Editor’s Note – washingtonhotwire.com reproduces below a very important article which would not come to the attention of its readers in the normal course of events.  It explains how American Corporations have contributed to the Economic crisis of the day.

Are Corporations Evil?
By Jay Michaelson
Published July 28, 2010, issue of August 06, 2010.
http://www.forward.com/articles/129678/

What are the consequences for the rest of us? Left untouched by religious and moral reasoning, corporations have indeed run amok — again, not because villains staff them, but because the system itself is, according to the traditional Jewish definition, evil; it is yetzer hara by law.

Need examples?

Item: The oil spill in the Gulf. Sure, there may have been corners cut here or there, and BP might’ve done a better job in the cleanup. But the reason this happened isn’t because BP is especially bad; all the oil companies act the same way. The problem is that the oil well was put there in the first place. Accidents happen, and huge offshore oil rigs are going to have accidents. We know this. And yet, Big Oil swayed Congress to allow offshore drilling over the objections of environmentalists and community groups. (Not only “allow” — we paid for it. As The New York Times recently documented, the oil business is among the most government-subsidized industries in the world.) What happened in the Gulf is the direct result of Big Oil’s lobbying, and the Republicans (and some Democrats) who vote accordingly.

Item: The food/obesity/poison-food crises. Americans are getting sick and fat because they are eating “products” instead of food. Sure, individual choices have a lot to do with it. But it’s hard to ask working people to resist government-subsidized $1 hamburgers and snacks made of corn syrup when they’re trying to make ends meet. The reason we have a food crisis is that Big Corn and Big Food have swayed Congress to prop up the corn subsidy and other corporate welfare for huge agricultural companies. What we see on our supermarket shelves is the direct result of Big Food’s lobbying, and the Republicans (and corn-belt Democrats) who vote accordingly.

Item: The financial crisis. The financial crisis did not occur because of a few “bad apples” and shysters like Bernie Madoff. It happened because Big Money convinced Congress that deregulation was some kind of moral imperative, and that the freedom our founders talked about was the freedom for huge financial corporations to blow bubbles as large as they want. What we see in the wreckage of our financial institutions, and our own IRAs, is the direct result of Big Money’s lobbying, and the Republicans (and handful of Democrats) who vote accordingly.

This systemic turpitude, not individual knavery or malfeasance, is the real religious issue. Indeed, to look for individual bad apples and black hats — that is, traditionally “religious” ethical violations — is precisely the wrong kind of reasoning. I have no doubt that most of the officers and employees of Big Oil, Big Food and Big Money are basically good people doing their jobs. Evildoers are not the problem. The system is the problem.

There is an alternative — and it need not be socialism. (Of course, Jewish socialism is itself a venerable institution, but it is not my proposal here.) Indeed, our own religious tradition has ancient and well-worn rules requiring that the most powerful individuals and institutions in society provide for the least powerful.

One small example, among dozens I could choose, is the law of pe’ah — the corner of the field required to be left standing for the poor, in accordance with Leviticus 19:9 and 23:22 (and famous from the story of Ruth). Indeed, the entire talmudic tractate of Pe’ah, which describes in detail the requirements for public charity (including gleanings and tithings), should be required reading (and preaching) for American rabbis today. The basic principle is that those with power (the big agribusiness of the day) are required not to maximize profits, but to temper their selfishness with righteousness.

Required — not as some soft, hortatory ideal, but as a matter of law. And this, of course, is but one tiny example. Contrast the Hebrew word tzedakah, righteousness, with the Christian virtue of charity or the Buddhist precept of dana, generosity. Righteousness is not a virtue or an expression of niceness. It is a requirement, like a tithe. It is systemic in nature, and it is an economic-religious imperative. This system of righteousness — not just being nice and dropping a coin in the pushke, but also creating a system and culture of fairness — is what our religion demands.

