03/03/2007
Money and Religion
Having just browsed through a current issue of The Birmingham Post (2/3/2007) I read an article in PERSPECTIVE called 'Money doesn't make the world go around' by Ann Pettifor. She sheds a new light on the conflict of 'interest' between Christianity and Islam ... the conflict between our western values and Muslim values.
She points out that in our western society we condone the making of money from money. Our western values are ...'rooted in the accumulation fo wealth and the absence regulation. We call it "liberalisation" and export it all over the world'.
On the other hand, 'Islam has never accepted the legitamcy of interest. To this day Islam prohibits the taking or giving of interest or riba, regardless of the purpose of the loan, or the rates at which interest is charged. Islamic banks are savings institutuions and when they make loans they do so as stakeholders, sharing in risks and losses'.
These two religions are mutually exclusive it seems.
But is it just "money which is the root of all evil" or is religion the true problem - it seems that so many incomprehensible wars and intolerable circumstances foisted upon the citizens of our earth are the result of religion......
With conflicts continuing to rage around the world the media is never short of something to write about or to show pictures of - heart-rending, gruesome, eye-opening photos - we are inundated daily. What do most people, who have the luxury of a safe home and environment do? For the most part we sigh, we comment on the injustices in the world, we feel powerless to do anything really worthwhile. We can certainly contribute to the various fund-raising efforts - but does our money and our good intentions ever arrive? Do they actually every really help those that it is intended for?
"Oh God!", "For God's sake!", "God help us" and "God help them".....familiar phrases - but with little consequence it seems.
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