Neighbor as Self: Oh What a Revolution

What would happen if people simply followed the Golden Rule? What might be the result of people treating people as they themselves would like to be treated? This morning I saw yet another example of why this simple yet revolutionary philosophy is urgently needed in our world.

Philabundance is non-profit in Philadelphia that helps collect and distribute food donations to the greater Philadelphia area. I was volunteering there this morning with some friends when I learned of certain haphazard practices by such corporations as Wal-Mart, Target, and Shop-Rite. It all came about when I noticed that most of what Shop-Rite had donated was really just trash. That is, canned goods that were so severely damaged that not even Philabundance, a food bank that aims to end hunger, would distribute them. I realized that what Shop-Rite was doing was simply sending their trash to Philabundance instead of disposing it themselves.

But why? Ohhhh right. Capitalism makes anything that can be categorized as "smart business" okay.

Shop-Rite donates the items that they themselves refuse to sell to Philabundance instead of disposing of them properly. By doing this they can write off a ton of products for tax deductions and also look good in the process (by claiming "We donate 'X' amount of products to Philabundance per year!"). And not only does Shop-Rite receive a tax credit for this donation to the non-profit sector, but they also spare themselves the cost of having a trash company collect their un-sellable goods.

This practice is not uncommon. I learned that Wal-Mart also does this. In fact, two years ago Wal-Mart donated 4 pallets* of expired condoms to Philabundance. Why would a food bank need condoms? And expired ones? Because it's cheaper than having to dispose of them. Evidently Target is also notorious for this behavior.

If we play this out logically it looks like this: for-profit companies use the system to have the government take care of responsibilities that belong to the private sector. How is this at all ethical? This is, in my opinion, one of the flaws of capitalism (I'm not "anti-capitalism," but every system has flaws). The all-too-common problem in capitalism is that unethical behavior is justified by that which may bring about greater profit.

But what strikes me the most is the lack of the Golden Rule in these business practices. Why on earth would you donate a product that you yourself would not sell or buy? The all-too-common answer is that "it's good enough for them." Who is them? The entire point of the Golden Rule is that you are them!

Jesus summarized the entire Law in two commands: Love God above all and love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:29-31). What would happen if people embraced this? What would happen if even companies and corporations embraced this? What if corporations refused to treat other corporations any other way than how they would want to be treated? Sure, the "competition" of capitalism might decline. But what is the potential result?

If you read this post, I challenge you to write three possibilities that might occur as a result of corprrations treating one another as they would like to be treated.


* pallets are the wooden platforms that are used in warehouses for stacking and storing products. A typical pallet can hold around 1 ton of product.

Werner Herzog Reads Where's Waldo

Consider Anew...

The Kingdom of God
Transcendent and immanent
Redeeming the now

Thoughts on Eschatology [#1]

When one tells a story to children, the children listen intently as they become captivated and drawn into the story. The storyteller speaks slowly and dramatically, providing great details, painting beautiful pictures, and the listeners' attention is fastened.

The story flows from the storyteller to the children. The children lack any power to draw the story out of the storyteller. The story cannot be forced or sped up in its telling. It must be received in the story's proper timing and telling. The story itself is gift.

As the story is told, the children anticipate. With each new revelation of the story the children are drawn further in. And as they are drawn further into the story so too are they more and more able to guess what may be around the next corner of the story.

How does this happen? Imagination - a function of human existence that is greatly under-appreciated and underused except in the case of children. "Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Mt. 18:3)

an easter haiku

the crucified God:

paradox of paradox.

Only love can grasp.

Please Shut Up: A Proposal for Glenn Beck

In another melodramatic act for attention, Glenn Beck claimed that social & economic justice were synonymous with socialism and communism. He then urged Christians to run from churches who advocate social justice. See HERE.

Now, what I'm about to do is sometimes considered "proof texting." That is, taking verses of the Bible out of context to support an argument. But this is usually done with ONE or TWO verses. What I'd like to display is that the Christian God, as revealed in Jesus of Nazareth, is totally concerned with the issues of social and economic justice and the Bible is filled with hundreds of verses that support this.

One of the strongest themes of the entire Bible is CARE FOR THE POOR AND NEEDY.


"...but during the seventh year let the land lie unploughed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove." - Ex. 23:11

"Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God." - Leviticus 19:10

“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.’” - Leviticus 23:22

"The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender." - Pr. 22:7

"When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbour, do not go into his house to get what he is offering as a pledge. Stay outside and let the man to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. If the man is poor, do not go to sleep with his pledge in your possession. Return his cloak to him by sunset so that he may sleep in it. Then he will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the LORD your God." - Deut. 24:10-13

" He who increases his wealth by exorbitant interest amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor. [that is to say, God will remove the wealth from him, and give it to the poor]" - Pr. 28:8

“If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a money-lender; charge him no interest." - Ex. 22:25

"He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise." - Luke 3:11

"You received without paying, give without pay." - Matt. 10:8

"Then Jesus called his disciples and said, 'I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days, and have nothing to eat; and I am unwilling to send them away hungry.'" - Matt. 15:32

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." - Luke 4:18-19

"Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow me... How hard it is for those who have riches to ender the Kingdom of God!" - Luke 18:22-24

"Then Jesus said to his host, 'When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbours; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.'” - Lk. 14:12-14

"And all [early Christian community] who believed were together and shared all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need." - Acts 2:44-45

"With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need." - Acts 4:33-35

"One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God." - Acts 10:3-4


Consider the following picture painted by Aristides, a philosopher around A.D. 125:

They walk in all humility and kindness, and falsehood is not found among them, and they lone one another. They despise not the widow, and grieve not the orphan. He that hath, distributeth liberally to him that hath not. If they see a stranger, they bring him under their roof, and rejoice over him, as it were their own brother: for they call themselves brethren, not after the flesh, but after the spirit and in God; but when one of their poor passes away from the world, and any of them sees him, then he provides for his burial according to his ability; and if they hear that any of their number is imprisoned or oppressed for the name of their Messiah, all of them provide for his needs, and if it is possible that he may be delivered, they deliver him. And if there is among them a man that is poor and needy, and they have not an abundance of necessaries, they fast two or three days that they may supply the needy with their necessary food.



So guess what, Glenn Beck? You're wrong. You're a liar. And you're completely misunderstanding the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

You may hate the idea of socialism because it would cause you and your cronies to redistribute your personal wealth, but you're wrong about Christianity.