Exodus 22:24-26

24 If thou lend money to any of My people, even to the poor with thee, thou shalt not be to him as a creditor; neither shall ye lay upon him interest. 25 If thou at all take thy neighbour’s garment to pledge, thou shalt restore it unto him by that the sun goeth down; 26 for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin; wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto Me, that I will hear; for I am gracious. Exodus 22:24-26.

This passage talks about lending money to the poor. Although a creditor could take collateral in exchange for a loan but it had to be reasonable. If the creditor took one’s cloak (coat) as collateral he had to return it at sundown so that one could cover up at night. However, if the creditor was loaning money without collateral he was strictly prohibited from charging interest on that loan so long as it was a loan to someone who was poor.

The Bible does not seem to indicate that you could not charge interest to someone who was not “poor.” How blatantly simple does this sound? A creditor should only charge interest to those who can afford it! It seems like it is an easy enough concept that even a fifth grader could understand it.

Now let’s look at the analysis of the credit industry. If you are poor, if you are unemployed, if you cannot afford to put food on the table, I as the credit card industry am not only going to charge you interest but I am going to charge you anywhere from 6% to 36% interest which is astronomically higher than what I would charge Warren Buffet any day of the week. This line of thinking makes me wonder of why our government continues to allow a system that is evil and destructive to its very core.

I don’t think it necessarily evil because it does not follow biblical teachings. I use the Bible solely as a reference starting point. I believe the credit industry is evil because it has been allowed to rip this country apart through its ad campaigns and its low teaser rates. I think the credit industry is evil because a credit limit is a drug that has hooked so many Americans with no relief but to file bankruptcy. Finally, I think the credit industry is evil because it has hooked its claws so deep into young Americans that they are volunteering to go to war just to pay their credit card debt. Although this particular article says that it is rare to volunteer to get out of debt I know that are far more stories out there that have not been told.

I wonder what guideline, book or rules that the credit industry follows when doing business? I dare say it is not the Bible, Qur’an, the Book of Mormon or Talmud. No matter which faith you belong to you there is a universal component of compassion for the poor.

The main goal of the credit industry appears to be: Let’s help the rich get richer and slaughter the poor with our interest rates and credit limits. When is our government going to step in to regulate the credit industry?

Written by Kansas City Bankruptcy Lawyer, Rachel Lynn Foley.