Absolute Disregard For Others: Plundered Wealth, Laundered Money, and the Possibility of Sin and Evil

Franklin Foer’s article in the March 2019 Atlantic Monthly “How Kleptocracy Came to America” provides the jumping off point for today’s show. You don’t need to read the article to understand today’s show, but if you’re curious, here is the link:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/03/how-kleptocracy-came-to-america/580471/

What elements of American culture over the last quarter century have made us the “go-to” country for money laundering and tax avoidance by the world’s grifters? Does the concept of sin, and the category of evil, help us understand what in God’s name is happening to our country?

What In God’s Name approaches current events and culture not from a partisan political angle, not from a money and economics angle, not from a technological and scientific angle, but from a theological and philosophical angle.

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Here are timecodes to help you navigate through today’s show:

01:02    Chris shares a little of his story of coming to Christianity later in life, having first survived being raised by irreligious hippie parents.

02:33    Franklin Foer’s article in The Atlantic: what does kleptocracy mean, and how has the United States become involved?

06:02    What are the values of kleptocrats? What are American values? As Shayna points out, are there parts of American culture that are “receptive” to kleptocracy and greed? Do some of the values in a capitalistic system that appeal to human selfishness make us vulnerable to kleptocratic values? Where is the public good, in these value systems?

09:14    What does sin have to do with our seeming indifference at being the world leader in shielding dark money? How is sin a helpful hermeneutical tool? How has the word been cheapened?

13:52    Where in our culture do we talk ethics and morality?

15:52    Shayna introduces the sailing metaphor. How apt is this metaphor? What does it illuminate? If we lose the capacity to talk about sin and evil, are we progressing as a society in the direction of enlightenment, or have we lost an important tool to help us find our way?

18:22    Chris defines evil. How would you define evil?

20:38    The importance of stories to connect us with each other, to connect us with a higher purpose and meaning, and to connect us with a God or gods, or with no gods, as the case may be.