The Lord's Prayer
In the King James Version: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen
Likewise in the Douay-Rheims; American Standard Version; English Standard Version it is for the forgiveness of our debts as we forgive our debtors. There you have it, the one prayer Jesus Christ taught us concerned with two temporal matters: food and debt forgiveness. A very old concept this debt forgiveness thing but one even the captains of industry have managed to convince church authorities to de-emphasize. Now we talk about sin and trespassing, we are made to recite innocuous words that do not accurately repeat what our Lord taught us. It was always about the forgiveness of debt. A reminder we shouldn’t make a killing out of lending money. The root of a lot of evil. A most effective system to keep nearly all the world working for a few. Certainly, even the most pacifist nations will go to war to collect debts, there is no question about this but we should all aspire for the new order that Jesus described so long ago and that time may be nearer than we think. Even Pope Benedict XVI is advocating for debt relief.
Since our country is greatly affected by this debacle, we need to take the initiative to propose new solutions, create novel schemes. We need to stop acting as if there is no goodwill left in our planet.
6 comments:
It's nice to invoke that prayer, but unfortunately things don't operate that way in the real world.
As one of your bloggers previously commented, asking for forgiveness for our national debt because of our weak economy is not a good excuse and is fraught with consequences, including the possibility future lenders would not look too kindly on us.
If we get bankrupt, maybe that would sway some of those lenders. But there are still consequences, and those burdens may be too heavy to bear.
My feeling is President Arroyo and his financial advisers are not inclined to take that course; at least I have not seen any sign they would do it.
Doc and future senator Bautista:
What is a reasonable interest rate to charge which will still meet your reminder that we shouldn’t make a killing out of lending money. Is 2%-a-month too high?
Mababa ang 2%-a-month para sa Pinas. Ang hirap mangolekta. Kakailanganin mo ay butangero, pero dapat eh bayaran mo sila, di ba? Mabilis kang malulugi.
I have followed your blog and admire your sense of mission. As a Filipino American, it occurs to me that my fate is inextricably tied to those left in our native land.
While each individual's social consciousness develops differently, I cannot imagine how any conscionable human being cannot be affected by the unrelenting and unforgiving images of the state of shambles that is the Philippines.
I hope you stop by my blog as I write about my experiences in the Philippines this summer. It would bring me great joy to part of a community organizing effort in the country with Filipinos and Filipino Americans working side-by-side.
Without coalition building, and by attacking the myriad problems in the Philippines through the singular lens of electoral politics, progress will be difficult.
The struggle is a ripple effect. Best of luck to you and I'm sure we will meet some day...
Dr. Bautista, I agree that we should propose new solution and create novel schemes to solve our country's problems. In your other posts, you mention a "preferential option for the poor" in the context of curbing population growth. What is this preferential option you propose? Condoms? Pills? Abortion?
Maybe the preference for the poor is to be manifested as a government policy to make available sex-education, condoms and birth-control pills only to the middle- and the upper-class.
One would think that by now Doc Bautista will have clearer what he meant.
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