 |
| Five pomegranate seeds amounts to about one teaspoon |
In Greek Mythology, Persephone was abducted by Hades and taken to the underworld to be his wife.
Persephone's mother was Demeter who was the goddess of springtime and fertility. In mourning, Demeter cast the world into perpetual winter and famine stalked the land.
Other Greek gods intervened and Persephone was ransomed from the underworld, but there was a catch. While she had been a hostage of Hades, she had eaten five pomegranate seeds. Hades contended that since she had accepted his hospitality, that Persephone OWED him allegiance. After much haggling, Persephone was bound to spend five months of the year in Hades and seven months above ground. Demeter mourned while Persephone was with Hades and winter ruled the land for those five months of the year.
This is my operating model when taking mammon from the government. Ultimately, the price you pay is far in excess of the benefits you gain. If you were a farmer and took out low-interest, government-guaranteed loans, then the government can yank them and force you to refinance at prevailing, distressed buyer rates. If you don't dance to the tune the piper is calling---every minute of the day--- then you can find yourself on your back and spread-eagle.
Even though I am a "practicing" Catholic and attend Mass every Sunday, I find myself lacking sympathy for the plight that various Catholic charities find themselves in. The charities that fly under the banner of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States accepted something like $1.4 BILLION to "relocate" migrants. And now the fire-hose dispensing money stopped and the charities are screaming in pain.
A man, and a church, cannot serve two masters. He cannot serve both mammon and God.
Bringing in migrants lowered wages and increased prices and taxes. Young families find themselves unable to afford to have children. The policies of the Catholic charities of accepting US funding created a moral-hazard for struggling families where aborting unborn children might seem like the only viable solution.
As understood by Catholics, that is not what Jesus would have done.
Bob Dylan wrote a song about that..."You Have To Serve Someone" during his gospel phase. Really good song even if you don't care for Dylan.
ReplyDeleteWell said, and no good answers...
ReplyDeleteIf you become dependent on a source, you will suffer when the source dries up.
ReplyDeleteI have a problem with any church or parent church excepting government funding. One thing is that the church should simply be able to fund these things for itself; That is the expectation as I read scripture. The second is that it does create the problem of two masters.