How can you be Christian and work for a bank?

[WDIM]

Jesus spoke many times about forgiving debts and to give without seeking anything in return. Jesus spoke against consumerism saying seek not the treasures on earth but build your treasures in heaven.

To me the system of debt we live under violates the teachings of Jesus. Yet many of these predatory banksters proclaim to be christians. How can they reconcile destroying people´s lives and charging usury interest rates and making people slaves to debt?

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. I think it falls under the 'We're all sinners' bit.

Some sin by gluttony or sloth, others by avarice or the worship of Mammon.

I'm an atheist, but I do think the idea of sin has some use. It's doing things that are destructive rather than creative, to ourselves, to those around us.

[WDIM]

3. I do hear that argument

We are only humans we cant live as jesus did. Thats complete bull. He was teaching his followers this is how they should live. They should forgive debts as he taught. The real reason is christians accept hypocrisy and cherry pick the teachings that fit their agenda. Hence not true followers of Jesus.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

5. Let me add on...

I wasn't offering that as an 'excuse', but just pointing out my take on why others do what they do.

And I think it's rare that anyone actually thinks of themselves as a 'villain'. Virtually everyone thinks they're doing what they 'have to' or that what they do is somehow 'good'. They come up with rationalizations for morally ambiguous (or outright evil) behaviours, telling themselves that they're just 'defending themselves or their families' when they murder kids who were jaywalking, or buying skittles, or knock on their doors looking for help after a traffic accident. That 'fear' is enough of a reason to end another person's life as long as you say you thought you were 'defending yourself'. Or that it's perfectly acceptable to kill someone who was 'resisting' arrest while selling a single cigarette.

You go to work for a company with whose principles you don't agree because they're the people willing to hire you, and you don't want to be homeless or starve. You do things that are 'legal', but go against ethical precepts, because you don't want to get fired, and eventually you wind up telling yourself you do what 'has to be done' and that you 'deserve' your salary that's dozens or hundreds of times higher than the guys who spend all day hauling away trash or teaching your children. That it's just 'business'.

We have a corrupt political system, a corrupt 'justice' system, and a corrupt economic system. Surrounded by corruption day in and day out, people tend to wind up corrupted over time as well. Not because they're exceptionally 'evil', but rather because they're human, and fallible.

[AtheistCrusader]

2. Well, he also said he would come quickly, and it's been 2000 years.

After a while, people realize they've still gotta eat.

[WDIM]

4. by exploiting the needs of others?

Truly no bankster should call themselves a christian.

[AtheistCrusader]

11. What about a credit union?

[skepticscott]

6. Well, many posters here who pretend to be qualified

to judge such things would maintain that a Christian working for a bank is not a "real" Christian, and that the version of Christianity they practice has been "corrupted" by "extremists".

[safeinOhio]

7. The great thing about the Bible is

there's a loop-hole for everything. If there wasn't, there wouldn't be 30,000 different Christian sects that all read it in a different way.

[cbayer]

9. The great thing about the Bible is that

it's full of parables and metaphors and can be interpreted differently by different people.

It is the literalists who feel there is only a single, strict interpretation.

You are not a literalist, are you?

[safeinOhio]

10. Not at all, but

do study it in order to throw a different loop-hole right back at em.

I love it when someone says, "what the Bible is saying here" or what it means when it says something. I can read.

Fundamentalism is rather new, only about 150 years old.

[cbayer]

12. If throwing loopholes is your thing, go for it.

Again, I maintain that it is a set of books wide open to interpretations and full of contradictions.

When people use it to support a position that I also support or oppose one that I oppose, that's good.

When people use it to support a position that I oppose to or to oppose one that I support, then I can argue the case on it's merits.

And as long as they aren't using interpretations to harm or infringe on the rights of others, I think it's a pretty useless thing to try and shoot them down.

[safeinOhio]

14. My thing is

I can't answer your questions, but I can question your answers.

[cbayer]

8. Not all banks are bad and not all bankers are predatory.

There are banks that give micro-loans and help people, often women, start businesses that they would never have the option of starting otherwise.

There are banks that assist people in saving money for things that they need or want.

You question is really to narrow, as there are people in many professions who misuse and abuse people and call themselves christian.

[Igel]

13. Depends on the job, doesn't it?

If you're a teller, then you're not involved in the whole usury/lending side of things.

It's also worth pointing out that "debts" has changed. It was either for a business (which is a different sort of thing) or survival. Most people these days go into debt for non-survival "needs."