As described in recent works such as Rabbi Jill Jacobs’s “There Shall Be No Needy,” Rabbi Michael Lerner’s “The Left Hand of God” and, before them, Abraham Joshua Heschel’s writing on social justice and the concept of the “social gospel” (recently maligned by far-right blowhard Glenn Beck), these concerns are at the very heart of what Jewish religion is meant to teach. In any free economic system, there will be rich and poor. But how we treat them, whether our culture helps or hurts them — that is where our ethical reasoning, religious or secular, is put to the test.

Americans live in the land of the free, but freedom ought not mean that corporate “persons” can despoil, deceive and destroy without restraint. This is why the Exodus from Egypt was followed by the Torah at Sinai — because real freedom is both freedom-from and freedom-to: freedom from bondage, and freedom to create a just and holy society. And it is a freedom premised upon the ethical will, which corporations, by law, utterly lack.

If we fail to talk about the true causes of our financial, environmental and economic crises, all that chanting and sermonizing is just decoration. Worse than that, it is a distraction from the very evil that religion is meant to prevent. That the evil doesn’t look the way we expect is no excuse; maybe it’s even part of the point. After all, as Kevin Spacey (as arch-villain Kayser Soze) says in the classic film “The Usual Suspects,” “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”

Editor’s Note – Copyright for this article is held by Forward.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Editor’s Note – washingtonhotwire.com reproduces below a very important article which would not come to the attention of its readers in the normal course of events.  It explains how American Corporations have contributed to the Economic crisis of the day.

Are Corporations Evil?
By Jay Michaelson
Published July 28, 2010, issue of August 06, 2010.
http://www.forward.com/articles/129678/

Kyle: Who are the corporations?
Hippie: The corporations run the entire world! And now they’ve fooled you into working for them!
— (from “South Park”)

Ever since Ronald Reagan and the Moral Majority, conservatives in America have used moral issues to convince poor Americans to vote against their economic interests. Thanks largely to convincing working-class voters — that is, the people who lost the most — that Democrats were anti-family, anti-America and, subtly, anti-white, Reagan and his followers engineered the greatest inequalities of wealth in more than a century.

Reagan’s rhetoric is still with us today, most notably among Tea Party “populists” (who studies have shown to be wealthier than one might assume), and sadly, religious communities — including Jewish ones — who unwittingly play into its cynical sleight of hand. We do this, consciously or not, by wrongly characterizing which issues are “religious.” Abortion and prayer are religious questions, but not tax policy; sexuality, but not housing and immigration. This is a highly un-Jewish way of thinking, and renders religion not just irrelevant, but also actually complicit in injustice. As we head toward a season of both High Holy Days and contentious elections, we would do well to remember the connection between them.

It almost goes without saying that ours is a society in which the yetzer hara, the profit motive, dominates. Of course, bashing corporations and consumerism is, as the “South Park” quote suggests, something of a cliché. But that’s because we usually do it in a clichéd way. The problem with corporations is not that they are sinister, dastardly conspiracies led by Montgomery-Burns-like villains. Nor is the problem the careless CEOs who cut corners, or boards that pay out huge bonuses, or any of the supposedly moral failings that compromise a supposedly sane system.

No — the problem isn’t when corporations go wrong. The problem is when they go right.

By law, the sole obligation of public corporations is to maximize profit for shareholders. Even when corporations give money to charity, or choose an ethical way of doing business, they are required to justify the decision by saying that it’ll ultimately pay off financially, perhaps in the form of increased sales or of realizable goodwill. Unlike human beings, corporations have only one motive: the yetzer hara, literally, the “evil” inclination, the part of each of us that is entirely selfish, that wants only to get as much stuff as possible. Again, this isn’t because of who runs corporations, or because of the decency of those of us who work for them (for the record, I started a software company and worked at it for five years) — this is the law.

Yet ever since an 1886 Supreme Court case, the law also holds, amazingly, that corporations are “persons.” They hold legal responsibility for their actions, and they even have certain constitutional rights, including the right to contribute heavily to political campaigns.

