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The author says in his book that it seems morality can and does take a back-seat to money, power, and control. Ranting about birth control would fall on mostly deaf ears and would possibly anger many to leave the church or stop finance. How true is this?

I agree with the opinion that many people place money and possessions over morality. I believe that when you encounter someone you can help, even if it means going out of your comfort zone, that you should do so. I have seen many people look down on others that are suffering without a second glance. My expierence in life is everyone has high points and low points. It really angers me when people are cruel to mentally disabled people, it even brings tears to my eyes and I will voice my anger.

Certainly, nowadays many people make decisions based on power and money, not so much on morality or biblical values. The society in general, globally, becomes more and more egocentric.

With most countries in the world subscribing to capitalistic trends, it would be so overt that money and power reign supreme or are used as standard parameters through which the conduct of other societal engines operate. Thus, I agree that if we are to factor in morality in the contemporary world, we cannot lord it over they that control our resources, sadly.

No morality should not be at the back seat of the other powers and strengths. Money, power and control are necessary but not by avoiding morality. Rather I love to say that all powers can be gained adapting quietness, without avoiding moral values and social norms.

The propagators of the faith are not living in a separate world. They have to live here among their followers, see their sufferings and have to be practical about what they preach. It's not just a capitalistic choice, it's a practical one. The world has finite resources and it has to be shared by all the living beings. Ofcourse change is not easy and it may take the religious leaders a long time to inculcate the newer ideas into their preachings. But if the religion doesn't stay current and change according to the changing times it won't the newer generation won't be able to relate to it.

I agree with the author. Morality seem to be losing against money and possession. Most people and society drive value from materialism rather than morality.

JulietBlack wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 06:41 I agree with the author. Morality seem to be losing against money and possession. Most people and society drive value from materialism rather than morality.

Can one be moral and still pursue money and possessions? Does the pursuit itself lend itself to immorality?

I absolutely agree. There are many that prefer putting morality at the back of their brain when it comes to maintaining wealth and power. For example, the Catholic Church in particular has more money than it will ever need which would be more than enough to end world hunger, and yet it decides to keep it, instead, as the author even says, building more buildings in the name of God, or even keeping cases of paedophilia out of the press as much as possible to allow it maintain its power. I know that this isn't every single Catholic, I am thinking more about the institution itself, because money and power do tend to be more important to them than doing the moral and right thing!

This is a no-brainer, which is why, as the author states, there is little spoken from the pulpit about family planning. Abortion, yes. But not much about birth control for the following simple reason. Back in 1968, Pope Paul VI issued an edict, "Humanae Vitae," or "Of Human Life," which stated the RC Church's stance opposing any type of artificial birth control. The result? Donations in the collection baskets dropped off dramatically. The Church cannot afford to lose its finances from a membership that disagrees vociferously with an antiquated rule, so it's better to not raise the issue. It's all about the money, and from money, comes power and control.

In our world today money is in control of everything. Those with money got power and its very obvious and natural for the powerful to look down at the powerless which is just immoral. The powerless as a defense mechanism havevto be evil to the powerful and thats how this endless circle begins. So, money have corrupted morality and its until we look at harmony our ancestry got in those days before invention of money.

Because of hunger for power, people tend to disregard conscience; they step on others to be on top. Money becomes their God and look down on those struggling. They forget that they too come from below before. Whereas before, they have positive family values and traits, these eventually take a back seat due to the glitters of opportunities at hand.

The best example that I can come up with is the recent explosion of the so-called Prosperity Gospel. This is preached by mostly Evangelical Christian leaders who tell their congregations that the more money they give to the Church the more favorable God will look upon them. Once money and power are involved in religion, people turn a blind eye towards corruption and abuses of power which we have seen with the Catholic Church.

Can one be moral and still pursue money and possessions? Does the pursuit itself lend itself to immorality?
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Jesus says it's about the same as a camel going through the eye of a needle. But He goes on to say, "With man it is impossible but with God all things are possible." So it is possible.

I do not feel morality and one's faith in religion go hand in hand. Whether or not you follow Bible verses or not does not determine whether you are morally, or even ethically,sound. I do agree there a great deal of people out there who put money and power before all else, and I have seen many of those same people claim to be religious and outside it. Power hungry people live everywhere. I firmly believe in paying it forward. I have humbly learned to not judge people based solely on their initial reactions, or action in general. Nobody in this world is perfect. However, I do believe kindness goes a long way. Of course, there are people who have money and power and are still moral people. Control comes in many factions. You can be poor, unethical, non-religious and still hold control over someone or something. The three issues discussed do not necessarily fall into each other. I think a lot of people mistake money, power, and control sometimes. There are a multitude of different variables here. One can have no power or control, but they be wealthy and vice versa in every direction.