The bread that you possess belongs to the hungry. The clothes that you store in boxes, belong to the naked. The shoes rotting by you, belong to the bare-foot. The money that you hide belongs to anyone in need. You wrong as many people as you could help.—St. Basil of Caesarea, "Homily on Avarice" (circa 370)
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
That bread you possess...
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This is chilling.
ReplyDeleteRoss Douthat's commentary:
"Note that Basil isn't arguing for a slightly higher marginal tax rate to fund modest improvements in public services. He's passing judgment on individual sins and calling for individual repentance. There are conservative Christians today who seem terrified of even remotely criticizing Wall Street tycoons and high-finance buccaneers, lest such criticism be interpreted as an endorsement of the Democratic Party's political agenda. But a Christianity that cannot use the language of Basil—and of Jesus—to attack the cult of Mammon will inevitably be less persuasive when the time comes to attack the cult of Dionysus..."