I suppose he tailored his message somewhat to his surroundings. Pope Francis was in Bolivia, whose president, Evo Morales, is a Hugo Chavez-type socialist. Last week the Argentine pope unloaded a fiery denunciation of the world’s economic system. What the Western press heard him say is that capitalism is the devil’s dung.
Well, he didn’t quite say that. The actual quote: “Today, the scientific community realizes what the poor have long told us: harm, perhaps irreversible harm, is being done to the ecosystem. The earth, entire peoples and individual persons are being brutally punished. And behind all this pain, death and destruction there is the stench of what Basil of Caesarea called ‘the dung of the devil.’ An unfettered pursuit of money rules. The service of the common good is left behind. Once capital becomes an idol and guides people’s decisions, once greed for money presides over the entire socioeconomic system, it ruins society, it condemns and enslaves men and women, it destroys human fraternity, it sets people against one another and, as we clearly see, it even puts at risk our common home.”
There are some things to love in his speech. The apostle Paul also was misquoted on one of his most famous lines. Though alleged to have said, “Money is the root of all evil,” what he actually wrote is this: “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Loving money can indeed turn a blessing of God into an idol. Jesus himself warned about the farmer who spent so much time on his yields and barn building that he had no time for God. “You fool—this very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:20,21).
On the other hand, Francis sure sounds like a far-left-wing socialist. His rhetoric reminds me of the Marxism one could hear on college campuses in the 1960s. If he condemns the unfettered pursuit of money, who then should provide the fetters (i.e., chains) for people’s pursuit of money? Where do you get the right fetters? Government? The Catholic Church? The Bible does indeed condemn the idolatry of mammon, but it also encourages people to build their family’s assets: “Diligent hands bring wealth” and “Hard work brings a profit” and “Prosperity is the reward of the righteous” (Proverbs 10:4; 14:23; and 13:21).
It’s okay to rail at materialism and abuse of the earth. That’s a message people need to hear. But free market economies have lifted more people out of poverty than any socialistic income redistribution ever did. Free markets reward hard work, initiative, a servant spirit, entrepreneurial thinking, self-discipline, patience, and a long-range perspective. Free markets, not government committees, reveal the true value of goods and services and thus are economic democracy in action. People, not governments, are the true creators of wealth. And people who hear God’s call will find the joy of generosity with their wealth.
Originally posted by Time of Grace.
