One would think that those who supposedly care so much for the moral and spiritual well-being of their fellow Americans would not be so eager to pass legislation with the sole purpose of enabling their friends to store up treasures in earthly places, where moth and rust destroy<\/em> (Matthew 6:19).\u00a0 After all, was it not Christ who suggested that we give all we have to the poor so that we can have treasures in heavenly places where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal <\/em>(Matthew 6:20)?<\/p>\n If Republicans are so eager to legislate morality, perhaps they should start by doing all they can NOT to appeal to our base desire to increase our own wealth, because Jesus told us that we \u201ccannot love both God and wealth\u201d<\/em> (Matthew 6:24), and as Paul said, \u201cthe love of money is the root of many kinds of evil\u201d<\/em> (1 Timothy 6:10).<\/p>\n Yet the Ryan-Romney budget and Republican campaign talking points are based on an appeal to wealth and using wealth as a proxy for a person\u2019s worth and value.\u00a0 Plenty of secular and economic arguments can be made for those appeals, but one cannot make a Biblical argument for those values.<\/p>\n In fact, the opposite is the case: \u201cMy brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don\u2019t show favoritism.\u00a0 2<\/sup>Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.\u00a0 3<\/sup>If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, \u201cHere\u2019s a good seat for you,\u201d but say to the poor man, \u201cYou stand there\u201d or \u201cSit on the floor by my feet,\u201d 4<\/sup>have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5<\/sup>Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6<\/sup>But you have insulted the poor\u201d<\/em> (James 2:1-6).<\/p>\n From the Law of God proclaimed to Moses:\u00a0 \u201cConsecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants\u2026in this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to his own property\u2026the land must not be sold permanently because the land is mine and you are but aliens and tenants\u2026if one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells property\u2026what he sold will remain in the possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee.\u00a0 It will be returned in the Jubilee, and he can then go back to his property\u201d (Leviticus 25:10-28).\u00a0 <\/em>Jubilee does not prevent commerce, but it helps prevent a strong stratification of rich and poor that results from wealth being passed down and built upon generation after generation, what we refer to today as \u201cthe rich get richer and the poor get poorer.\u201d\u00a0 And it provides to the poor who are motivated to make something of themselves the means to do so.<\/p>\n