govern point

President Barack Obama quoted the Bible and provided the biggest jab at the former administration during his inauguration — when he said, to put away childish things. Most people probably didn’t even understand it was biblical, but it is.

The childish things could be anything, since he didn’t let it out. Let’s guess:

• The thought that one could generate wealth by continuously exchanging paper of company 1 to company 2
• The concept that one really does need an interest only load for a 6000 sq. ft. house
• The hubris that the US should just go anywhere on the planet and impose our will
• That two wars can simultaneously be waged successfully

We can break down the financial mess to a failure of personal decision making and accountability, a lack of transparency and the desire for easy profits. Don’t need to be religious to think these things are childish, but isn’t that what religion has historically provided?  A moral compass.

That being said, what have churches done to challenge a culture that honors free-market ideology and consumerism, a secular concepts that challenge many religious insights into flawed humanity. Think the seven deadly sins.

Shouldn’t churches be a moral counter weight that calls on its own traditions to push back against greed? Seems like times they are changing, churches are being a little less aggressive on these warnings. Perhaps it is un-American to push back. At this point, religious voices are now virtually absent from ethical debates about bailouts, deficits and war.

I guess it makes sense that a new Gallup Poll says religion’s social influence is waning. 2/3′s of Americans say religion is losing influence on life. Just a couple of years ago it as 1/2 – mmm….

Maybe we are all looking to the government to provide the moral guides and influence, maybe we need to look somewhere else, but maybe not.