The Root Cause of Economic Crisis

Hey Basilea Family,

I wanted to write a blog about the economic crisis our nation is facing. Unless you've been living in a cave, everybody knows that the U.S. is officially in a recession. Everday I hear depressing news about how people are losing their jobs left & right, losing their homes, companies are downsizing, more people are applying for uninsurance benefits, and the list can go on and on. Many people want to know how we got ourselves into this mess in the first place, and how quickly we can get out of it. I've been watching the news journalists interviewing every top expert that they can get to, everyone from a Harvard law professor to top economists. What's interesting is that they are saying a lot of things about HOW we got here, but they're not able to say WHY we're in this mess.

If you read the Bible and specifically the Gospels, you'll notice that Jesus talks a lot about money. In fact, the only other topic besides hell that he mentions the most about is money. He says very clearly that we cannot worship both God and money at the same time. The devil has put lies into the minds of people (esp Christians) that having more money will lead to a fulfilled and secure life which is why so many people, especially in America, have poured their life into working countless hours just so they can make more money to pay off their drowning debts, and it's a vicious cycle. Jesus warns us to be careful not to love money, because the love of money is the root of all evil. (Notice I said the ''love'' of money and not money itself, which is often misquoted)

What does this have to do with our economy? Well, many experts will agree that a big part of this econimic disaster is due to people's desire to live a lifestyle they couldn't afford. Many prospective buyers were borrowing money to purchase homes and cars that they could not afford. Mortgage lenders were lending mortgages to people who did not qualify for them and even knew they weren't going to be paid back. Why? Because they wanted to make the quick buck. Wall Street even got in on the deal because they saw a big untapped market in real estate.

The bottom line is this: the root cause of the economic disaster is spiritual/moral and not financial. Did everyone get that? It is NOT a financial problem, but a moral one. Remember the 10 Commandments (Thou shalt not steal, covet, lie, etc)? Well, I'd like to argue that what we need is not a financial reformation but a spiritual/moral one. Let's look at this again. The mortgage lenders LIED to their consumers by giving them these now infamous sub-prime mortgages. The people WANTED to keep up with the Jones by purchasing homes and cars that they knew they could not afford (Thou shalt not covet). In fact, if you look at the 10 Commandments, every single one of these commandments were broken before the financial crisis happened.

The ultimate solution to getting out of our nation's economc and social problems is not with more bailouts, passing more laws or electing new public officials to our government, but we need another Protestant Reformation in our country. Some of you may be wondering where God is in all this? Why isn't He doing anything about this problem? I would respond by saying that He IS doing something, and in fact I would say the He is behind this whole disaster. If you read the history of Israel in the Old Testament, you will see that God constantly pleads and begs his people to return back to Him. When they don't respond, He responds by sending calamity so that they will come back to Him for help.

Some of you may think I am completely off and I'd like to get your opinion. However, it is clear that people's greed took hold and it spiraled out of control into this crisis. Trying to solve the fiancial crisis with financial or political means is like putting a bandage over an open wound that needs surgery.

That's my take.
Peace!