introduction

In his famous soliloquy and song, “If I Were a Rich Man,” Tevye dreams of a “big, tall house with rooms by the dozen,” with a “fine tin roof with real wooden floors.” Outside the house, he dreams of a “yard with chicks and turkeys and geese and ducks.” He dreams of a wife with plenty to eat and “a proper double-chin.” As for himself, Tevye dreams of having “the time that I lack to sit in the synagogue and pray… discuss the holy books with the learned men, several hours every day” To him, “that would be the sweetest thing of all.”
 
We all have dreams. Even at nearly 70, I still do. One of my dreams involves Hebrew prophets. I wish they would come back; return in a renaissance of prophetic discernment and courage. Prophets like Jeremiah, Amos, Micah, and Isaiah. Today’s religious leaders—whether the go by prophet, priest, or pastor—seem not up to the task, lacking both discernment and courage. They seem utterly blind and mute to sin, unless it involves human genitalia.
 
This Mad State post is the third in an ongoing series entitled, “Healing Our Brokenness Inadequately” The title takes its cue from Jeremiah 6.14 in which the prophet laments the ineffectual and specious ministry of Judah’s prophets. In this series, we explore specific examples of individual and societal sins about which religious leaders remain willfully blind or, if sighted, stubbornly mute… and therefore complicit. With these examples in mind, we will imagine what a Hebrew prophet might have to say if he were to come to us from the past. Here, then, is our third example.
 
 

  the IRS, the national debt, and the GOP

The Hill recently posted a piece authored by Tobias Burns and Aris Folley entitled, “GOP plan to ‘offset’ Israel aid with IRS cuts would backfire, budget experts warn.” In it, the authors report that the alleged purpose of recently proposed GOP budget cuts to the IRS was to reduce the federal deficit. The piece pointed out that, in fact, the deficit would increase by tens of billions of dollars over the coming years, partly because a reduction in the IRS’ would stymy its efforts to collect tax dollars from rich tax cheats.
 
Now, we do not doubt the author’s reporting. No doubt, GOP leaders have spoken as the authors report. However, we are galled by the continued gullibility of the press, which continues to report the lie that the GOP cares anything about reducing the national debt—surely the unjust tax breaks given to the wealthy during TFG’s administration should have put that lie to bed once and for all. In fact, the GOP’s interest in reducing the IRS budget is much more sinister.
 
First off, the right simply wants to poke their finger in the left’s eye. It’s a fetish for them, really. So insecure are they in their own skin, that whether any action makes sense or not, it makes them feel good to think they might have gotten under a lib’s skin. So, because the left gave more money to the IRS, the right wants to take it away. The GOP is a party of immature pettiness and profound and pitiful insecurity. Tragically for our nation, even its highest leaders seem to have never matured beyond a high school level of student leadership.
 
Second, and more seriously, the modern GOP, including the House’ newest Speaker, does not believe in the federal government—imagine that! … voters putting anti-government insurgents in government positions, a trend that began a generation ago with Ronald Regan. But then, those who vote such traitors into office are “a stiffnecked people, insomuch that they [can] not be governed by the law nor justice, save it [is] to their destruction” (Hel. 5.3).
 
Speaker Johnson of the congress and his GOP marauders are like Book of Mormon kingmen who wish to alter the laws “in a manner to overthrown the free government” and establish an oligarchy (See Al. 51.5)—in the present case a “Christian” Nationalist autocracy akin to Hitler’s “National Socialists.” Cutting the IRS budget is meant to further this unhallowed aim. Many in the modern GOP are simply agents of chaos.
 
Neutering the IRS is intended to starve the federal government and assist in the GOP insurgency against the federal government. But neutering the IRS has a third goal. By neutering the IRS, the GOP can severely curtail the discovery of tax cheats and the holding of them accountable. After the blasphemous doctrine of such wicked wizards as Milton Friedman, the GOP believes that wealthy individuals and corporations, notoriously adept tax cheats and thus cheaters of the public weal, have no obligation to society, let alone to the federal government. Their only obligation is to other rich people, i.e., shareholders, and corporations. In addition, by sheltering the wealthy from having their fraud discovered and assisting them in avoiding their just responsibilities to society, the GOP can continue to be beneficiaries of the bribery that wealthy individuals and corporations are all too willing to pay for the privilege of not paying into the welfare of society.

