I believe there is a direct link between economic equity (not equality) in a society and its moral well-being.
A recent Wall Street Journal article about CEO compensation in the oil and gas industry gave some startling facts. The article stated, "CEOs of oil and gas companies had the highest median value of total direct compensation at $13.7 million in 2010, up 17.3% from the year before."
The highest paid Oil exec is R.W. Tillington of Exxon-Mobil. His total direct compensation for 2010 was more than $21 million.
It seems to me that "liberals" tend to be on the side of condemning this type of inequity in our culture, while "conservatives" tend to say very little about it or applaud it as the way capitalism works best.
Liberals see this as some kind of moral or ethical issue while many conservatives do not.
What is most puzzling to me is that many Christians have little to say about this, with the exception of quoting a few biblical passages which seem to say that acquiring wealth is a good thing (there are many more passages in Scripture which warn of the dangers of great wealth).
I am concerned about what this kind of inequity does to a culture, and why Christians seem to be unable or unwilling to find a voice in society advocating for simplicity of lifestyle. In point of fact, there are Christians who have challenged the People of God to simplicity - Ron Sider, Tom Sine, and Jim Wallis come to mind.
And yet there are far more leaders in the Christian world who are incredibly vocal about issues such as militant Islam, the tragedy of abortion, and "the right to bear arms" while saying very little about materialism, consumerism, and lavish lifestyle.
How about we Christians stand up for cultivating simple lives, becoming wildly generous with money and time and energy, and calling our materialism and consumerism what it is - sin.
A recent Wall Street Journal article about CEO compensation in the oil and gas industry gave some startling facts. The article stated, "CEOs of oil and gas companies had the highest median value of total direct compensation at $13.7 million in 2010, up 17.3% from the year before."
The highest paid Oil exec is R.W. Tillington of Exxon-Mobil. His total direct compensation for 2010 was more than $21 million.
It seems to me that "liberals" tend to be on the side of condemning this type of inequity in our culture, while "conservatives" tend to say very little about it or applaud it as the way capitalism works best.
Liberals see this as some kind of moral or ethical issue while many conservatives do not.
What is most puzzling to me is that many Christians have little to say about this, with the exception of quoting a few biblical passages which seem to say that acquiring wealth is a good thing (there are many more passages in Scripture which warn of the dangers of great wealth).
I am concerned about what this kind of inequity does to a culture, and why Christians seem to be unable or unwilling to find a voice in society advocating for simplicity of lifestyle. In point of fact, there are Christians who have challenged the People of God to simplicity - Ron Sider, Tom Sine, and Jim Wallis come to mind.
And yet there are far more leaders in the Christian world who are incredibly vocal about issues such as militant Islam, the tragedy of abortion, and "the right to bear arms" while saying very little about materialism, consumerism, and lavish lifestyle.
How about we Christians stand up for cultivating simple lives, becoming wildly generous with money and time and energy, and calling our materialism and consumerism what it is - sin.
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