in my opinion. And she's dangerous. Just look at her. She dresses like a 50s woman with a Betty Crocker cookbook in her heart, a McCarthy spook in her head, and a gun for a mouth. Why has she been foisted on the voting public — it's demeaning. We should be able to smell a rat now when we smell one.

The United States of Lethargy and Lassitude, that's what we have. I just wish everyone would snap out of it and see that they are being made fools of, mocked by cretins.

Why can't Americans stand up like Americans do best and knock the stuffing out of the hollow men of greed?

„Viele US-Börsianer suchen jetzt Zuflucht in Kirchen und Synagogen. „Sie sitzen da, weinen und sehen sehr erschöpft aus“, erzählt ein Pfarrer an der Wall Street.
Ihr Glaube an das Geld ist schwer erschüttert - jetzt suchen viele Börsianer der New Yorker Wall Street Zuflucht bei Gott. Kirchen und Synagogen in der Nähe des Finanzzentrums haben zunehmend Zulauf von Aktienhändlern, wie das Institut für Religion und Politik (Washington) berichtet.
Quelle: Kath.net; Glaube an Geld schwer erschüttert

Verzeiht, Brüder in Christo, wenn ich Eueren leichtfertigen Optimismus an der Ein- und Umkehr der Wall Street Banker nicht teile. Die flehen in Wahrheit Gott darum an, dass er ihren irrwitzigen Tanz nicht unterbricht, nachdem ihnen das Goldene Kalb abhanden gekommen ist. Die werden morgen dort weiter machen, wo sie gestern aufgehört haben.

Dies schreibt Rod Dreher über die Finanzkrise in den USA:

Complex financial instruments come and go, but the hearts of men remain the same. Greed, vanity and hubris we always have with us, as well as a weakness for the soft sophisticated lie over the hard plain truth. About human nature, tradition – the accumulated wisdom of mankind – is never wrong. True conservatives – as opposed to those who confuse mammon-worship with moral and intellectual principle – know that a tolerable order can only exist when most people live by the moral laws articulated in time-worn banalities.

Eine der einfachsten Einsichten zum Thema, die ich in der bisherigen Debatte über die Krise gehört habe. Und dennoch eine der wichtigsten und aussagekräftigsten. Experten, Ökonomen und informierte Menschen (drei Worte - drei Welten) untersuchen seit Tagen die diversen Ursachen. Diejenigen, die wirklich Ahnung haben suchen schon viel länger nach den Ursachen. Und dennoch ist es diese Einsicht, so oft übersehen, so oft mit nichts als Geringschätzung bedacht, die wirklich zählt: Der Kapitalismus kann nur dann funktionieren, wenn die Menschen, die innerhalb des Systems aktiv sind, den Kapitalismus transzendierende Werte besitzen und befolgen. Gier ist nicht gut. Geiz ist nicht geil.

In einem Sinne ist das kapitalistische Gewinnstreben gut und unerläßlich für eine wohlhabende Gesellschaft. Die Marktwirtschaft kann nicht ohne dieses Gewinnstreben funktionieren. Aber es ist so etwas wie eine Sekundärtugend: Es besitzt keinen Wert an sich, ist aber nützlich für das Erreichen gewisser Ziele. Wie alle Sekundärtugenden bedarf auch das Gewinnstreben der freiwilligen Mäßigung durch den Menschen. Gerät es außer Kontrolle mutiert es zu destruktiver Gier, die nicht nur moralisch verurteilenswert ist, sondern auch die Grundlage des Kapitalismus erodiert. Der freie Markt kann nur funktionieren, wenn jemand dafür sorgt, daß die Spielregeln nicht mißachtet, umgangen und gebrochen werden. Er ist dann besonders erfolgreich, wenn die große Mehrheit der Menschen die Spielregeln freiwillig akzeptiert, wenn "Fair Play" Ehrensache ist. Dann brauchen wir keinen Schiedsrichter.