 
 
  lies, lies, and more lies

Now, we could howl about any one of the multiple sins found in the GOP’s most recent attack on the IRS and the motives that inspire them. We could, for example, talk about how its love of money is the root of this and most other GOP evils. Or we could talk about the treachery of these modern-day king men and the danger they pose to American society and democracy. But, really, we have done all this many times over in the past. So, today, we choose to address the simple fact of their lying—and no, as we have stopped trying to keep up with the party leader’s… you know TFG… legendary and too-numerous-to-count lies, we will not address them.
 
AS we contemplate the stream of lies that come from the GOP, we think of the words spoken by the Hebrew prophet, Jeremiah.
 
“Take ye heed every one of his neighbour,
   and trust ye not in any brother:
for every brother will utterly supplant,
   and every neighbour will walk with slanders.
And they will deceive every one his neighbour,
   and will not speak the truth:
they have taught their tongue to speak lies,
   and weary themselves to commit iniquity.
Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit;
   through deceit they refuse to know me,
      saith the LORD” (9.4-6).
 
So untrustworthy, so steeped in a lying spirit did individuals of ancient Israelite society become that Micah went so far as to warn citizens against trusting even the wife who laid in bed next to them (See Mic. 7.5)—one cannot doubt that the man laying in bed next to his wife was no more trustworthy. We live in such days of deceit. Alternative facts abound. Silly and irrational conspiracy theories proliferate. Lying is as natural as breathing. It seems, sometimes, to be the default position. The new national pastime.
 
Some lie because they are simply liars. More often, perhaps, others lie because they believe they are being lied to. Scripture is clear about the fate of the first class of liars: “all liars, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie… shall have their part in that lake which burneth with fire and brimstone” (DC 63.17). The second class of liar is no better off as they have yielded to the satanic voice that says,
 
“‘Deceive and lie in wait to catch, that ye may destroy; behold, this is no harm.’”
 
“Thus,” the Lord charges,
 
“he flattereth them, and telleth them that it is no sin to lie that they may catch a man in a lie, that they may destroy him. And thus he flattereth them, and leadeth them along until he draggeth their souls down to hell…” (DC 10.25-26).
 
Now, to be clear, in the end, lying is not really about “alternative facts,” and “false data.” It is really less about speaking and more about doing. Lying is about doing harm. Those who knowingly lie possess a secret intent to harm other individuals and to disrupt society.
 
The Speaker of the House and his cronies mean to do harm when they lie about their motivation for cutting the IRS budget. They mean to harm the federal government. And they mean to harm our entire society, all for the sake of doing a favor for their wealthy bribers. Though I would disagree vehemently with them, I might respect them if they would tell the truth and own up to the true motivations for their proposed budget cuts—but, of course, they can’t tell the truth about their real motives because, though reasonably upset with it at times, most Americans believe the Federal government has an important role to play in society. Those Americans would run the liars out of town were they to tell the truth. The liars know this. Hence the lies.
 
So, what would the Hebrew prophets have to say about this were they to come back? Would they say anything? You bet they would. Any self-respecting prophet would. I am not prophet, but I can imagine it might sound something like this.
 

A cause of lamentation and warning!
Slaves to Master Mammon,
colluders with wealthy bribers--
for who can bribe but the monied?
Slaves, colluders, and bribers, together,
insurgent insiders,
mutineers inside the halls of governance
marauders inside American business
stingy, tight-fisted, greedy, lust-driven
plunder cherished institutions and structures
slashing holes in the fabric of society
razing protection of the defenseless,
creating chaos with their lies
and anarchy for the root of all evil.
 
Masters of lying lips,
virtuosos of the deceitful tongue
dress themselves in the garb of patriot,
cloak their mutiny in virtue,
their lying lips, poison,
their deceitful tongue, daggers,
their garb, camouflage,
cloaks to hide their vice.
 
