Wednesday, May 28, 2003
The Reward of Piety
Middle class affluency appears to enable a greater freedom of choice; but since the choices have already been so narrowed, this freedom is largely illusory, limited to how one uses leisure time. Only a radical upward or downward shift in income, or serious illness, causes fundamental change. Only the young exercise much genuine freedom.
The affluent middle class has claimed the moral high ground for as long as there has been a middle class, basing this claim upon material abundance as the reward of piety. John Wesley saw this process as an unfortunate inevitability. It is also inevitable that affluent Christians (& Jews) are brought into on-going conflict with teachings that clearly favor the poor in these matters. In Judaism, the rich must serve the poor as a duty to God. "No bread without Torah, no Torah without bread." In Christianity, the haves are further obliged to prove, unconditionally, their moral worthiness to the have-nots, who are more than mere representives of Jesus - they are Jesus himself. Of course, Jesus after Easter is no longer required to prove anything, although he reserves to himself alone the privilege of doing so.
Affluency rarely has any connection with piety, but when it does, it is a byproduct, not a reward, & it signifies nothing.