Im Snooker, einer Sportart, die sich noch etwas von dem alten, heute oft lächerlich gemachten Gentleman-Ideal erhalten hat, ist es verboten die weiße Kugel mit etwas anderem als dem eigenen Queue zu berühren. Oft ist aber kaum sichtbar, wenn einer der Spieler den Ball mit der Weste berührt. Meistens sieht der Schiedsrichter das Vergehen nicht, der Spieler bemerkt den Vorfall natürlich. Der Spieler informiert in solchen Situation grundsätzlich den Schiedsrichter, selbst wenn er dadurch im Finale der Weltmeisterschaften verliert. Es ist Ehrensache, nicht zu betrügen.

Nicht alle Menschen sind in der Lage, dieses Niveau an Ehrlichkeit aufzubringen, wenn es um große Summen Geldes geht. Manche halten Ehrlichkeit ohnehin nur für eine Tugend, wenn sie ihnen entgegengebracht wird, nicht wenn sie sie selbst aufbringen müßten (eine Ansicht, die von der heute populären Ansicht, daß es nur eine Regel gibt, nämlich die nicht erwischt zu werden, massiv unterstützt wird). Andere wiederum sind schlicht geblendet, nein verblendet, von ihrer besinnungslosen, raubtierhaften Gier.

Wenn "Fair Play" Ehrensache ist, dann ist kein Schiedsrichter erforderlich. Wenn nicht, dann geht es zu wie zuweilen im Fußball, wo es immer wieder zu bösen Fouls kommt, wenn der Schiedsrichter einmal nicht hinsieht. Der Markt funktioniert im Großen und Ganzen, wenn sich alle an die Spielregeln halten, die ein Staat marktkonform gesetzt hat. Den Regeln zu gehorchen erfordert Kontrolle. Selbstkontrolle oder Fremdkontrolle.

Was immer man auch sonst über die Finanzkrise in den USA sagen mag, was immer man auch sonst über den Kapitalismus als solchen denken mag (sofern man ihn nicht gänzlich ablehnt), eines sollte man einsehen können, gerade auch als Manager, gerade auch als Banker. Wenn man so sehr über die Stränge schlägt, so sehr Risiken eingeht, daß die massiven Verluste wahrscheinlich sind, in der Hoffnung, daß man herausgepaukt wird, wenn alles in sich zusammen stürzt, um im Erfolgsfall gigantische Gewinne zu realisieren, dann zeigt man damit moralische Unreife. Diese Einsicht mag für sich noch keine Probleme lösen, aber sie befähigt uns - die Steuerzahler, die Politik, aber auch die vernünftigen Kräfte in der Wirtschaft - uns richtig zu verhalten.

Diese moralische Unreife ist der eigentliche Grund für die Finanzkrise. Unter der Annahme, daß alle ohnehin versuchen werden, das System auszubeuten, kann man dafür argumentieren, daß man mehr Regulierungen braucht, weil die Ausbeutung dem System zu sehr schadet, als daß es noch funktionsfähig bliebe. Man kann auch dafür argumentieren, daß die Ausbeutung noch erträglich ist und zusätzliche Regulierung mehr schaden als nutzen könnte. Diese Debatte, die im Moment geführt wird, läuft unter der Prämisse, daß man von Menschen nicht erwarten kann, sich moralisch reif zu verhalten. Unter dieser Prämisse - und nur unter dieser Prämisse - läßt es sich rechtfertigen, einen Rettungsanker im Wert von 700 Milliarden auszuwerfen.

