Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Reformed theologian Abraham Kuyper "denounced Laissez-faire capitalism as inimical to human well-being, material and spiritual" and as "out of tune with Scripture and contrary to the will of God."
Kuyper argued that laissez faire capitalism:
1) "replac[ed] the spirit of 'Christian compassion' with “the egoism of a passionate struggle for possessions,"
2) resulted in the "abrogation of the claims of community for the sake of the sovereign individual."
3) commodified labor, which "denied the image of God and the
rightful claims of a brother."
4) idolized the "supposedly free market, which deprived the weak of their necessary protections, licensed the strong in their manipulations, & proclaimed the consequences to be the inevitable workings of natural law.”
James Bratt, “Abraham Kuyper”
The last point is especially important, given some recent comments about the free market. Kuyper recognized that proponents of laissez faire capitalism idolized the "free market" ("free" only in name) and believed that the "free market" was grounded in natural law/creation order.
Likewise, Kuyper actually stands within the mainstream Reformed tradition and its views of laissez faire capitalism (or proto forms of it) that can be found in Luther and Calvin. And of course, the mainstream Reformed tradition in many cases attempted to apply social/political
ethics gleaned from the church fathers. In other words, seeing laissez faire capitalism (or any of its antecedents) as being equivalent to natural law/creation order is quite clearly outside of the broad Christian tradition. That's actually a very novel opinion.
Lastly, few may know that Kuyper actually published, with his own intro, a Dutch translation of "Christianity and Labor," a pamphlet written by Wilhelm von Ketteler, the father of the Catholic social teaching and a huge influence on rerum novarum.
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Here's the thing though. There were self-professing Christians who "believed in God without a doubt" who enslaved imagebearers, pushed against abolition and integration, and advocated for colonialism and eradication of indigenous peoples and cultures.
Today, there are
self-professing Christians who "believe in God without a doubt" who are fine with detaining immigrant/asylee children indefinitely, are against any measures for police reform and accountability, and who strive tooth and nail to cover up abuses within their churches.
I don't think these types of charts and studies are as alarmist as people want them to be. They aren't showing a cultural progression into unbelief or secularization. Frankly, I think they are showing the fruit of generations of compromising Christian ethics for the sake of power
Christians can either do the hard work of active constructing a full-orbed theology and ethic of justice that is unapologetically from the Christian tradition, or they can "retrofit" secularly developed systems and theories with distinctively Christian emphases.
There is no
warrant to simply complain about the inadequacies and "unChristian" nature of these secular systems and theories without any proactive work of creating alternative solutions that have equal or greater than thoroughness.
Whether you decide to actively construct or retrofit,
you will come to similar conclusions from the biblical data and Christian tradition regarding the existence and impact of systemic racism, corporate repentance, generational sin, reparations/restitution, and truthful retelling of history. To deny any of these biblical realities
I've heard White folks (and other people of color) make comments about Asian Americans being "very quiet." But then, when an Asian American is outspoken and assertive, they are considered "angry" or "bossy" or "emotional" or "taking over the conversation" or "loud."
The fact of the matter is that there is a diversity within the Asian American experience and expression, and this should not be governed by the volume levels and words per minute quota of the majority culture.
There are lots of reasons why an Asian American
may not be as outspoken. It can be out of respect of the plurality of voices to ensure that everyone else has an opportunity to speak. It can be out of deference to others. It could, quite frankly, be because of past trauma of racist experiences of people making fun of
Healthy friendships between women and men who are not married to or otherwise romantically involved with one another are a lifespring for the church. Jesus specifically placed women and men side by side within His inner circles for mutual growth, companionship, and communion.
Women should not be treated as potential temptresses or sleeper cells of adultery. Rather, without proximity and friendship with women, the image of God is not fully expressed and experienced in the way God has intended. It is deeply dehumanizing to women to keep them at arm's
length from any notion of companionship simply out of fear. It doesn't honor the Lord to dishonor our sisters in Christ by seeing them as no more than ledge to a slippery slope of sexual sin.
Folks aren't really concerned about critical race theory. They're concerned about what the cost of discipleship will require to admit and make amends for the sin of racism. If we take seriously the biblical requirements of repentance and restitution, everything must be redone.
We're living on stolen lands that were taken in the name of Christ's kingdom. We're living in a society whose foundations and economy were laid by free labor at the expense of the dehumanizion of people of African descent. We live in neighborhoods of generational wealth accrued
through the disenfranchisement of people of color from home ownership, assets, wealth, and political power. We attend churches that find their roots in upholding injustices against the image of God and who intentionally kept Christians of color out of their pews, pulpits, and
I know of Christians who only a few decades ago could not find a church/pastor to officiate their wedding because they were of
different ethnicities (they were in California).
There are still Christians today in the US who hold either horrendously racist views regarding multiethnic marriages or exoticize/fetishize them and their children. I've heard these comments.
The sad tragedy though is the
multitude of White Christians who claimed to believe in the Bible who did absolutely nothing politically, socially, ecclesiastically, or personally to challenge these views and laws in their families, churches, and in society at large. In other words, I would be able to bet money