Imagine if these corporate entities really were people, what kind of people they would be. Enormously powerful, and richer than the wealthiest billionaire. Nearly omnipresent, with outposts of information gathering and product distribution around the globe. And yet, totally, animalistically greedy, with the single focus of profit maximization. If corporations were people, they would be massively powerful ogres, direly in need of religious or moral instruction.

Yet, mainstream religion fails to provide it. While every priest and rabbi rails against individual greed, individual ethical failure and individual transgression, few do so when it comes to the most powerful “persons” on the planet. Maybe to preach in this way, to demand that the world’s most powerful “persons” be ethically accountable the same way you and I ought to be, feels too political, or perhaps just too abstract, for the masses in the pews. But by opting out, religion becomes a kind of sideshow to the events that truly shape our time, like a quaint old chapel dwarfed by the surrounding strip malls.

Editor’s Note – Copyright for this article is held by Forward.

Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Editor’s Note – The Chinese Communist Party is nothing if not pragmatic.  Knowing that they are approaching the limits of growth — China’s economy has grown at 10% over the last 30 years – it is casting about for ways to sustain this momentum.  Hence, China’s interest in the question – is there a link between the West’s economic growth and Protestant Christianity?  washingtonhotwire.com reproduces below an article which appeared on the BBC [British Broadcasting Corporation] website which explores China, the Communists, Christianity, and Commerce.

Christian faith plus Chinese productivity

By Christopher Landau BBC News, Wenzhou, China
Published 26 August 2010
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10942954

At first glance, it looks as though it could be any other factory driving the rapid development of the Chinese economy.

But this is no ordinary enterprise because here religious faith is as important as profit.

In fact, the owner of the Boteli Valve Group in Wenzhou would like to see all his staff convert to Christianity.

And such a factory is not a one-off: it is part of a growing number of businesses run by Christian entrepreneurs in one of China’s key enterprise zones, whose success is now being studied by the Chinese government.

As he shows me the production facilities, the factory’s general manager, Weng-Jen Wau, tells me that every month, $5m (£3m) worth of industrial valves are manufactured.

About 40% of the factory’s output is exported to businesses worldwide.

But he seems to have limited interest in the sales figures – he is far more concerned to tell me about the place his family’s Christian faith has in the life of the factory.

‘Better workers’

Every Monday morning, the senior managers gather together and pray about the business.

Once a week, members of staff are encouraged to attend an on-site Christian fellowship meeting, where they read the Bible and pray for each other.

Weng-Jen Wau believes that by encouraging increasing numbers of his staff to convert to Christianity, his business will prosper.

And he tells me that when staff do convert to Christianity, their attitude towards their work is transformed.

“If you’re a Christian you’re more honest, with a better heart,” he says. “The people who aren’t Christians aren’t responsible. I think it’s very different.

“I’m not saying those people who aren’t Christians are all bad, but from the percentage of the workers who are Christians, they seem to be more responsible.

“Also when they do things wrong, they feel guilty – that’s the difference,” he explains.

One of the workers I met who had recently converted to Christianity explained that he had known nothing about the religion before he started work at the factory.

But he said that his new-found faith was now a source of daily inspiration.

He told me that he was now trying to convert his friends and colleagues to Christianity.

“If everybody became a Christian, it would have a very big impact, and would really help the development of our factory,” he said.

Work ethic

So I asked Mr Wau how much religion was a factor when he was recruiting new staff.

“Of course I would choose the Christians first, definitely,” he said.

Such comments could prompt accusations of discriminatory practice in some countries, but he had no doubt about the sort of impact Christianity could have on Chinese business.

“I think if all enterprises absorb this Christian culture, we will have a much more harmonious society,” he said.

There are obvious questions about whether the staff really have discovered Christianity, or whether they are simply responding pragmatically to a clearly defined vision for their company.

