Monday, May 10, 2010

The Sad Sight of 'Holier Than Thou'

Mike Lux writes in the Huffington Post (HERE)

'How Do Christians Become Conservative?

‘Comment after comment and story after story in the Gospels about Jesus relates to the treatment of the poor, generosity to those in need, mercy to the outcast, and scorn for the wealthy and powerful. And his philosophy is embedded with the central importance of taking care of others, loving others, treating others as you would want to be treated. There is no virtue of selfishness here, there is no "greed is good", there is no invisible hand of the market or looking out for number one first.


Comment
I have nothing to say about the theological implications of Mike Lux’s question that is directed at ‘conservative Christians’ who are better placed to answer him.

(I could ask Mike Lux how anybody became a ‘Christian’ like the zealots of Smith’s time, who ran a Taliban-type of established church and suppressed any signs of dissent to their rule, and were particularly oppressive by any standards towards the poor and disadvantaged who had no means of recourse for their troubles, and even worse to members of denominations of Christianity. They even made it difficult for Adam Smith to speak his mind on their behaviours.)

Adam Smith was not implicated in the obnoxious notions expressed by Lux in the sentence:

‘There is no virtue of selfishness here, there is no "greed is good", there is no invisible hand of the market or looking out for number one first.

His book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) shows quite the opposite moral standards to the ‘Greed is Good’ outlook. His book, Wealth Of Nations (1776) shows no evidence that he believed there was ‘an invisible hand of the market’.

I always consider it a travesty of good sense to believe that those with whom you disagree on politics embody all the worst features of human behaviour and thinking, while your other lot encompass all the virtues. Neither the ‘left’ nor the ‘right’ have a monopoly of what is commendable in what Smith called humanity.

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