Geht man - wie ich - davon aus, daß Menschen fähig sind, moralisch reif zu handeln, dann ist die Idee, daß man Milliardenbeträge an Steuergelder aufwerden sollte, um eine verdorbene Bande von gierigen Milliardären vor dem Ruin zu retten absurd. Und weil die Ursache der Probleme nicht nur im Finanzsystem zu suchen ist, sondern u.a. auch in diversen Plänen etwa der Clinton-Regierung, die Hauseigentümerrate unter eigentlich nicht zahlungsfähigen Minderheiten zu erhöhen (sprich "Affirmative Action") geschuldet sein könnte (und vielen anderen ähnlichen Eingriffen, die mir im Detail nicht so gut bekannt sind), tragen nicht nur die moralisch unreifen Banker die Schuld, sondern auch die moralisch unreifen Politiker, die eine umgekehrte Form des Rassismus praktizieren, und die moralisch unreifen Wähler, die solche Akte unterstützen mit ihren Stimmen. Wegen der weit verbreiteten Schuld an der Problematik ist es nicht zu rechtfertigen, daß jetzt Steuergeldet aufgewendet werden, um die Schuldigen zu retten, selbst dann, wenn die Unterlassung dieser Rettung zu einer tiefen Rezession führen sollte.

Die Folgen sind unabsehbar, was jeden Versuch der folgenethischen Betrachtung obsolet macht. Es bleiben die einfachen Weisheiten, von denen Dreher redet, die sich wieder und wieder im Kleinen wie im Großen bewährt haben. Das gebrannte Kind scheut das Feuer nur dann, wenn es sich verbrannt hat. Wenn man ihm den Schmerz erspart, sucht es das Feuer auf, um die Aufmerksamkeit zu gewinnen, die notwendig ist, um den Schmerz zu verhindern. Mit anderen Worten: Hilft man dem Bankensystem jetzt auf die Füße, wird es in einigen Jahren, ermutigt von der Tatsache, daß sie sich alles leisten können, noch größere Risiken eingehen, noch spektakulärer zusammenbrechen. Hilft man jetzt mit 700 Milliarden aus, führt man damit den nächsten Zusammenbruch indirekt herbei, indem man den ANreiz geschaffen hat, noch mehr zu riskieren.

Wann werden die Politiker entscheiden, daß es genug ist? Wie viel Kredit haben die Banken? Und wie hoch ist das Lösegeld, um die Bürger von dem Würgegriff der Banken freizukaufen? Mit erhobenem Zeigefinger wird gedroht: Wenn ihr uns nicht rettet, bricht alles zusammen. Wer wird das die Courage haben, zu sagen: "Na und?" Es wird gedroht: Die Welt wie wir sie kennen, wird einstürzen, weil es eine Rezession geben wird, gegenüber der die Große Depression nach 1929 als Bagatelle erscheinen wird. Wer wird ehrlich genug sein, zu sagen: "Diese Rezession wird kommen."

Kurzum: Nötig wäre, daß man den kaum mehr verhohlenen Drohungen nach dem Motto "Ihr braucht uns mehr, als wir euch, also tut was wir sagen!" ein Ende macht. Aber wer wird das tun? Mit Sicherheit nicht diejenigen, die in Europa, in Washington und anderswo Mammon anbeten und sich "konservativ" nennen.

Präsident Bush hätte die einmalige Chance gehabt, dies zu tun, schließlich wird er niemals wieder gewählt werden können. Seine Amtszeit ist nahezu vorbei. Aber er ist nicht konservativ und kapitalistisch. Er mag bloß Geld.

Es ist schwül in der Weltwirtschaft. Wir brauchen keinen Eimer Wasser. Wir brauchen ein reinigendes Gewitter.

Or at least that is one way of looking at it. I am still interested in the possible fact that the government can seize the assets of any bank at any time for any reason that they wish to contrive and that there is apparently nothing that anyone can do about it. And this makes us different from a socialist - or fascist - government how?

WaMu becomes America’s biggest bank failure

Two other things that I noticed: an absence of shopping bags - they had clearly forgotten their credit cards - and the presence of cigarette smoke in the open air section, (see last entry). Smokers unite!

So, today i made a 'Free Hugs' sign for the London MCM Expo in october. I Cant wait :p My cosplay, Mammon, is nearly finished. Just have to attach the cardboard buttons, find a chain and think about whether or not i should add the Varia logo (i wont unless i can find a decent pic of it!).

