Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Where I ask... does the Bible preach to the 1%?

On Saturday evening I attended Catholic mass with my grandmother. I walked away from the mass very frustrated.

The first reading was about women working themselves to the bone doing womanly work. Snore…

The sermon basically told me that the Church teaches Catholic guilt to children at a young age. But I already knew that, having been raised Catholic.

But the Gospel was Matthew 25:14-30. The Gospel reads as:

14 'It is like a man about to go abroad who summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one, each in proportion to his ability. Then he set out on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and made five more. 17 The man who had received two made two more in the same way. 18 But the man who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now a long time afterwards, the master of those servants came back and went through his accounts with them. 20 The man who had received the five talents came forward bringing five more. "Sir," he said, "you entrusted me with five talents; here are five more that I have made." 21 His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have shown you are trustworthy in small things; I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master's happiness." 22 Next the man with the two talents came forward. "Sir," he said, "you entrusted me with two talents; here are two more that I have made." 23 His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have shown you are trustworthy in small things; I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master's happiness." 24 Last came forward the man who had the single talent. "Sir," said he, "I had heard you were a hard man, reaping where you had not sown and gathering where you had not scattered; 25 so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground. Here it is; it was yours, you have it back." 26 But his master answered him, "You wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered? 27 Well then, you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have got my money back with interest. 28 So now, take the talent from him and give it to the man who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but anyone who has not, will be deprived even of what he has. 30 As for this good-for-nothing servant, throw him into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth."

All I can take from this, and perhaps I’m being shortsighted (I probably am), is that the lesson is that the rich get richer, and poor give the rich all they have. Yet, this seems to be God’s will. I don’t get it.

On top of all that, the master admits to questionable and unethical practices. He reaps where he has not sown? He gathers where he hasn’t scattered? This means that he’s stealing from other people’s farms? Yet, he’s in charge of giving his servants gold, expects to receive back more than he gave, and then takes the money gave to the last guy, and gives it to the guy het have the most gold. (A “talent” refers to an amount of gold.)

Yet, at least to my reading, the Bible presents this as… Gospel? 

“For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but anyone who has not, will be deprived even of what he has.”

That sentence basically says, the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. It was true 2,000 years ago, and it’s still true today.

I just… I can’t properly express my frustration with this parable. Perhaps someone has an alternate explanation that won’t make me as disillusioned?

8 comments:

  1. Maybe the bible isn't actually the word of God?

    Problem solved.

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  2. I interpret that passage the same way you do. I think it sounds like capitalist dogma spew.

    A friend of mine says Catholicism does nothing but make people feel guilty about their lives.

    --Martin

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  3. Martin, yeah... I was kind of hoping that someone would tell me I was interpreting it wrong, and give me a better interpretation. :)

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  4. You're reading this way too literally. It's a parable, and it has nothing to do with money. The key phrase is the one before what you quoted: "Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour." The King James bible translates "it" in line 14 to be the Kingdom of God. The return of the master is meant to be the final judgment. So, first the lesson is that we don't know when final judgment will be, so we should work in service of God always. The second lesson in my reading is a kind of God helps those who help themselves. My parish priest in Ohio used to do a sermon about a man who prayed to win the lottery and got mad at God when he didn't win, but he'd never bought a ticket. The servant who buried the money is like that or like someone who is unemployed but doesn't apply for jobs or is given some great opportunity but doesn't take advantage of it. It's not about money.

    I'm not a New Testament scholar (or a very good Catholic), but I don't think this passage should cause disillusionment. Jesus was speaking in a language his listeners would understand. They knew how to interpret parables. Keep in mind that in the passage, nothing belongs to the servants. Everything belongs to the master. If God is the master, then the ultimate lesson is to do the most with what he gives us and not waste it.

    I'm sure I could find interpretations by real New Testament scholars if you want.

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  5. Thanks Kelly. I think that's a great explanation. I kind of figured that I was reading it too literally, but I just couldn't find any other meaning in it.

    So, thanks. Because the way you explain it leaves me a lot less disillusioned.

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  6. My mom would be so proud that I'm keeping someone in the church. :P

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