Minister Denounces Cash-Conscious Society: Greed, Graft, Covetousness

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 27, 5 March 1948, Page 4

Minister Denounces Cash-Conscious Society: Greed, Graft, Covetousness

Today’s tragedy is not the Mighty Dollar—it is the greed and selfishness of man, creating man’s inhumanity to man. The conversion of the dollar to its correct relationship with man depends upon the conversion of man to a correct ship with God. Those striking passages come from a thought-provoking sermon preached by the Rev. F. J. Climo, Whakatane Methodist Minister, on Sunday. Mr Climo, preaching with force and sincerity, struck out vig r orously at the evils engendered by the cash-consciousness of modern society. - Entitling his address “Christ and the Mighty Dollar,” Mr Climo led off by admitting there was a certain amount of truth in the saying that money speaks all languages and can give almost anything” to the . man who can get enough of it. Many friendships, or so-called friendships, he said were dependent upon our ability to pay for commodities. The housewife’s peace of mind was governed by her ability to meet her commitments. Income And Social Status Man had allowed his income to decide his social status, Mr Climo said. According to his income, so a man was permitted to fit into the social life of the community. The tendency to respect a man for his material possessions rather than for his worth a's a man was all too common. Humanity’s chief worry now and in every past age, the preacher contended, was to maintain status in the community by keeping above the border line of financial sufficiency. And back of every man’s consciousness lurked the fear of tomorrow’s needs. Isaiah a had summed up the troubles in our social and community life centuries back when he put the pertinent question: Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Shylocks Behind The Scenes Even at this advanced stage of civilisation, the world’s systems of finance and economy were not satisfying man’s every need, Mr Climo asserted. Money, • originally introduced as a means of exchange of goods, had failed to give the world a fair distribution of real wealth, the goods that went to make life happier and more comfortable. It was an irrefutable fact that many races were not enjoying a deecnt standard of living. The age-old struggle for food and clothing was still going on. Modern conditions denied the right of every man to his share in God’s providence. In the economic systems employed throughout the world, activating principle ..was the survival of the fittest, and the “fittest” were the Shylocks behind the scenes of high finance.