May they be ripped, and razed;
plundered as they have plundered.
May the poison of their lips flow inward;
their daggers of deceit slash backwards.
May Lying Mammon abandon them;
leave them penniless and poor paupers 
shackled in darkness, cloaked in obscurity,
victims of the chaos they created.
 
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

  introduction

In his famous soliloquy and song, “If I Were a Rich Man,” Tevye dreams of a “big, tall house with rooms by the dozen,” with a “fine tin roof with real wooden floors.” Outside the house, he dreams of a “yard with chicks and turkeys and geese and ducks.” He dreams of a wife with plenty to eat and “a proper double-chin.” As for himself, Tevye dreams of having “the time that I lack to sit in the synagogue and pray… discuss the holy books with the learned men, several hours every day” To him, “that would be the sweetest thing of all.”
 
We all have dreams. Even at nearly 70, I still do. One of my dreams involves Hebrew prophets. I wish they would come back; return in a renaissance of prophetic discernment and courage. Prophets like Jeremiah, Amos, Micah, and Isaiah. Today’s religious leaders—whether the go by prophet, priest, or pastor—seem not up to the task, lacking both discernment and courage. They seem utterly blind and mute to sin, unless it involves human genitalia.
 
This Mad State post is the second in an ongoing series entitled, “Healing Our Brokenness Inadequately” The title takes its cue from Jeremiah 6.14 in which the prophet laments the ineffectual and specious ministry of Judah’s prophets. In this series, we explore specific examples of individual and societal sins about which religious leaders remain willfully blind and stubbornly mute… and therefore complicit. With these examples in mind, we will imagine what a Hebrew prophet might have to say if he were to come to us from the past.
 
 
  billionaire row and housing insecurity

In an article by Liz Theoharis on the site, TomDispatch, entitled, “The US Government Has Abandoned the Nation’s Poor,” Theoharis reminds us of the existence of a grouping of tall ultra-luxury residential towers known as “Billionaires’ Row” that can be found at the southern end of New York City’s Central Park. 

​In these modern-day manors, the wealthy purchase luxurious condos and penthouses for 10’s of millions of dollars—some for well over 100 million dollars—or rent apartments for 10’s of thousands of dollars a month.

Several investigations and studies have revealed that many of the condos, penthouses, and apartments in these great and spacious buildings; these monuments to decadence remain unsold or unrented. Many of the condos, penthouses, and apartments that have been sold or rented remain without inhabitants. Many that have been sold, rented, and furnished remain unoccupied for all but a few weeks of the year, while others remain furnished and unoccupied year-round.
 
It is an open secret that for many developers and purchasers these condos and penthouses serve only as tax havens to hide money lest it be used for the public good and/or as laundry mats to clean dirty money. For the “less corrupt,” the condos, penthouses, and apartments are simply somewhere to put money that they have no earthly idea what else to do with.
 
Meanwhile, due to inadequate wages and predatory rent prices due—both, no doubt, championed and practiced by the very people buying space in the great and spacious buildings—on real planet earth and in New York City, 10’s of thousands of individuals and families are racked with anxiety and worry over the prospect of losing their homes, living in cars, tents, or cardboard boxes.
 
It is difficult to imagine how an actual Christian could countenance such corruption in a nation they claim as “Christian.” It is impossible to imagine an actual Christian participating in such corruption of individual integrity and public welfare. And it is the height of unfathomable grotesqueness that Christian leaders—prophet, priest, or pastors—should remain mute or refrain from just criticism of such immoral decadency and inhuman indecency.
 
To be sure, the Hebrew prophets would not be silenced by the intimidating arrogance of the self-promoting and self-justifying wealthy. Indeed, as we have commented elsewhere, Isaiah, for one, did address a kind of housing piracy not unlike this one.[1]
 
“A cause of lamentation and warning! There are those who merge homestead after homestead,
   combine property after property
until there’s nothing left
   and you dwell by yourself in the heart of the property” (Is. 5.8).
 
Though Isaiah does not mention it here, there can be little doubt that such ancient real estate practices did nothing to better the lives of vulnerable people, but only served to create additional insecurity and homelessness among them. But, here we are in New York, a few wealthy taking up enough resources and space to house thousands.
 