Those I met were keen to stress the significance of their new faith, and the lack of pressure to convert – though there was no disguising their bosses’ clear desire to boost Christian numbers in the workforce.

But the wider role of Christian entrepreneurs in the economic success of the Wenzhou private enterprise zone has not gone unnoticed by the Chinese government.

Far from being regarded as a religious oddity, the impact of Christian-run businesses is now being studied by Chinese government officials.

At the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, I met Professor Zhuo Xinping, Director of the Institute of World Religions.

He specialises in the study of Christianity’s growing influence in China – and has plenty to say about Wenzhou’s Christian entrepreneurs.

He tells me that the city was visited by substantial numbers of Western Christian missionaries during the 19th Century and thus has – by Chinese standards – a long history of Christian faith.

Today it has an unusually high number of Christians for a Chinese city – with some estimates suggesting Christians now make up 20% of the population.

But what really interests him is the way in which the growth of Christianity and economic prosperity have happened side by side.

He tells me that Chinese researchers are considering whether in Western history there is a link between economic prosperity and Protestant Christianity – and they are questioning what that might mean for today’s China.

“It’s very important to find the secret of social development, the so-called potential forces for a nation,” he says.

“When it comes to Western countries, the majority Chinese understanding is that this potential force is Protestant Christianity.”

Christian faith may sound like an unlikely component in China’s future economic success.

But the notion that newfound faith can inspire a workforce to increased levels of productivity is being taken seriously not only by Christian businessmen, but by China’s Communist – and officially atheist – leaders.

Editor’s Note – The copyright for this article belongs to the BBC.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

I was standing behind this guy in the line at a Fast Food joint.

Yes, sir? asked the girl behind the counter.

I’ll take the Chicken Sandwich.  And, Medium Fries.

The girl put the order in.

That will be $6.92, she said.

As he was paying I noticed that he could have bought a Combo for $6.49.

That is, he could have gotten the Chicken Sandwich, Large Fries, and a Large Coke, as a Combo for $6.49.

Strange, I thought to myself.

The guy — paying 43 cents more and getting a whole lot less.

Still musing about his purchase, I collected my order and headed for my car outside.

He was there.  Parked 2 cars over.  His order sitting on the roof of his car.  While he was dealing with something in the back seat.

On impulse, I went over.

He looked up from his endeavors.  Smiled.

You know, I said, you could have gotten a Combo for less back there.

He straightened up.

Grabbed his order from the roof.  Leaned in and put it on the passenger side of his car.

Yes, he said, coming back to me.  I could have.

The Chicken Sandwich, Large Fries, Large Coke, I pointed out.

Yes, all of it, he replied.

Silence filled the space between us.

And, he said, you’re wondering why I didn’t.

I was sort-of curious.  But, I apologize.  For intruding.  It’s really none of my business.

No. No. No. He waved aside my embarrassment.

I don’t drink Pop, he continued.  And, French Fries are not good for me.  Or, you.  Or, anybody.

Had I taken the Combo I would have thrown away the whole Coke and half the Fries.  Wasted them.

Yes, I said.  I saw his point of view.

Wasted not just the Coke and the Fries, he continued.  But the resources that went into making the Coke and the Fries.  All these resources would have been wasted.

The Labor, the Materials, the Equipment.  The Transportation, the Storage, the Service.  All wasted.  With just one careless toss of the hand.

He looked at me steadily for a moment.  Then, continued.

I think it’s better to pay more, for less – if it means not wasting the resources that Our Lord has given us.

It’s the Christian thing to do.

Don’t you think?

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

Why the high Cost?

Because of the way Small Business is structured under the American Capitalist system – individual, individualistic, independent.

One Hairdressing establishment may charge $20 for a haircut.  But, if 2 of them pooled their resources – space, equipment, personnel, materials – and their functions – financing, purchasing, marketing, advertising, managing – they could easily bring the cost of a haircut down to $12 or so.

