Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Question: What Does God Have Against the Poor?

The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls. (Exodus 30:15)
A fairly common belief across the religious and philosophic spectrum is that the more a person has, the more they have to give. Conversely, the less someone has, the less they have to give.

People who have a lot of possessions have enough to meet their needs and, beyond those needs, whatever else they have is excess. People with few possessions often struggle to meet their needs and may have little or NO excess at all. Consequently, in most societies, the well off are expected to pitch more into the communal pie than those who are less well off.

But that's not how Exodus 30:15 reads at all! It turns this notion on its head! The rich are provided with a payment ceiling, while the poor only are afforded a baseline of payment (no ceiling whatsoever). Under such a system, it would be consistent to charge the rich person one-half a shekel and the poor person a full shekel. If anyone complained, they would be told that you can't argue with the almighty!

So, would one of you Christians out there like to explain to me how God can be viewed as a just entity?

To see what other questions I've asked about the Christian Bible, go here.

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