I started college 3 weeks ago, 'studying' Graphic Design. Its really fun and ive made a lot of friends. The only thing i dont like is the early mornings. And i still dont like monday mornings! But i get a 3 day weekend so that kind of makes up for having to get up early! :P

Ive also been playing around with Audacity recently. Its great fun and i love singing, unfortunately im not too good at it though, you can check some of my singing on my youtube account ('Brinz').

I cant think of anything else to say right now so,

ADIOS AMIGOS! lol
But i cant speak...er...Spainish? LOL
So itll have to be,

BYES!!
oxoxoxo

September 17 2008Cancer Blunder from Down Under: Houston, you had a problem

So modern sind unsere Feinde gar nicht. Genaugenommen sind sie um ein Vielfaches älter und unmoderner als das historisch junge Christentum. Die Anbetung des Mammons und seiner Diener lässt sich viel weiter zurückverfolgen als die Spur eines Christus durch die Geschichte. Der Christentum ist, sozialgeschichtlich gesehen, die bloße Antwort auf die Auswüchse des Urkapitalismus in Judäa. Erinnert sei an den Tanz um das Goldene Kalb und die Vertreibung der Geldwechsler aus den Tempeln Gottes. Der alte Feind ist auch der neue Feind und ein Name des Antichristen ist Mammon.
Quelle: Welt; Papst ruft zu Widerstand gegen neue Götzen auf

Lättnaden varade bara för stunden! Jag upptäcker, att nu sitter jag och suckar, vojne, vojne! Ska vi någonsin nå ungdomsdrömmen, om att gå från nödvändighetens rike till frihetens rike? När ska ekonomin bli så omfattande att vi har råd att vara människor?

Nu hör jag Mammons försmädliga röst i mitt öra: "Ni når aldrig dit! Fortsätt ni att bråka om samkönade äktenskap i era församlingar och låt mig styra världen. Det blir bäst så!"

Med en rysning trycker jag på "Publicera."

Andra bloggar om: Ekonomisk tillväxt, Katastroflarm, Birger Schlaug, Mammon

Chances are I will never be rich, but that’s alright. It’s not looking like I’m gonna be poor soon either, though I probably squander too much on a monthly basis. But truly loaded I will never be, and that’s because thinking about money - finding good deals, trying to get the most from spending the least - gives me the feeling of dirty nails on an old blackboard.

I know I should be more aware of my spending, and that people who have such awareness are not stingy bastards per se, but the truth is that in the face of skin-curling cheapness I tip the scales and swing the opposite direction. Wallet goes upside down and the cash flows.

Thus I blame all you tight-fisted wankers licking your lips as soon as you smell a freebie, bending over backwards to get your money’s worth. For making me loathe at the sight of the cheapskate last in line to get the next round. For filling my mind with the awkwardness of having to hang around at the bar until someone else decides to make the social investment of getting the first round for once. Check out the foam forming at the corners of my mouth when you tell me I still owe you a Euro.

You parsimonious, penny-pinching, petty little tightwads, I’m not asking you to spend what you don’t have. In fact, I’ll be the first to take you to the bar if you’re a little short on dough. And in the end it’s up to me to weed out the ones undeserving of my generosity, but for the love of Mammon do me this one little favour, and stop displaying your tiny orgasms so publicly when you save a couple of cents. It’s dirty cash to me.

Now go get me a whiskey cola and get yourself something nice as well.

Et henkastet blik hen over nyhedsoverskrifterne i medierne fortæller med gruopvækkende tydelighed, at der er noget rivende galt med vores velfærdssamfund - ikke bare ét sted, men alle steder ses og mærkes de facto afmonteringen af vores skandinaviske velfærdssystem stadigt stærkere for hver dag der går.

Samfundets allermest udsatte og svage rammes hårdt, men det gør mange forskellige borgere i det hele taget. Man kan nærmest sige, at ulykkerne rammer i flæng ned over den store majoritet af befolkningen, der ikke er usandsynligt velhavende i udgangspunktet!