No, I don’t expect developers to invite the poor in to live in the palaces they built for the rarified. I expect, if not the developers, then those with conscience to build affordable living for the vulnerable. That’s what a real Christian nation would do. Jesus may have encouraged his disciples to be more anxious for their eternal soul than their temporal body, but he did not intend his disciples to live without physical shelter or to, themselves, direct a full-scale attack on the emotional peace or temporal existence of their fellow beings. 
 
Yes, these rich New Yorkers are like those ancient rich Israelites.
 
“They covet tracts of farmland, and find a way to steal them.
   They covet houses, and seize them.
Thus, they violently extort a property owner of their home,
   and an individual of their property” (Mic. 2.2, author’s translation).
 
Yes, that’s right. I accuse those rich New Yorkers (and the society that condones and even lionizes their behavior) of what is tantamount to violent extortion which robs others of the security of home. They are the modern-day equivalent of medieval barons living lavishly in their defended castles in complete disregard for the welfare of landless serfs. Yes, those rich New Yorkers would do well to answer the very pertinent question and heed the applicable warning issued by Jeremiah.
 
“Shalt thou reign,
   because thou closest thyself in cedar?
Did not thy father eat and drink,
   and do judgment and justice,
      and then it was well with him?
He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
   then it was well with him:
was not this to know me? 
   saith the LORD.
But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for
   thy covetousness,
and for to shed innocent blood,
   and for oppression, and for violence, to do it” (Jer. 22.15-17)
 
 
  conclusion

True followers of Jesus would see what has been happening on the south side of New York’s most famous park—and many other places from sea to shining sea—for what it is. Theft and pillage committed by the wealthy against the disadvantaged, vulnerable, and powerless. True Christians would not actively participate in such theft and pillage, nor become complicit in it through inaction or silence. They would not elect politicians who legislate in such ways as to make such behavior possible, and certainly not “legal.” Furthermore, it is certain that true prophets, priests, and pastors would speak up and denounce the decadent covetousness that does violence against the disadvantaged—a violence that has certainly led to many a failed heart and early death.
 
Yes, that’s right. We see red when we look up at those monstrosities of covetousness and greed and hubris that line the south side of Central Park. We see the red of human blood dripping from the shimmering windows of New York City’s Billionaire Row.
 
The cowardly silence of modern-day prophet’s, priests, and pastors is profoundly shameful and unlike the vocal courage of the Hebrew prophets as well as that of Jesus of Nazareth. If they were around today, we can imagine that we might hear something like this:
 

A cause of lamentation and warning!
Glittering palaces march in line on Billionaire’s Row.
Manors of lustful warlords.
Castles of entitled and privileged crusaders.
Plantations of merciless masters.
Idolatrous temples of human sacrifice.
 
Like shafts of biting steel,
shards of cutting glass
and long, jagged, and gnashing teeth,
they rend wind and sky,
and, worse, shred the flesh of everyday working people,
Declaring war on humanity.
 
Ordinary folks, seen as lesser,
lack capital, resources, and reserves,
and experience needless and unwarranted anxiety.
Will they lose what little they have, their humble abode?
Will the open sky become their only roof,
motor cars and cardboard boxes their bed?
 
But hardened lords of the manors,
masters of the high and haughty domains,
high priests and priestesses of fertility,
like those of babel’s tower,
build siege ramps to storm the heavens,
challenge God’s rule,
and defy His best wishes and just counsel.
 
Consumed by greed and lust, insatiable appetite,
hubris, pride, arrogance, self-centeredness, false self-importance,
and contempt for fellow citizens--
siblings for whom they have not a care--
they feed on their own unfortunate kin
engorge themselves with the flesh of the powerless.
 
May their mammon molder, their stocks slide,
and their glittering gold turn to fine dust.
May their edifices, monuments of ignominy,
and symbols of human depravity,
creak and crack, crumble and corrode;
totter, wobble, tilt and implode.
 
May the builders and their clientele with whom they collude
find no lasting abode
but in dark, and damp dungeons of lower earth,
patrolled by guards and jailers of like mind as they.
May they gnash their teeth in bottomless pits,
where light and sky ever hide from occupants,
 
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!


[1] See our meditations on Isaiah 5.8-10.