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How Not To Slander Jesus |
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I have been pondering why Congress is taking such a hard ass approach to the Auto Industry for a measly $14 billion in the wake of a veritable handshake $700 billion deal with the Bankers. Frankly, I am getting a justice induced thrill with the “tough love” handling of the Detroit hybrid road trip gang. I simply wish they would have shared the love in like fashion with the investment speculators. But Congress didn’t. It is not an either or. It should be a both and.
When the soup is boiled down to the essential broth here is what my schnoz senses. Car makers have workers who get their hands dirty, and have the gall to want a living wage, health care and an equitable pension.
I don’t follow the x’s and o’s of the negotiations but the indelible impression I get is that the workers hard earned share of the profit is continually being eroded to compensate for the 19th century decisions of the Learjet crowd. Much of the Bible is so outdated that it makes Henry Ford look like Captain Kirk, but the passage above would make any blogger proud to post.
Last night the legislative game of chicken collapsed when the Republicans led by Senator Bob Corker revolted against the earlier plan because they thought it did not go far enough in forcing contracts on the UAW. They demanded deep wage cuts for union workers, killing the legislative plan and threatening America’s carmakers with bankruptcy.
Do you recall the faintest whisper of any such ultimatums for the cuff link cadre? Gov. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan confirmed my hunch. This morning she expressed anger at the failure of the Senate to act on the bailout package.
“It’s such an unbelievable stab at workers across the country. Washington gave a bailout to the financial institutions, and did not ask a single question, the governor said, “then lay the blame for the auto industry, which is a victim of this financial meltdown, on the backs of the people who are working on the line.”
Brother James continues his sermonette.
You have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
Yesterday the maintenance guy at my apartment complex came to repair my persistently leaky kitchen faucet. He was planning on replacing the entire fixture until his supervisor knocked on my door instructing him to exchange only the valve. After his boss left he peered over his glasses as I sat writing this piece in the living room. He apologized. “Sorry, I wanted to give you a completely new fixture but they only care about money. I think you need one. As they say, those who have the gold make the rules.”
In an odd twist of Providential emphasis the maintenance man is a spittin’ image of Wally Cox. He was the voice of one of my favorite cartoons growing up, “Underdog.”
Synchronicity spouts off like Old Faithful! Is there a greater underdog in the world than the salt of the earth worker?
It is absurdly consistent that those who constantly have Jesus on their lips carry out actions “slandering his noble name.” James gives the altar call with a simple to say, tough to live teaching. Here is how not to slander Jesus.
If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