Når man så nærlæser og undersøger de mange nyheder om, at det er ved at gå helt galt for vores samfund, bliver bekymringen, indignationen og harmen kun større, for velfærdssamfundets bærende søjler smuldrer helt konkret lige for øjnene af os med bekymrende stigende hast!

Det er mere end nogensinde nødvendigt at råbe op og protestere!

Jeg tror, det er nødvendigt at alle vi, der kan se og forstå det, der sker, fra vores unikke udsyn af, at vi beskriver virkeligheden som den reelt er der, hvor vi er, med den specifikke viden og erfaring, vi hver især har.

Vi skal alle sammen beskrive og vise virkeligheden for de mange borgerlige vælgere, der lader sig bedøve af mediernes og regeringens hang til kortsigtet enkeltsagspolitik og for de, der er i tvivl og ikke ved, om det nu kan være rigtigt, at det står helt så galt til.

Lad os fortælle dem sandheden, det står endda rigtig skidt til, og det er nu, vi skal protestere og sige stop.

Aldrig har det været dårligere fungerende, end det er nu, vores velfærdssystem, men det ser desværre ud til kun at blive værre.

Som en vaskeægte sneboldeffekt ruller lavinen, der gør det af med vores velfærdssamfund og danner fundament for Venstres ideal om en minimalstat - et samfund hvor Darwins lov er øverst, mammon er gud og egoisten selv enevældig konge.

Minimalstaten er et materialistisk paradis for de få, hvor begreber som sammenhængskraft, humanisme, bæredygtighed og fællesskab betragtes som kuriositeter fra en svunden tid.

Minimalstaten som vores regeringen øjensynligt arbejder hårdt realpolitisk på at skabe, er intet mindre end de allermest velhavende egoisters paradis.

En tilbagerulning af regeringens politik og dens følger må og skal være centrumvenstre-oppositionens første og største opgave, for der skal ryddes op og ud i alle de skader, der er blevet skabt, for at der kan skabes noget frugtbart og bæredygtigt i stedet.

"Measure your needs not by the world’s measures, but by the ell or by the King’s Arm. Let your standard not be Babylon, or Thebes, or Paris, or New York, or London – but Bethlehem, Nazareth, Capharnaum, Calvary.”

Fr. Vincent McNabb, The Church and the Land, A Call to Contemplatives

Mammon is the new pink. He is most everywhere we go, and he is certainly required company in most anything we do. A troublesome tag-along, but he is with us nevertheless.

What is sorely unfortunate is that many either don’t recognize his presence, or have merely grown accustomed to his stench. Folks pass by evidence of his plague, but they are too busy listening to their MP3s to pay any mind. They wear his clothes, eat his foods, drive his cars, listen to his iTunes, and play on his $600 Playstation 3, all the while never coming to grips with the ever-increasing fact that they live, move, and have their being in a system designed by Mammon.

As much as one may wish to count it off as mere ignorance, I fear this would be a tad bit naïve. It may possibly be a simple matter of desensitization, but I think it to be much more complex. If I may, I would say it is within the ballpark of blissful self-deception. People are generally aware of our money grubbing, pocket spoiling system. The issue at hand is that they could care less. Like children rushing to the van of a devilish stranger offering them candy, so we rush to Mammon.

But even this analogy will not suffice, if for no other reason than that the child is unaware of the impending pillaging of her being and dignity. We, on the other hand, know this all too well, making the analogy more one of prostitution than that of rape. Who can rape the willing? Human dignity is sacrificed for petty lemon drops and lollipops, and little more.

Is it foolish to wish for a day when people would banish Mammon in exchange for the all things humane and dignified? Don’t past experiences demonstrate that men and women often exchange the obviously bad for the disguised worse? Even if this is the case, and there is good reason to think it is, we would nevertheless be both foolish and unrighteous to sign ourselves and the world over to the eternal dominion of Mammon. Even if our progress is small, which it most likely will be, and even if it may be viewed by many as trivial, which it most likely will be, we must never be ashamed of or disheartened by having to tear down a fortress one brick at a time. But this can only happen if we begin opening our eyes and ears so that we may more clearly see and hear the sounds of Mammon all around us. Pay close attention, my friends, for the beast may be nearer than you realize.

