Ever since I saw my first story about the pending bankruptcy changes, and subsequent analyses that revealed the bill to be, in large part the work of credit card company lobbyists, I've been harrassed by the niggling sense that something was missing from the discussion.
What, you might ask, could anyone possibly be overlooking? We've covered all the bases, we've battened down the hatches, we've chased Jeff Gannon off the web and out of the white house press corps, what more is there to do?
Try opening the bible.
Now, I know this is somewhat odd advice, coming from an atheist (hey, that's me! he's talking about me!), but there's some good stuff in that there book. First, the sex (thank you, Solomon); then, the bloodshed (thank you, Abraham and Son); and finally, the usury.
That's money-lending at interest, for those of you who don't yet know. Interestingly enough, while the old and new testament are somewhat conflicted on the whole bloodshed thing (old testament seems to revel in it, new testament seems to be somewhat pacifistic), and while the many biblical taboos on sex of one sort or another are balanced by the Song of Solomon's frank sensuality, the bible is wholly and completely against usury. No holds barred. No prisoners taken. No compromise. No vacillation. No internal contradiction.
Just search BibleGateway.com for usury, and check out the results.
In at least one version of the book, the word shows up, in highly negative and disapproving language, in Nehemiah, Ezekial, and Psalms. It may show up more or less often in other versions.
I like this one (Ezekiel 18:13) cause it satisfies my vindictive heart:
He lends at usury and takes excessive interest. Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he will surely be put to death and his blood will be on his own head.
And I like this one (Ezekiel 22:12) because it reminds me of Samuel L. Jackson in a certain memorable scene in Pulp Fiction, immediately prior to putting holes into a couple of sorry-ass drug-dealing thugs:
In you men accept bribes to shed blood; you take usury and excessive interest [ Or usury and interest ] and make unjust gain from your neighbors by extortion. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign LORD .
And, for those of you who think I'm going too far with this vindictive, let them eat blood and bullets thing, consider the following (Nehemiah 5:11):
Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the usury you are charging them-the hundredth part of the money, grain, new wine and oil."
The hundredth-part. Did I read that aright? Doth mine eyes deceive me? The authors of the bible, be they men or mister omnipotent and omniscient and oh-so-benevolent god-guy, were outraged at usurers charging an interest rate of 1%.
1%.
Compare that to, say 30% in some cases today, or the 18.99 percent that my credit card company would charge me if I fell behind in my payments, and maybe you can see where I'm coming from.
This is a Republican bill, a bill authored and pushed by Republicans for usurers at the expense of working Americans. The Republicans claim to have a greater connection to those spiritual vibrations, family values, morality, God, the ten commandments, etc. etc. etc...
And they've just authored a bill in support of usury.
No, they haven't made it legal. It's been legal in the U.S. for a dog's age; in fact, it predates our constitution. What the oh-so Godly republicans have done is made it impossible for plain working Americans to extricate themselves from the usurer's grasp. They have derailed the individual's last resort: the powers of the bankruptcy court to protect the individual have been gutted, or will be as soon as the bill is signed into law, as, rest assured, it soon will be.
And they have derailed an amendment to cap the maximum permissible interest rate credit card companies may charge. That is, there is no maximum. Forget one percent. Forget 30 percent. The sky's the limit.
Something tells me the Lord (or at least Tarrentino's somewhat wry version of him) would be pretty peeved by all this.
Why aren't Republicans screaming at their Senators?
Why isn't this an open and shut case of the unforgiveable?
Why are we so alone on this issue?
Why haven't any of you cracked open your bible? Why haven't you spoken to your preacher, pastor, minister, prayer-leader, or what-have-you, to encourage him or her to address the issue in next week's sermon?
Why did it take an atheist who's never read any more of the bible than was required of him in humanities classes in college--why did it take me to point this out?
Forgive me please while I briefly channel Maryscott OConnor (and forgive me Maryscott for plagiarizing and misquoting you), but...
What the fucking fuck is going on here? Am I on crack? Has the bible suddenly become insignificant to the Bush sheeple?