Danger: Evangelical Economist at Work

You may have noticed that there is a connection between evangelical Christian beliefs and the belief that all people should be left to the mercy of the "market" rather than aided by government intervention. This phenomenon goes back at least to the Congressional debate over whether to enact the Social Security Act, when good, god-fearing men who ran the industries and financial centers of the day sat before Congress and warned in deep, somber voices that the program would destroy the moral fiber of the nation (poverty wouldn't affect morals, mind you, but government efforts to reduce poverty would). British evangelicals played a part in creating the horrible workhouses of 19th century England, and, from what I understand, in preventing the British government from alleviating the consequences of the Irish potato famine.

Now why do you suppose that is?

Before getting into that, here's an example of what I'm talking about. James Sherk is an economist with the Heritage Foundation. James Sherk is also the lead economics editor for a group called evangelsociety.org.

Mr. Sherk writes stuff like this for Heritage:

Who Earns the Minimum Wage? Suburban Teenagers, Not Single Parents

Union Members, Not Minimum-Wage Earners, Benefit When the Minimum Wage Rises

As I said, Mr. Sherk is also on board at evangelsociety, which describes itself thus:

Evangel Society Mission Statement

Established 2002

In order to love the Lord our God with all of our minds, The Evangel Society of Thought exists for the purpose of examining the world around us. From the foundation of a Christian worldview and a passion for the Good News, the Evangel, we will explore issues ranging from politics and economics to religion and popular culture.

The Evangel Society believes that

We are able to go up and take the country,
To possess the land from Jordan to the Sea.
'Though the giants may be there, our way to hinder,
Our God has given us the victory.
~ Paraphrase of Numbers 14

We will take every thought captive to Christ. Our vision is that the Lord will use us to equip believers with reasoned analysis of the critical issues of the day. There are "giants in the land," ideas and institutions that stand opposed to the Gospel of Christ, but we are confident that the Bible, as the inspired word of God, shall prevail over all of its challengers. We will contend for its primacy in the arena of ideas.

Now it seemed off to me, when I first thought about it, that people dedicated to a Christian life would also be so dedicated to combating government attempts to alleviate poverty and other human misery. But then, so many people who are passionate about their Christianity, who mold every moment of their lives to that belief, are, well, harsh. Really, really harsh. Unforgiving of what they perceive to be the sins of others.

So here's what I came up with on why evangelical Christians are so often aligned with the conservative business community when it comes to employment, wages, and worker rights:

1. They equate economic success with God's love; hence the poor are viewed as less loved by God than are the rich.

2. Their focus is ultimately on the afterlife, rather than the corporeal life on earth, and have a strong belief that human suffering is part of God's plan to reward the worthy after they are dead.

3. They are indoctrinated with the idea that life is a battle between good and evil, and that sloth and sexual sinning are evil, and see the poor as likely to commit the sins of both sloth and sexuality.

4. They are indoctrinated with the idea that obedience to government is itself a dangerous, perhaps sinful thing in itself, since all obedience should be to God and/or Jesus.

So am I right on this? Who knows. I do know that there have been far too many times that I read some analysis of economic issues that struck me as patently askew, to a degree that makes me suspect deliberate fraud, only to discover that the author is a devout Christian of the evangelical stripe.

What we need is a standard warning for these tracts on the evils of government intervention to protect the people. Maybe a nice bright white sign, with graphics of flames licking at the edges, with the following in large, fancy, gold letters:

Danger: Evangelical Economist at Work