XI
Can the Church Remain Silent?
I came that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.
—John 10:10
Put your own selves to the test, whether you are in the faith; prove yourselves.
—2 Corinthians 31:5
The sum and substance of American education being what it is, pastors and rabbis and most of the laity may possibly be pardoned for their ignorance of the injustice inherent with the Free World monetary system, though it becomes increasingly difficult to see how. Certainly, such license cannot be extended to church-oriented universities where the art of private money creation is taught, or to upper grade and high schools where the simple facts about money are either withheld or misrepresented. How do we justify the care and expense of parochial education in secular matters when, like its public counterpart, it neglects or falsifies the basic requisite for freedom—a medium of exchange that is fair to rich and poor alike?
God is justice, truth, and freedom, just as surely as God is love. All of these attributes of the Creator are reflected in the constitution of our country (believed by many to be divinely inspired). We have allowed this sacred instrument to be circumvented [p. 58] by a minority, for selfish and ungodly purposes. In consequence, the wealthy are corrupted by too much, the poor by too little.
Crime, as a whole, does not originate with the poor; it arises mainly as a backlash to oppression. A poor man is punished for petty theft, while the most pernicious type of grand larceny is legalized for the rich. Watergate was puny compared to the run-of-the-mill collusion that infests business and politics. Yet, it caused worldwide repercussions which devalued the American dollar (so they tell us). Had it not been for political aspirations, it might never have surfaced.
Mounting confrontation between oppressor and oppressed can only lead to dictatorship by one or the other. Whether that dictatorship is capitalistic or Communistic is of small concern: both are oppressive; both are godless. While their methods might differ, the end result is the same in either case.
Holy Scripture declares that the love of money is the root of all evil. Today, money itself (legalized counterfeit money) is not only "root," but trunk and branches of all evils that beset our nation. Some who profit from the system would actually see the Parable of the Talents as justification of their deeds—to reap where they did not sow, to gather where they did not winnow. They miss the point entirely, that the real Master in the story is the Heavenly Father, whose thirst for justice can only be compared to the usurer's greed.
Investors' confidence in the long-term rise in stock prices is implicit. And why not? Immutable deficits fuel inflation, which in turn fires the market. Ironically, the nation's darkest hours provide the greatest profit potential.
There is, however, a fly in the ointment of enthusiasts who are convinced that the hayride will never end. Like all flexible matter, inflation has its own elastic limit beyond which it is unable to recover. That limit has been reached on every side. A new order must ensue. Its nature will be the decision of Christians and Jews—their regard for the will of God. The present debacle reflects their past performance. What have we done to our fellowmen and to the good earth God gave us? [p. 59]
Very true, mounting concern for the poor permeates every facet of the religious community, but never a word of reproach is heard for the area most responsible for their plight. They redouble efforts to cure growing effects with dwindling resources. They quench grass fires here and there while the forest burns out of control.
Church and synagogue have the answer to tyranny and oppression. Unless they assert themselves on the side of justice and the oppressed, a dangerously large segment of our society will seek refuge under another Hitler or Stalin—anyone who will listen—anyone with a promise of deliverance, be it true or false. The "right to life" is not enough. The right to earn a respectable living is equally sacred—the means to do so are more than ample, given the right by those who have usurped all power over them.
But no!Spurred by a glut of "counterfeit money," the nation's most serious problems become big business—capitalized for profit and political plums. Be it housing, education, crime control, or what-have-you, the pattern is the same. By the time appropriations reach the problem area, they are consumed by administration, fancy equipment, and featherbedding. Problems worsen while bureaucracies multiply.
Drug addiction is now a billion-dollar national industry. In 1972, in New York State, ex-Governor Rockefeller added another hundred judges to handle the addiction load, and a tax cut was proposed concurrently with another proposal to raise legislators' salaries by 50%. In the meantime, inflation galloped ahead.
Where does all the money come from? Those who get it don't care. It will keep coming—have no fear. It will be worth less by the day, but it will keep coming until we suffocate under a tide of worthless paper. Yes, we will have the paper. International bankers will have our real wealth, along with our bodies and our souls.