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." - Matt. 6:24

America's history is not over, but it's future is once again imperiled. I believe the warning of Thomas Jefferson and the conclusion of Abraham Lincoln regarding the cause and effect of the American Civil War is resonating once again. Jefferson noted, and is etched in his memorial in Washington, DC,

"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever."

He was reflecting on the institution of slavery and the ultimate conclusion to the future of a nation that demanded freedom for "all men," yet denied it to a particular race or class of people. History proved his fears in the deaths of over 640,000 men killed and over a million other casualties. Four score and nine years after Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, Abraham Lincoln, in his second inaugural address, deduced that the God of justice balanced the books on America's greed. He asserted, and these words are also etched on his memorial in the nation's capital,

"If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

I believe that both Jefferson, Lincoln, and many others fully and rationally understood that God, who is just, will at His appointed time, call for "justice to roll down like waters in a mighty stream." No matter how much good a person or nation does, greed and other evils are not dismissed, but weighed in the balance. This is especially true when those evils become the natural gravitations of a nation. Anyone who thinks that America will dodge God's justice because of it's fabled Christian heritage, has forgotten what He did to the Children of Israel. As the apostle Jude wrote,

Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire." Jude 1:5-7

Throughout scripture, there has been warnings after warnings to those who worship money. Greed always destroys relationships, communities, and nations. It has, and will be the undoing of America as well. Even though Jefferson and Lincoln were referring to the sin of slavery, the underlying evil was the love of money. As the oft-quoted scripture asserts, "The love of money is the root of all evil." What is important to consider is that as long as America seeks pleasure and wealth, to the exclusion of discipline and morality,  judgement on evil will surely come.

Recently I've heard a couple interviews with Andrew Bacevich, a historian and retired colonel and author of the book, "The Limits of Power, The End of American Exceptionalism." When asked by Amy Goodman on the Democracy Now program whether he believed he saw the end of American empire, he stated, "Yes, I do. And I think the key question is, will the American empire end catastrophically because of our blind insistence that we will not change? Or will we be able to disengage ourselves from and dismantle the American empire in a sensible, reasonable way that will do the least damage to the world and the least damage to ourselves?"

Coupled with the prognostications of former US Comptroller General, David Walker that the US economy is facing "a demographic tsunami," it would seem that the United States is about to meet a perfect storm. Read the following articles and give some serious consideration to them.

Democracy Now interview with Andrew Bacevich

A Fiscal Hurricane on the Horizon - USA Today

National Debt Clock, etc.

The I.O.U.S.A. Movie Trailer

]]> http://holyhell.wordpress.com/?p=873 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:57:40 +0000 Deacon Blue http://holyhell.id.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/green-is-the-color-of-evil/ People often say that "Money is the root of all evil."

They are wrong.

Because that isn't what the Bible tells us.

What it tells us is:

"The love of money is the root of all evil."

The love of.

Paul, in his first letter to Timothy (chapter 6, verse 10 of 1st Timothy, if you're curious), tells us:

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (King James version)

A slightly more clear meaning might be gotten from International Standard Version though:

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, in their eagerness to get rich, have wandered away from the faith and caused themselves a lot of pain.

An important thing to note here is that the audience for this message consists of the Christian believers. The warning is that pursuit of wealth can lead to failures in our faith walk. That's not to say that the message isn't applicable to non-Christians, too; it is. After all, much of the evil in the world by people of any religion, or lack of religion for that matter, can be traced to the quest for wealth or economic power of some sort. Also, this passage shouldn't be construed as saying that Christians cannot be wealthy.

But it is a warning. And a good one.

How many times have we seen major televangelists with huge audiences and wealth end up going into all sorts of excesses, whether financial, sexual, behavioral or otherwise? Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, Jimmy Swaggert, Oral Roberts, Robert Tilton and many more in the 1980s through the early 2000s alone, and now Joel Osteen, via his wife Victoria's alleged violent and abusive misbehavior on a flight.