So, also, Garages.  And, Dry Cleaners.  And, Pharmacies.  And, Stationers.  And, Home Remodelers.  And, Nurseries.  And Print Shops.  And, Restaurants.

And, so on.  And, so on.

The point is that Small Businesses which are not doing well Individually will thrive when they hold things in Common, do things in Common.

Wait-a-sec!  Did you say Common?

Yes.

Now, where have I heard that word before?

In the Gospels.  In the Acts part of Luke-Acts.

Hmmm.

How do you think the Early Christians survived, and grew?  Not each by themselves.  Each on their own.  Individually.  Individualistically.  Independently.  Separate from one another.

But, by Togetherness…..

“And all that believed were together, and had all things common;…..” [Acts 2:44 KJV – King James Version]

…..and, through Community.

“And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.” [Acts 4:32 KJV]

That is, by Cooperating with each other.  Sharing their resources.  Caring for one another.  Holding things in Common.

Acts goes on to say that, as a result, “great grace was upon them all” [Acts 4:33 KJV].

And, “Neither was there any among them that lacked:…..” [Acts 4:44].

Here, then, is the lesson for Small Business from Christianity – Don’t go it alone! — Share with each other, Care for each other.

And, you will survive and thrive.

And, if we set Small Business right, the American economy will be set right, too.

[Automatically.]

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

The Great Recession of December 2007 was brought on by President George W Bush’s stupidity.

Taking on 2 wars, in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Not funding either of them.

And, then, on top of that, giving tax breaks to the rich.  Those with incomes in excess of $120,000 [Gallup 2003 poll].

Tax breaks to the tune of $2 billion, according to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.

All of which, along with a Financial sector which Bush refused to regulate, and, which, then, created the Subprime Mortgage crisis, sent the American economy into a tailspin.

The Economists say Recovery began 4Q09 [4th Quarter of 2009].

It did.  For Wall Street.

The financial industry paid out some $20 billion in bonuses for the year.  Some of it coming from the money paid out to them through massive Taxpayer bailouts.

But, Main Street is still in a downhill slide.

The BLS’ [Bureau of Labor Statistics] Quarterly Business Employment Dynamics report for 4Q09, released August 18, 2010, says – “Firms of all sizes experienced continued net job losses in the fourth quarter of 2009. Firms with 1 to 49 employees accounted for 61.8 percent of all net losses.”

While job losses all round is distressing enough, it is the performance of Small Business that is depressing.

Small Businesses typically add jobs during the early phases of an Economic Recovery.  They are, this time, in fact, laying off people.

According to the BLS, adding 54.1% new jobs while axing 61.8% of the old.  Leading to a net job loss in the Small Business sector.

Question — why are Small Businesses laying off people?

Answer – there is not enough demand for Small Business goods and services.

Why?

The high Cost of producing these goods and services.

In today’s economy, how many people can afford to get a $20 haircut?  Better to defer it.  Or, cut at home.

In today’s economy, how many people can afford to call a plumber who charges $80 just for showing up?  Then, adds labor and materials to his bill?  Let the leaky faucet drip.  Or, stop it with a wad of cloth.

In today’s economy, how many people can afford to get a $30 LOF [lube, oil, filter] done at the local garage?  Better to put it off by 3 months.

In today’s economy, how many people can afford to give $15 to have a stain removed at the dry cleaner?  Check the Internet for at-home options.

In today’s economy, how many people can afford to eat out when the average cost of a dinner is $30?  Better, cook at home.  Or, go to a fast food chain.

And, so on.  And, so on.  And, so on.

The point of this litany is to highlight the fact that, given the distressing economic circumstances of the day, when over 1/3rd of the American people are living in tenuous economic circumstances, the high Cost of producing these goods and services is inhibiting the demand for these Small Business goods and services.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

I have stated elsewhere within these pages that the Church has 2 basic functions.

To Teach Doctrine.

To Correct Error.

But, Jay Michaelson’s article entitled “Are Corporations Evil?” at http://www.forward.com/articles/129678/  set me a-thinking.

