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Defending The Common Good Against Mammon

Defending The Common Good Against Mammon

Last updated on: August 7, 2025 at 2:01 am by Henry Karlson

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Defending The Common Good Against Mammon 2025-08-07T02:01:35-05:00 Henry Karlson

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IK: Golden Trump From CPAC, Showing How The GOP Follows Mammon / flickr

We can’t serve God and mammon. The two lead us in two radically different directions. God is love, and to serve God, is to serve the expectations of love. Mammon, on the other hand, tries to become like God and imitate God by perverting what love is, making us hold money as being the absolute good, and the accumulation of money as our goal. It should not be difficult to see where this perversion leads: mammon has its adherents believe money as being more important than anything and anyone else. The love of God and the love of money, therefore, will have us react differently towards our neighbor; one will have us look after and take care of them, the other will see our neighbor as someone to use and exploit. Mammon has us consider every good in relation to money, while God will have us consider every good in relation to the dignity given to it by God.

It seems very clear to me that Christians who follow God, and God’s ways, will promote the common good, and see that government has an important role in establishing and preserving the common good. Christians should oppose all attempts of turning the government into a for-profit business because doing so undermines the purpose of government itself. Those who would like to turn government and its functions into business opportunities end up having no problem exploiting the people government is meant to help, and indeed, will decry helping them because helping them costs money instead of making it. This is why, when I see Christians supporting those Republicans who say the government should be run like a business, I see them as serving mammon instead of God, despite all attempts to designate themselves as Christians. They might, to be sure, be Christians, but their Christianity is defiled, and the more they stand up for those who make money instead of the welfare of the people, the more they risk Jesus denying them at the last judgment. I find the golden calf represents them quite well, for, just like the people of Israel claimed to follow God and made the golden calf to represent God, perverting the true image of God, so these Christians who follow mammon have perverted their own image of God to justify their rejection of the preferential option for the poor, replacing it with an option for the rich and powerful.

Much of what the government did to help the people when I was growing up, and through most of my adult life, has been destroyed by the Trump administration. Trump and his supporters justify it by saying that they are interested in saving the government money (or actually, making it, as for example, with the Post Office). The Trump administration plans to do this more and more. They are destroying the United States and its proper functionality, turning it into a business where the people are exploited and receive far less for a much greater cost. Those who would say businesses make things better do not understand how the profit motive makes sure that businesses give the least they can at the greatest price they think they can demand from the people, while the government, when it is properly doing its duty to promote the common good, will give the most it can, without consideration of making a profit and exploiting those who need its services.

The defunding and destruction of the Corporation for Publican Broadcasting by the Trump administration represents a good example of what is in store for the United States and its future. It shows us what those who follow mammon do. Their ways are destructive, as they undermine the common good. Public broadcasting stations have provided high quality programming for children and adults alike, enrichening the lives of countless numbers of peoples, because it did not have to follow the profit motive. This is now all going to be lost. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), once again, is being run by those who look for profit over the common good, which is why it is now being used to destroy sound environmental regulations so that businesses can make more money without having to consider the impact of what they do. The desire to treat the United States Postal Service as a business, once again, undermines the purpose of the service itself, which is not to make money, but to use governmental resources to help make the cost of mail cheaper to use than it would be if the service was done for profit (and indeed, there are for-profit services available for those who can afford them and want to use them). Social Security is another example; it is meant to have protect and preserve human life and human dignity; sadly, Republicans hate it and want to privatize it, which will make everything worse, especially for the poor, who will not be able to afford privatized retirement accounts (and if they are given some money to invest, investment by people who do not know what they are doing becomes quite a gamble, and most will not be successful, so they will have far less than they would have had if the money was properly managed by the government looking after the common good).

With all the harm which is being done to the poor, the needy, with the way they are finding their livelihood is being destroyed by a government which no longer is concerned about their welfare, I wish all Christians would come together and fight the evil which lies before them. But sadly, way too many are either complacent or support this evil. Too many say it would be better if the government stopped trying to help people; if that is the case, all the government will be doing is exploiting and using the people for its own private interests. How can any Christian support that? Jesus expressly said we are not to follow mammon, that is, putting profit over people. How can any Christian ignore the exploitation and destruction going on because the dictates and expectations of mammon put money ahead of God? Why do many of the culture warriors, those who complained about Christianity being persecuted, say nothing when it comes to something so fundamental and continue to address various secondary, minor concerns instead? When they are unwilling to take a stand against mammon, but actually support it and its ways, I cannot take them seriously; they show they do not understand (or worse, willing reject) basic moral principles promoted by Christ.

* This Is Another Post From My Personal (Informal) Reflections And Speculations Series

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N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

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