Jesus’ parable about a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus, sets the foundation for wisdom about rich and poor, “There was a rich man who dressed in … fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus … who would gladly have eaten … scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.” The parable ends with a reversal of fortunes, the poor man in heaven as the rich man watches from his suffering below.
Is it possible for not just a single person like the rich man to be narcissistic and unkind, but for an entire class of persons to be so? A 2018 study at the University of Münster by Marius Leckelt indicates it is possible. Those who are wealthy “live in class contexts that foster feelings of personal control and agency through material means.” A consequence is they errantly believe wealth – its context, control, and agency within which they grew up – is of primary value and available to all. Kindness to others was not modeled as relevant to their personal control and agency but rather was detrimental, diminishing their means for getting ahead. This is apparent in the rich and unkind Donald Trump and his rich and unkind white evangelical supporters who are worse than the Gospel’s rich man. They want not to be bothered with stepping over the poor as they sit in the doorways of the rich but want them removed altogether, “We have people living in our…best entrances to buildings…where people in those buildings pay tremendous taxes, where they went to those locations because of the prestige.” Ancient Gospel stories of unkind rich men compelled to change their ways have no meaning for them. Some who are rich do give care to the poor Lazarus’ of the world by establishing charitable foundations. There is considerable controversy surrounding these foundations. Is the foundation’s wealth the foundation of poverty, as the wealth is usually gained through theft from the people. When early foundations arose near the turn of the 20th century, Teddy Roosevelt opposed them, “No amount of charities in spending such fortunes can compensate in any way for the misconduct in acquiring them.” Such foundations did and still do act as extensions of the 1% class’ control, considered a left over from colonialism, and referred to as charitable imperialism. Supremacists, like wealthy white men of privilege, still tend to make the decisions in the average foundation. Others regard foundations as tangible life-changing expressions of kindness. Those who favor them see people of wealth genuinely trying to be true to their conscience and true to their brother and sister Lazarus’ who suffer in this world. Such is ascribed to the foundations of Elton John, Oprah Winfrey, Dolly Parton, and George and Amal Clooney. One wealthy foundation, Open Philanthropy Project, exists for the purpose of figuring out where wealthy people’s money is best spent. People want their millions or billions to do as much good as possible. Should it go to emergency relief during a crisis, perhaps to the daily need of billions to have bed nets to decrease malaria? Is money best invested in schools – especially for girls who face discrimination in their cultures, to community development and anti-incarceration policies, to science in order to heal the harm done by food toxins caused by Monsanto / Beyer or to climate change caused by oil companies like BP? Rich people rarely, if ever, create “social change foundations” to end the systems that cause the suffering. But that is what is most needed. For example, we need foundations changing the primary cause of the poverty problem, which includes the problem of climate change – the U.S. military. The U.S. Military’s spending on fuel alone is tremendous. It’s diversion of funds for fuel causes poverty across the world and more pollution than 140 other countries, but is omitted from analysis. Who is the wealthy person and what is the foundation changing Militarism?
“Nothing that I do entitles me to eat my fill. By chance I was spared. (If my luck leaves me I am lost.) They tell me: eat and drink. Be glad you have it! But how can I eat and drink When my food is snatched from the hungry And my glass of water belongs to the thirsty?… I would gladly be wise:… Avoid the strife of the world Live out your little time Fearing no one Using no violence Returning good for evil – Not fulfillment of desire but forgetfulness Passes for wisdom. I can do none of this. … the time passed away which on earth was given me. … In the class war, despairing when there was only injustice and no resistance. For we knew only too well: the hatred of squalor Makes the brow grow stern. Anger against injustice Makes the voice grow harsh. Alas, we Who wished to lay the foundations of kindness Could not ourselves be kind. But you, when at last it comes to pass That man can help his fellow man, Do not judge us Too harshly. (To Posterity – Bertolt Brecht)
Prayer: Spirit, may we affirm every act of kindness
Question: What is the kindness to which I devote myself?
September 29, 2019 Gospel Luke 16:19-31 Twenty Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time