Will Oregon's "Party of God" limit usury

It will be interesting to see how Republicans vote in today's special session in Salem on Oregon's payday loan industry.  With so much attention being given to the issue, perhaps they'll vote for stricter regulations, but I doubt with much enthusiasm.  Republicans in this state have been reluctant to go there, despite the party's so called claim on "morality", as in "Christian morality."  Ironic, isn't it?  It's pretty clear where the Bible stands on usury, and Jesus definitely made a big fuss about it, but Oregon's "Party of God" has generally avoided the issue while taking powerful stands on abortion (not much about that in the Bible) and limiting the rights of gays.

I'm the last one who will claim any expert knowledge on the Bible, but I do come from a long line of traditional Scandinavian Lutherans.  It was pretty clear to me growing up that borrowing money was a big NO NO.  My grandfather built a bidness purely on sweat equity.  In the minds of my grandparents, borrowing money and paying interest on it was just as bad as being a "money lender" because in paying interest you would be giving your money to someone who was un-Christian, or immoral because you were helping them take advantage of people in more desperate situations. 

Interestingly, this kind of thinking has all but disappeared today, so much so that not only credit card companies, the sugar daddies of the "Party of God", can get away with charging 21% interest and higher rates, but payday loan outfits can sit pretty on 500% interest.  What would Jesus think about that?

Comments

[ron ledbury]

I wish I could reach folks on the issue of debt.

Think broader. Do not frame it is anti-payday-loan or anti-Party-of-God.

http://nag.pdxnag.com/misc/personalreserveflyer.pdf
http://pdxnag.com/drupal/node/316
http://pdxnag.com/drupal/node/312

These links are a cry for help from the horror of debt.

You must also learn to think of student loan debt not as aid for the poor but as a gift of money to a bank whereby the government then makes a slave out of the debtor. There are far too many instances of "aid" that are really just the result of creative "framing" to capture more debt slaves.

Government debt is just a scheme to offer guaranteed profit and there is no level of "progressivity" in the tax code that can overcome the regressiveness of the impact of the guaranteed profits from the exertion of taxing authority.

My biggest enemy is the incomplete arguments by folks who should already see the light and share a common concern.

[Sid]

Ron,
The point of my post was not to discuss the negative aspects of debt, but rather to point out the hypocrisy of the GOP and its carrying the so-called mantle of "Christianity."

"DEBT" and why Americans and our own government carry so much of it is a topic for another entry... perhaps on your site?

[ron ledbury]

It was you who made the link between God and Usury. It is a link that is illusory. I would not want debt-talk to be subsumed by discussion of God, as it confounds a rational discussion of either debt or god in isolation. Thus my offering is to rebut your reasoning. I suppose I could have talked about the treatment of Usury in other religions, but the spectrum of knowledge I could bring would be less, as I reject religious beliefs.

I think the harm caused by mortgage brokers far surpasses that of the payday loan folks, by a substantial margin. This is not a morality issue, just a cold hard calculation of the aggregate reduction in liberty.

[RamonGustav]

Have you been turned down by other lenders?

[Antivirus_man]

The new year is already knocking at the door, let it will bring only happiness and joy.

[JOBS_frend]

You write well will be waiting for your new publications.

[school_dubl]

Hi Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

[Molly]

Your article perfectly shows what I needed to know, thanks