That we need to add one more, a 3rd, function to the Church’s activities.

To fight evil.

Evil abounds.  It is all around us.  Especially in our Corporations.

But the Church, the Catholic, the Mainline Protestant, the Evangelical, does nothing.

The CEOs and C-line Executives – the Chief Financial Officers, the Chief Operating Officers, the Chief Information Officers, etc, etc – have deliberately rendered 30 million Americans unproductive.  Some 15 million unemployed.  Another, some 15 million Underemployed.

Many of them have now been unemployed for 99 weeks.  Because, there are no jobs to be had.

Because, the greedy CEOs and the C-line Executives are Automating jobs at home.  And, Outsourcing jobs abroad.

To what end?

To line their own pockets with huge Salaries, Raises, Bonuses.

[The average compensation of the CEO of an S&P [Standard & Poor] 500 company in 2009 was $9.25 million.]

To what end?

So that rich men can get richer.

And, not just get richer — on the backs of the poor — but, then, kick the poor out on to the streets.

Hence, our 30+ million Unproductive.

This is Evil.  What the rich are doing.

And, yet the Church has done nothing – nothing! – nothing!! – to fight this Evil.

Which is why the Church is becoming more and more irrelevant to American life, and American lives, today.

Wake up, Church!

Abortion and Homosexuality are not the only moral issues of the day.

So is CEO greed.

And, its consequence.  Massive American unemployment.

Wake up, Church!  Fight the evil Corporate leaders.

Stand with the poor.  Lick unemployment — the biggest problem in America today.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

Advice To My Young Nephew, Half My Age, Who Has Assumed The Leadership Of A Medium-Sized Company

Over time men come to believe that the Enterprise belongs to them.  That it is a product of their hands.  Of their intelligence.  Their will.

This belief is wrong.

This world, and all that is in it, is the Lord’s.

The Corporation that you run.

You – yourself.

Those who work with you, within.

And, those who support your work, from without.

All belong to the Lord.

Never forget this.

So, therefore, dedicate yourself, and those you lead, and the Company that you head, to God.

To the Greater Glory of God.

Not unto the benefit of man.

[Which, by the way, will happen automatically.  As you’ll see.]

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

Glenn Beck is the most mean-spirited man in America today.

He is the kind of person who would snatch an ice cream from a kid’s hand – and, kick the kid in the mouth, too.

That’s the kind of man Glenn Beck is.

And, that, sadly, is what the American Right is like, also.  The Conservatives, the neo-Cons, the Republicans, the Evangelicals, the Tea Party-ers, and the Fox News crowd.  About 1/3rd of Americans.

Glenn Beck, who makes nearly $88,000 a day [see Glenn Beck Inc by Lacey Rose in Forbes at http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0426/entertainment-fox-news-simon-schuster-Glenn-beck-inc.html ] wants to deny $41.85 a day – the average unemployment check — to the 15 million+ Americans who are currently unemployed.

He thinks they are a bunch of losers.  For collecting unemployment.

“Go out and get a job,” he advised on his show Glenn Beck Monday August 16.

But, there are no jobs to be had.

Beck’s super-rich Capitalist fat-cat Corporate CEOs have seen to that.

Either, they are automating.  In which, no jobs are created.

Or, they’re outsourcing.  In which case, a job is created.  In China.

What Beck did not say – but, which underlines his rant, and that of the Right, against the poor unemployed – is that these 15 million unemployed are lazy.

Too unwilling to work.  Too willing to carry on getting unemployment checks.

Question for Glenn Beck – Before condemning the unfortunate unemployed, have you tried living on $41.85 per day?  [Which works out to $293 per week.]

Rent.  Food.  Utilities.  Healthcare.

Will you, Glenn Beck, be able to sustain yourself on $41.85 per day?  For 1 week?  For 10 weeks?  For 80 weeks?  For 99 weeks?

After which the $293 weekly unemployment checks run out.

