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As in when Pope Francis came along. For every sin the catholic church has committed,
As a sampler, everyone goes the catholics for the sex abuse scandal (and so they should) but buddhist monks have been caught at in Sri Lanka too. There are rotten people in every aspect of life and tbe actions of a few do not represent the belief or constitute support of the many.
originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
How about we start by selling all Catholic Church's possessions and giving it to the poor?
originally posted by: Xcathdra
originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
How about we start by selling all Catholic Church's possessions and giving it to the poor?
Because those areas belong to a nation state.
originally posted by: markosity1973
a reply to: OccamsRazor04
How's about we sell your possessions too then?
If I ever come out in favor of wealth redistribution I will be the first in line to do it. It would be hypocritical of me not to do so .. much like the hypocrisy of the Pope and Catholicism I pointed out.
Perhaps you should read your history books. After Rome was sacked and they abandoned it for Constantinople in the east, it was the church who started to rebuild. They have had the land from a time when everyone else was abandoning it. All the old Roman treasures in the vatican (I've seen some of them) were rescued from ruined buildings and preserved for humanity. So in a way we ought to thank them for saving a large amount of ancient Roman artifacts for us.
Nothing in this has anything to do with wealth redistribution, and unless you have some hidden spy cams and are stalking me (creepy) you really have no idea what I know about history. So maybe you should keep your suggestions to yourself lest you come off as being arrogant.
Why don't we sell Mecca too? How about the Dalai Lama's palace in Tibet? The forbidden city in China? These things are from antiquity and the value in them is being used for what they were built for and / or being accessible to everyone. Who would buy the Vatican? A hotel chain that would only allow the mega rich egotists who want a kick out f staying where the pope used to? Anything is possibe with private ownership. At least today anyone an visit......
As soon as their "owners" come out in favor of wealth redistribution it will be hypiocritical of them to not do so. As I said before. if he favors wealth redistribution let him take the lead in doing it, or is he only in favor of distributing the wealth of OTHERS?
Origins[edit]
Debt relief existed in a number of ancient societies:
Debt forgiveness is mentioned in the Book of Leviticus, in which God councils Moses to forgive debts in certain cases every Jubilee year – at the end of Shmita, the last year of the seven year agricultural cycle or a 49-year cycle, depending on interpretation.
This same theme was found in an ancient bilingual Hittite-Hurrian text entitled "The Song of Debt Release".[5]
Debt forgiveness was also found in Ancient Athens, where in the 6th century BCE, the lawmaker Solon instituted a set of laws called seisachtheia, and which canceled all debts and retroactively canceled previous debts that had caused slavery and serfdom, freeing debt slaves and debt serfs.
The American Revolution, some historians have argued, was itself a form of debt relief. In 1787, just before the Constitution was drafted, New Yorkers formed the Society for the Relief of Distressed Debtors. They launched an investigation and found that, of 1,162 debtors committed to debtors’ prison in New York City in 1787 and 1788, 716 of them owed under twenty shillings. In 1758, New York’s debtors were moved to New Gaol, near what’s now City Hall Park. Describes the horrible conditions in New York’s debtors’ prison. In 1791, John Pintard, a state legislator and stockbroker, fell for William Duer’s financial scheme, which helped trigger the Panic of 1792, the nation’s first stock-market crash. Pintard eventually landed in debtors’ prison in Newark.
The idea that debt is necessary for trade, and has to be forgiven, is consequent to the rise of a market economy. Americans fought to provide the same debt relief to everyone because we believe in equality and because bankruptcy protection makes taking risks less risky. Our willingness to forgive debt lies behind a good part of our prosperity. Pintard got out of jail in 1798, and he filed for bankruptcy in 1800. He went on to found the New-York Historical Society in 1804, and to help open the New York Bank for Savings in 1819. Mentions Joseph Dewey Fay. In 1841, Congress passed a sweeping federal bankruptcy law that offered bankruptcy to everyone. Meanwhile, in 1831, the New York State Legislature abolished imprisonment for debt. Other states soon followed. Debtors’ prison was abolished, and bankruptcy law was liberalized, because Americans came to see that most people who fall into debt are victims of the business cycle, and not of fate or divine retribution.
originally posted by: AnonymousMoose
A friend and I were talking about income equality just earlier today...I am a conservative "non-partisan" but swing libertarian and republican....he is a homosexual liberal democrat. We are almost exact opposites but after a long chat we were able to conclude that the best way to achieve solid long term income equality is through an overhaul of the education system. A better education means higher skills and a better job, and of course, more money in ones wallet