God cares about the politics of economics.
God embeds this commitment into the national law and wisdom of ancient Israel, a political state.
Listen to Isaiah:
"Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
to deprive the poor of their
rights
and withhold justice from the
oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless.
What will you do on the day of
reckoning,
when disaster comes from
afar?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your
riches?
Nothing will remain but to
cringe among the captives
or fall among the slain." (10:1-4a)
God cares for the poor.
God cares about justice.
God's values do not change.
God expects us to care as well.
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5 comments:
Amen Larry-
This reads like a prophecy of current American foreign policy, doesn't it? Make you want to stand up and cheer.
C Hand,
The one point I would agree with in your post is that yes, indeed, we should look to the law and the prophets to inform our views on American foreign and ,I would add, our domestic policies regarding social and economic justice. But A good hard look would make us want to cry rather than cheer.
If we took Is. seriously we would speak out about our covert operations in support of repressive right wing dicators throughout the world, including Sadam when it suited our purposes....along with the Shah of Iran and more military juntas in Latin America than you can shake a stick at....in Argentina alone we supported a brutal dictatorship that was responsible for the slaughter of over 30,000 men, women and children during the late 70s and into the 80s...and more recently our economic policies contributed heavily to the destruction of of the largest middle class in Latin America. Yet the Christian community remains silent on these and other issues....whether out of ignorance or indifference. I doubt that Amos, Micah and Is. would approve.....
...and you left out the worst one, Stalin during WWII. Sometimes life offers us tough choices when we want easy solutions. Yes, American self interest should always favor maximizing freedom. Let's hope it is always so.
Actully, c hand, Larry's point seems to be exactly the opposite of yours. dr dawggy has the history correct. I read Isaiah as God's assessment of any policy--domestic or foreign--that oppresses people. The distruction "coming from afar" that I fear is not controlled by the U. S., but by the Almighty.
WHAT... ?
What history?
The exact opposite?
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