In the gospel of Luke, chapter 16, verse 13 (and in Matthew chapter 6, verse 24 as well) we are told:

No servant is able to serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

(Mammon, by the way, is a term that was used to describe riches, avarice, and worldly gain in Biblical literature. It was personified as a false god in the New Testament.)

If you make your focus the pursuit of wealth, you cannot focus on God. Plain and simple. I don't believe someone like Donald Trump is born again. I just don't. He is so about the money and nothing but the money that I cannot imagine how there could be room for God in him anywhere.

We can gain wealth; we can even become truly wealthy. But we cannot do it by wanting to be rich or desiring to have riches or we will lose sight of what really matters: The things of heaven and of the spirit. And when we have wealth, we don't have to give it all away but we do need to use it wisely, give generously and use what we have to help others and not simply enrich ourselves.

Money is not in and of itself evil. But we need to get over the idea that white is good and black is evil. The fact is that all too often, evil is green, because money is often involved somehow. (Well, green in the United States, anyway; evil is a bit more colorful in most other nations with their pretty, pretty cash denominations)

Wasn't the end of the world the kids had to eat something besides milk and cereal for breakfast. Yet, it wasn't something I had experienced since I was a kid. So when day two came along without any moo juice, I sat in the Prayer Room and reminded God two things: 1. The strength of my arm had always provided for my kids and that we know Him to be a much better Father and stronger than I. Finally, I prayed my persistent widow prayer...I know who you are Lord (Jehovah Jireh) and I know what you have (the cattle on a thousand hills). - I came home and told Yvette.

The next night Yvette recieves a phone call from a friend  who asks: "Could you guys use some milk? My friend left town and just gave me 10 gallons of milk (frozen)." We took three gallons! Now just so know we've been living this life of faith...for 2.5 years and no one has ever randomly or coincidentaly called with Milk!

Some days I love this life of faith and other days I am dying to quit! My God said, "Somedays are like that...even in Kansas City!"God is always faithful! He is never slack and always consistent. We are learning so much...and the price of education isn't cheap especially in the School of the Spirit!

When one test is over another comes! But He promises to renew our strength. If you have ever thought about supporting us click the Pay Pal link.

Good question. Yet there is a staggering silence from the pulpits regarding this subject.

In all the years that I have been a Christian, I have never been exposed to a framework for exploring career growth and financial security in the context of Christian spirituality. It seems like there is a huge gaping hole in the Christian sub-culture that leaves ambition, career and the pressures of the workplace out in the cold, out in the spiritual hinterlands or subject to the devil's domain.

When I was growing up, the Evangelical church taught me that the only ambition that would truly please God was the passion for making disciples or leading others to Christ. So if you had a sincere spiritual desire to seek out God's plan for your life, then by default your primary vocation was going to be a disciple-maker. Just like Jesus (you know, the missionary Jesus, not the working-for-the-family-business carpenter Jesus). But what if I am not "called" to that? What if my gifts, talents and personality are better suited for business pursuits?

I have always had a strong desire for spiritual growth and connectivity with God, to the point where I even considered seminary after graduating from college. I sincerely prayed about this decision and felt a definitive "no" coming from God. Maybe it was some bad soup I ate, or maybe I tapped in to some deeper instincts about myself, knowing that I was not cut out for the clergy.  Instead, through a series of bumbling decisions and circumstances and jobs, I discovered a strong interest and aptitude in business.  God has a way of eventually showing us what we are called for, even when we are clueless.

As I was freshly exploring the path of putting my unique gifts and talents to good use for economic gain instead of spiritual service, I struggled with the question of how to distinguish God's calling for my life from my ego. Unfortunately, there weren't any spiritually-based resources to bounce this question off of. It seemed that from the church's point of view my career aspirations were now off-limits somehow. There wasn't really a way to talk about my desire to prosper. These career issues were now my own private problems that my pastor or Christian books and radio weren't going to help me with. This doesn't make sense to me, because for most of us our careers are pretty much a consuming force of life throughout our early adulthood years. As we grow up and develop through our twenties and thirties, we want to make a difference. We want to have influence. We want to find out what we're good at, and work at something we like. And we want to make money. Yet the church is pretty well silent on this subject. And sometimes, subtly disapproving.

