Blog 21 I wrote a blog that asserted that our debt and what it means to future generations was a sin. Betsy, our editor, cautioned that this claim may be offensive to religious people. So I reached out to clergy, 3 Christian pastors of various denominations, a Jewish lay person and a Rabbi. All 5 prefaced the conversation by assuring me that their answer to the question: Is our debt a sin? - is based on scripture, not opinion. All 3 Christian pastors could not site a verse in scripture that was specific enough to reach the level of debt being a sin. The Jewish lay person agreed that many of the components that make up the debt, corruption, lying, stealing etc. were sins, but that that was not enough to declare the debt to be sin. The Rabbi pointed to a verse in the Torah that stated “Do No Harm” which, if the debt were to lead to an economic implosion, causing irreparable damage to a generation of citizens, then and only then could the debt be considered sin. He then went on to share his personal opinion. The United States, is too big and too powerful for the debt to ever be a problem, thus doubtful that the debt would ever reach the level of sin.
OK fine, I can’t declare the debt a sin, so how about this?… If God is observing, how do you suppose he feels about the debt and the democratic society that allows the debt to exist, without even “Trying” to address it?