Jesus the Capitalist
Posted by Adam Graham in : ChristianityMy latest column is out:
Michael Moore has been bashing capitalism, its excesses, and its lack of concern for workers and their exploitation. A story that backs Moore up comes from a reliable source. It’s a story of naked capitalism ignoring the rights of workers and arbitration.
A farmer had some crops that needed to be harvested and he hired day laborers, agreeing to pay them $100 for working a 12-hour shift. The farmer was in a hurry to get his crops harvested, so he went out again two hours into the shift and hired more workers. He continued to look for laborers throughout the day, bringing in more laborers every hour. Finally, at seven o’clock, one hour before sunset, he brought in a dozen more workers to help finish the job.
He then lined the workers up to give them their pay and he paid first the workers who had only worked an hour. Those who stood, sweat dripping from their bodies from a 12-hour shift, smiled when they saw the one-hour hires get $100. They figured that meant they’d get paid extra. But to their horror, the farmer also paid them only $100.
They confronted the capitalist with the charges of favoritism and unjust discrimination. Rather than offering arbitration, the farmer responded, “I’m not doing you any wrong. Didn’t you agree to work for $100? Take your money and leave. I’ll pay the people who worked an hour the same as I paid you. Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want with my own money?”
Who is this capitalist exploiter of workers who thinks he can pay people whatever he wants?
Most theologians will tell you this landowner represents none other than Christ himself. The names, currencies, and exact quotes have been changed, but the essence of the story Christ told in Matthew 20 hasn’t. It’s a helpful story to remember when Michael Moore is out telling us that capitalism is anti-Jesus.
Moore’s statement is one of two grave theological errors that liberals commonly make when recruiting religion to their cause. At best, he’s doing eisegesis, where, rather than trying to figure out what stance the Bible takes on an issue, the debater comes to the Bible with a point of view and then cherry-picks scripture to support that view, ripped from any context.
Check out the rest.
Comment by Fr. J.M. Stygles
I too dislike people using Scripture to support their own political positions, in this case your pro-business, conservative agenda.
I have often looked at that text and what I have read is not just that the business person chose to pay the same to the first as he did to the last but I also looked at who those last persons might have been.
I’m sure you’ve seen day-workers hanging around a Home Depot or Auto Zone or some other gathering spot looking for work. The first ones to be hired are always the more youthful, rugged, fit individuals. The last always seem to be older, worn-out, tired.
My understanding of the “business owner” is that his choice to pay the same was one of charity not capitalism.
Intent is always key when making an argument.
Peace to you.
Fr. John
Comment by Adam Graham
The right of the landowner to choose to be generous or charitable does not exist without a free market system.
For example, Henry Ford had a policy called “the family wage” where he would pay the married man whose wife does not work more than the single man, reasoning that the married man’s wife also was doing work for the company. Such an act of generosity would not be legal today, nor would the landowner’s generosity or charity be legal. If the landowner tried, the other workers could file a complaint with the department of labor claiming wage discrimination.
Without freedom and without free markets, there is no generosity, there is only compulsion by the almighty state. There can be no gratitude, only a sense of entitlement to everything.