Please let me take a moment to qualify, just to be crystal-clear. I'm not condoning greed and irresponsibility and stealing and making money at all costs.  Rather, I'm talking about doing it the old-fashioned way... through hard work, persistence, shrewdness, and using your God-given gifts and talents, within the guidelines and constraints of solid moral and ethical behavior. I also don't want to confuse my ideas of ambition with the "health and wealth" teachings that I come across from time to time which promote the idea of coming into God's financial blessings with no effort or planning or delayed gratification on our part. These ridiculous and superstitious teachings promote poverty more than anything else, because as long as people are putting the responsibility for wealth on someone or something else other than themselves (God, the lottery), they will most likely remain in the same condition as before. I'm talking about the idea of God wanting us to grow, to stretch, to go beyond our comfort zone and use all of our resources and creativity to become all that He has in store for us. By the sweat of our brow and work of our hands and sharpness of our mind, to courageously generate the confidence, character, maturity and self esteem that come from planning, persisting, overcoming obstacles, and reaching goals.

I won't argue with the fact that greed can be a problem for some, but so can any myriad of other non-financial vices, such as envy, food, alcohol, sex, and sports, to name a few of the worst culprits. People get distracted and comforted by and obsessed with all sorts of things to replace God. Having a career and money should be thought of as just another aspect of our life and our resources that goes towards honoring God. I think it goes without saying that with money, like with adulthood, parenthood, and being a whole person, goes responsibility, good stewardship, and an obligation to operate with ethics and integrity. And that is true no matter who you are and how much money you make.

Why should that be shocking or distasteful? That statement does not imply that I am obsessed with money, or that I am using money for evil purposes. It certainly doesn't mean that I am dedicating my life to serving the dreaded Mammon instead of God. But as a practical matter, having money sure does come in handy.

I am convinced, however, that such blessings do not happen by luck or chance. Nor do they come by passively awaiting for God's hand to start waving one's career into life. It takes years of determination, persistence, politicking and hard work. It takes ambition, my friend.

So then, is ambition a sin or a virtue?

I guess it depends on how we characterize ambition. For the record, I'm not talking about the "I'm going to kill my father so I can become King" kind of ambition, but more of a good, healthy drive to prosper.

To religious folk, "prosper" is somehow a much more acceptable choice of words to use as opposed to "succeed." Success is unfortunately taken by some to be the antithesis of spirituality, because it is associated with selfishness, materialism, worldliness and cutthroat-ism. If it is success that you seek, then some holier-than-thou will point a finger at you and ask the age-old question, "What does success really mean?" You will then have to come up with all these non-financial definitions of success, and in the end you'll feel guilty for just wanting to get ahead in life. But prosperity is more straightforward. It's not so loaded. It's even biblical! And friends, let's talk plainly here: prospering is very much about making money.

According to Miriam Webster:

Prosperity: The condition of being successful or thriving; especially : economic well-being

The thing I like about the word prosperity is that it wraps financial well-being in with the idea of "thriving." So, in other words, it implies that you can reach your full potential as a human being using your gifts, talents and unique experiences, and then get very well- compensated for it. That sounds really nice. Thriving is good.

And doesn't God want us to prosper? Who can forget this favorite verse thrown in to many an inspirational book?

Jeremiah 20:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Look at some of our spiritual forefathers from the Old Testament. Abraham, for instance. Now there was a sharp guy. He kept growing his herds and his land and his staff until he got to the point where he had a whole entourage of folks that had to move with him whenever God told him to pack up and go. He was very rich. Now, dear reader, we both know that doesn't happen by chance! It takes will and ambition. And I think God liked him pretty much.