Then He shall say to those on His left: Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you did not feed Me; I was thirsty, and you did not give me a drink. I was a stranger and you did not take Me not in; naked and you did not clothe Me; sick and in prison, and you did not care for Me. Then they will ask Him, saying: Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You? Then He shall answer them, saying: Amen I say to you, as long as you did not do so to one of these least, neither did you do it to Me.
Christians have heard this passage from the bible many times. And yet, so few Christians understand its true meaning and even less apply this passage to their economic, business and political lives. Who are the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the strangers, the sick, and the imprisoned in modern society? Obviously, it is the homeless, the unemployed, those living in poverty, those who are underemployed, those who have had their homes repossessed, those who are physically, mentally and emotionally sick; and all those imprisoned physically, financially, and emotionally. Jesus identifies with these people and Christians are to see Jesus in these people. Do Christians see Jesus in the homeless, the unemployed, those living in poverty, those who are underemployed, those earning minimum wage, those who have had their homes repossessed, those who are physically, mentally and emotionally sick; and all those imprisoned physically, financially, and emotionally? The vast majority do not. What is worse is that many people who call themselves Christian actually deride these people. Christians claim to praise God in Church on Sunday but then they ignore and mistreat Him every day when they ignore and mistreat the homeless, the unemployed, those living in poverty, those who are underemployed, those who have had their homes repossessed, those who are physically, mentally and emotionally sick; and all those imprisoned physically, financially, and emotionally. The following is a more contemporary expression of Matthew chapter 25.
At the end of the world when God judges everyone, He will separate the good from the bad based on the commandment to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’. He will say to the good, ‘Come you blessed and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of time. For I was poor and you helped Me out of poverty. I was unemployed and you helped Me to find a job or you gave Me a job or you created a job for Me. I did not have health insurance and you helped Me to obtain insurance. I was not making a living wage and you worked to have My employer pay a living wage. I was homeless and you helped me find a place to live. My house was in foreclosure and you helped prevent it from being repossessed. I was old and you helped Me with a socially-based income and health insurance. I was uneducated and you helped to educate Me. I was in prison and you helped change the system from retribution based to restorative based. I was discriminated against and you helped stop the discrimination.’ And the righteous will ask Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You in poverty or unemployed or without insurance or making less than a living wage or homeless? When did we see Your home in foreclosure or You uneducated or old and without an income or health insurance? When did we see you in prison or being discriminated against?’ And God will answer, ‘Whatever you did for any of my brothers or sisters, you did for me.’ Then he will say to the others, ‘Depart from me. For I was poor and you ignored Me. I was unemployed and you did nothing but say that is was My fault. I did not have health insurance and you resisted any means to provide Me with public health insurance. I was not making a living wage and you said that My employer should determine how much I was worth and that there should not be a minimum wage let alone a living wage. I was homeless and you crossed the street so that you would not have to walk by Me. My house was in foreclosure and you did nothing. My house was re-possessed and you helped with My eviction. I was old and you worked to take away my government mandated pension and health insurance that I paid for. I was uneducated and you said that only those that can afford an education should be educated. I was in prison and you threw away the key. I was discriminated against and you did nothing to stop the discrimination.’ And the unrighteous will ask Him, ‘Lord, when did we act this way to you?’ And God will answer, ‘What you did or did not do to your fellow human beings, you did to Me.’
Seventy-five percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians, so it would be logical to see a significant influence of Christianity within the US economy and political system. And yet, that is certainly not the case. With such a high percentage of Christians within the United States, there is obviously a very high percentage of so-called Christians within banking, the defense and weapons industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the chemical industry, the diversified manufacturing industry and within government (all levels and all branches). And yet the Christians in these industries and within government make no effort to apply Christian principles within their jobs. How could a Christian working within the banking industry support the foreclosure of over fifteen million homes and the repossession of over five million homes? How could a Christian person working for the banking industry personally apply and enforce policies that took people’s homes away knowing that this affected women, children, and senior citizens? How could a Christian sheriff or police officer forcefully evict a family from their home removing their belongings and placing the family’s belongings on the street while the family watched? How could a Christian help the corporation that they work for to outsource jobs to another country knowing that it results in the loss of employment for hundreds or thousands of employees and their families just to increase profits? How can a Christian work for a company that manufactures military weapons that helps promote military conflicts so that the company can sell its products and services? How can a Christian work for an employer who either directly or indirectly operate factories that employ young girls and even children paying them extremely low wages and making them work excessively long hours? How can a Christian employer pay adults with families at the minimum wage rate or less than the minimum wage? How can a Christian manager force employees to work without a break for ten or twelve hours at a time? How can a Christian manager lay off workers a day before a holiday so that the workers are not paid for the holiday? How can a Christian work for a company that intentionally reduces the hours of its employees so that it does not have to provide health insurance? How can a Christian work for a pay day loan company or a title loan company which has interest rates between 300 and 750 percent or higher? How can a Christian work for a company that pays male workers much higher than it pays female workers for the exact same work? How can a Christian work for a hospital or medical center which charges a person without insurance more than a person who has insurance because the insurance company gets a discount? (The person does not have insurance because they cannot afford insurance). How can a Christian work for a company that discriminates against older applicants? How can a Christian in government ignore the 9 million people who are unemployed, the 30 million people who are under-employed, the millions of people who have to work two jobs, the 90 million people who live from paycheck to paycheck, and the 46 million people living in poverty?
The current economic and political crises within the United States are the direct result of Christians not practicing their faith in their daily lives and this includes their business lives, their economic lives and their political lives. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Christians have closed their minds to the inconsistencies between their faith and the philosophies and practices of the business world which falsely claim that business is outside the realm of faith and morals as expressed in the statement ‘it is neither right nor wrong, it is just business’. Good is to be done and promoted, and evil is to be avoided in all things including business and politics. The commandment to love your neighbor as yourself does not stop when it comes to business and politics; it applies to every facet of a Christian’s life. If the failure of Christians to practice their faith in their economic lives is the cause of the current economic and political crises, then the solution is the application of Christian economics to the US economy and political system by Christians living their faith.
Human rights are based on the first principle of the absolute dignity of the human person. All humans have equal rights and every human being is obligated to respect the rights of others. Human rights are based on nature and because of this cannot be limited or taken away. They apply to all people without exception. Human rights, because they are derived by nature, cannot be applied to corporations or entities artificially created by the government; nor can human rights be applied to the government. A business does not have rights, only people have rights. A corporation does not