In both Houses of the Congress, where the destiny of our freedom and fortune rests, there are but four members who profess no religious affiliation. The rest are about proportionately divided among Christians and Jews. All are sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States; yet only a precious few demonstrate [p. 60] any knowledge or concern for the most important requisite of that constitution—a fair and equitable money of the people.
As a nation's money goes, so go the policies of the institutions it supports. It cannot serve God and Mammon. If the church is to flourish, its support must be the privilege of all, not the hobby of a few. If her silence is dictated by large donations from the rich, her hierarchy would do well to observe the folding of parochial schools, the increasing pressure on other parish facilities, the declining faith in the world at large. Freedom and salvation are reached by the same narrow road, not the road of usury, but the way of Christ.
"Amen I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those. . . ." So observed the Great Economist as the widow placed her two cents in the temple treasury along with the large sums given by the rich. Profound economics, indeed!"Like begets like" is as true in money as it is in nature; "A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit."
There is God's plenty for all in this bountiful country of ours, and there is an obvious reason why it is not more evenly distributed. Christian and Jewish leaders could profitably ponder the relentless proletarian uprisings in the past, when they were included and purged along with the oppressors. Millions of innocent people died with them. Those horrendous bloodbaths were the inevitable reaction to prolonged and unmitigated oppression.
Once more retribution is at hand—not nation by nation, but worldwide. Not a few see it as fulfillment of Bible prophecy. The atheist needs no more than the ability to add two plus two to arrive at the same conclusion.
It is reasonable to believe that if the facts about money and credit were known today, many of the offenders would become leaders of reform. Ironically, as the dying Redeemer lamented from the cross, "They know not what they do."
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Do we help a victim of robbery by teaching him to steal? [p. 61]
Most unions are necessary and commendable per se; so are most of business and industry. But all are handicapped by a usurious money system; all participate in a larcenous price-wage spiral to solve their fiscal problems—giving little thought for its victims. If churchmen and proponents of social justice must march, and demonstrate—even riot and burn—let them attack injustice where it exists, rather than strive to make the downtrodden partners in crime.
Can we plead for social and economic justice while we share the spoils of oppression and slavery? Can a modern and educated people be so naive as to believe that a free government of the people can exist on money created out of thin air by a private banking system—mainly international—when such money is loaned to our government and to the American people at usury, and expanded and contracted at will to amass the nation's wealth? Hardly! Such money can only be described as a deliberate conspiracy to corrupt, divide, and conquer.
The only "Hope" for the great American "Tragedy" (Dr. Quigley's terms) is in money created by the Congress—backed and limited by the wealth of the United States—paid into circulation to defray government expenses. This is a mandate of the Constitution.
With all sympathy for the underprivileged and deprived, let it be categorically stated that the poorest of the poor have the capacity—once liberated—to become equally as oppressive in their own turn, possibly not in the first generation, but definitely in the second. It is, therefore, mandatory that the Constitution be enforced: that the rights of no man be exceeded; that the rights of all men be preserved.
Therefore I say unto you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and will be given to a people yielding its fruits.
—Mathew 21:43
We get terrified and indignant at the holdup man, the [p. 62] burglar, and the shoplifter. But is a shoplifter any more a thief than a person who knowingly sells shoddy merchandise through misleading advertising? Is a holdup man any more a moral criminal than the physician, lawyer, mechanic, or plumber who overcharges for his services? Is the burglar more of a criminal than the manufacturer who pollutes the air and water in violation of our laws? Is the pickpocket any more of a wrongdoer than the professor or the college administrator who gives less than his all to his constituency? Is the truant any more delinquent than the student who wants a degree but not an education.
—Gus Turbeville, President,
South Carolina's Coker College
In the logic of Turbeville, neither Christian, Jew, Moslem, or Buddhist is justified by faith while prospering from a system that deprives and debases his fellowmen.
* * *
Poised immediately before us is the darkest hour in the history of Judeo-Christianity. Its institutions are crumbling under the burden of our government's alleged effort to curb inflation. Church institutions haven't seen anything yet. Neither has the Church itself.
The Church, and—the Church alone—can save itself and the free world by KNOWING the adversary and UNITING its denominational forces against it. Knowing the adversary should not be too difficult for an ancient wellspring of learning. But why has it failed in this modern age; why INDEED has it failed? [p. 63]
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