Then, what will you do, Glenn Beck?

It’s easy to sit back with an income of $88,000 a day.  And, belittle the little people.  Who have to make it on $41.85 per day.

Where is your Christianity?

Oops!  You’re no longer a Christian.

You’re now a Mormon?

Or, is it moron?

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

Christian leadership and Christian management are very different from the Secular.

Open any Management text and you will find a plethora of leadership and management styles listed.

Autocratic.  Bureaucratic.  Paternalistic.  Democratic.  Laissez-faire.  Directive.  Permissive.  Blah.  Blah.  Blah.

Participatory.  Directing.  Teamwork.  Obsessive [Bill Gates].  Entrepreneurial [Warren Buffet].  Blah.  Blah.  Blah.

Unlike the Secular, Christianity admits of only 1 Leadership style – that of Jesus, Our Lord.

And, only 1 Management style – that of his Disciples.

In a Christian enterprise there is only one Leader – Our Lord.  And, a host of Followers – the Disciples.

In the Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – Our Lord, our Leader, laid out the Vision.

His Vision — to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.  “…..as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” [John 13:34]

He explained His Vision and trained His Apostles for 4 years.  Then, He was Crucified.  Died.  Was Buried.  And, Rose again.

It was now left up to His followers, His Apostles, to implement His Vision.

The First Christians, the 120 who were part of the Jesus Community the day He died, and the Early Christians, the 3000 who received Jesus at Pentecost, lived very differently from their Secular neighbors.

“And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.”  [Acts 2:44-45 KJV – King James Version]

In other words, the Early Christians lived in Community.  Unlike their neighbors who lived Individually.  Neighbors who cared only for themselves, not others.

Caring for each other, and sharing all they had, was the hallmark of the Early Church.

But, as with all organizations as they grow – and the Church was growing – there were divergent views as to direction.

Which way to go?  And, how quickly?

The Early Church did not, as modern Corporations do, let one person, typically the CEO, decide the course.

The failure of Rolls Royce, Pan Am, Barings, Fokker, Bethlehem Steel, Enron, TWA, Swissair, WorldCom, Lehman Brothers, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, Woolworths, Reader’s Digest, Waterford, Japan Airlines, and thousands and thousands of other Companies, is the direct result of CEO-type decision-making.  The result of one person deciding the course of action for the organization.

The Early Church could have fallen into the same trap.  Let James, the cousin-brother of Jesus, who was the leader/CEO of the Church in Jerusalem, decide which way the Church should go.

But it did not.

The Early Church rejected the system of CEO-leadership; and, instead, adopted the style of Consensus-management.

Should Gentiles be admitted into the Church?  And, should they be circumcised?  These were the big issues facing the Early Church.

Judaizers.  Paul and Barnabas.  The Pharisees’ party.  Peter.  James.  And, others.  All had their own views.

The Apostles and Elders assembled for the Council at Jerusalem [AD 50].

The King James Version says there was “much disputing” [Acts 15:7].  The New International Version – “much discussion”.  The New American Standard Bible – “much debate”.

The use of the word “much” tells us a lot.  That the interchange must have been spirited.  But, everyone present was allowed to speak.  To express his opinion.

Then, James brought the discussion to a close [Acts 15:13-21].  The Gentiles would be admitted to the Church.  And, would be admitted as they are – that is, uncircumcised.

It’s possible – nay, probable – that not everyone at the Council agreed fully with the Council’s decision.  But, and this is important to Christian decision making, they all supported the decision, once the decision was made, fully and wholeheartedly.

Had it been left to James alone, in a CEO-type decision making process, it’s almost certain that Gentiles would have been excluded from the Church.  And, Christianity would have been no more than a minor sect of Judaism.

But, the divers views from diverse personalities brought the wind of change to the Church.

And, the Church grew.

It’s a model of growth applicable to any Christian organization.

Let the Lord set the course.  Let men realize it through consensus.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

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