Thou Shalt Not Steal?

Making this correlation is like saying, "Tuna fish are responsible for dolphin casualties, because they get caught in the same net." This diatribe against Christians is frightening: Nazis made almost the same accusations against Jews in Europe last century.
But I am flabbergasted that Newsweek would have the audacity to make such an outrageous correlation without checking their facts. Why do you assume the areas you peg as heavily Christian mean that conservative Christians = predatory lender, and not its customer base? Where are your facts? Or is the truth not as important as your need to slander?

Making this correlation is like saying, "Tuna fish are responsible for dolphin casualties, because they get caught in the same net." This diatribe against Christians is frightening: Nazis made almost the same accusations against Jews in Europe last century.
But I am flabbergasted that Newsweek would have the audacity to make such an outrageous correlation without checking their facts. Why do you assume the areas you peg as heavily Christian mean that conservative Christians = predatory lender, and not its customer base? Where are your facts? Or is the truth not as important as your need to slander?

I can not believe the vile, unfounded comments about Christians. It is absurd to suggest that payday lenders are directly related to conservative Christians!!!! Have you considered that this lenders prey where there are low income / socioeconomics---and that it has NOTHING to do with conservative Christians or their organizations. I find it incredulous that there are Americans spouting such hatred (or at best predjudice) to fellow Americans. NO, I am not in a high income group. Surely you know most Christian organizations depend on donations and are not wealthy. Politicians are responsible for these type parasitic organizations being allowed. It really bothers me as a Christian that you have a distrust and dislike for those of us who honestly try to follow our leader, Jesus Christ. I am a member of a Southern Baptist church. Our members sacrifice to help our community, have gone to New Orleans and worked and will be going on a mission trip in 1 week to work. I ask you to stop listening and reading the bad press; go to some church websites and find out what they do with their time and money.

I suppose it is politically incorrect to correlate either phenomenon with IQ or SAT scores.
What I see is yet another example that defines the Conservative movement: an unholy alliance between those who would bring back sweatshops, and those who are destined to work in them.

Continued: Not a wealth in terms of material objects or money. There is a big problem with Conservatives who want wealth in terms of money while trying to claim Biblical authority. Big business and Christianity or Capitalist Christianity are oxymoronic or a ideological paradox. Please for the love of God stop the insanity. A God would not like Greed for that which is Material, that which is not of spirit, that which is so called "evil".

Most Conservative Religious Christians are out of touch with Jesus's directives for who can be a follower of Christ. Have they not read "To be a follower you must give up all your earthly possesions," -(paraphrase) or "giving to the poor"? There is this new idea of striving for wealth by some Church leaders. I do believe that when the Bible mentions wealth, the idea is originating in a wealth of spirit or wealth in the knowledge of God.

I don't see any correlation between conservative Christianity and the rise of predatory lenders. The correlation is between financially desperate Americans and predatory lenders. Victims of our economic policies all across the nation have fueled the rise of this practice. Capitalist Christianity (that version of the teachings of Jesus practiced here) is neutral on issues like this. Though Jesus had plenty to say about personal economics, his tenets are of necessity dropped at the church door on the way out. Jesus' teachings translated into our time and place are simply socialism, and we all know how much God hates socialism.

As an evangelical of sorts (I'm voting Obama and have issues w/ much of evangelicalism over their treatment of women in the pulpit and in marriages), I find this article depressing. I would say it may have as much or more to do with geographical locations as with faith... though I am not trying to dismiss the faith factor altogether. This main issue is this: Have we American Christians done a bad job separating our faith from our cultural assumptions? Nationalism, a health/wealth gospel, and various other viruses have infected the Body the Christ throughout this nation's history. It is up to us as believers in Christ to do a better job filtering out these potentially deadly "memes" (to borrow an atheist writer's concept!) from our previously unexamined assumptions.

Jon Trott / Chicago

Certain states more pay day lenders; These same states have more evangelicals or Mormons; Conclusion-- there must be relationship between having more pay day lenders and having more evangelicals or Mormons. Sounds logical? Then try this. The moon has no water; the moon has craters Conclusion-- there must be a relationship between having no water and having craters Sounds like an illogical leap to me

I am a former news journalist in Kansas City, MO. I can tell you right off the bat that A.) We should make no further comment to this story???it will only produce more of them. B.) The media DO have an agenda???to sell magazines and newspapers. They want to give us all something to fight over with no result other than their profit. C.) The illusion of a balanced and LOGICAL article usually typically is powered by an agenda???either from the publication or the author. D.) the comment below from jxntrader says it all as it. E.) Matthew 5:11-12???(Jesus) "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
F.) More money is made from war than from peace. Get a life Mr. Enright. And to the readers: Take it from a former news journalist???even if Christians fought the payday lenders tooth and nail, you would find a similar article blaming the Christians for something else. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE SOMETHING ELSE. Don't buy into the media game.

Each one of us should do something about this. Fingers shouldn't be pointed at Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists, or any particular group. It is a problem, period.

I am a SC Christian and I feel that these types of lenders are extremely predatory. The problem is that most areas that are Bible Belt are also very rural. Most live paycheck to paycheck. I won't patronize such a business and can't understand what kind of people make a living on the desparation of others. I wish that our Christian lawmakers would look at a bill that outlaws this kind of lending. It really is no different than loansharking.

This article is so stupid it hardly deserves a response. "The political power of conservative Christians" is purely arbitrary. Maybe there the bible belt states have a more entreprenurial spirit than urban states. You could take anything that's different from states "controlled" by conservatives and attribute that difference to the conservatives. Of course, left-leaning, Christian-hating, Moore-loving Newsweek readers will eat this up!

This article is so stupid it hardly deserves a response. "The political power of conservative Christians" is purely arbitrary. Maybe there the bible belt states have a more entreprenurial spirit than urban states. You could take anything that's different from states "controlled" by conservatives and attribute that difference to the conservatives. Of course, left-leaning, Christian-hating, Moore-loving Newsweek readers will eat this up!

This article is so stupid it hardly deserves a response. "The political power of conservative Christians" is purely arbitrary. Maybe there the bible belt states have a more entreprenurial spirit than urban states. You could take anything that's different from states "controlled" by conservatives and attribute that difference to the conservatives. Of course, left-leaning, Christian-hating, Moore-loving Newsweek readers will eat this up!

I wonder if the "religiously conscious" professors would also advocate the stoning of homosexuals, fornicators, and adulterers because they Bible also advocates those actions as well. These religiously non-affiliated professors conveniently use the Bible to point out the problems with the credit market. Usury, according to the Bible, is the charging of ANY interest. We can see how well the lack of credit has helped the average person in the Middle East where the charging of interest is prohibited by religious law.

I think it???s interesting that the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) is accusing payday lenders of targeting Christians. It appears that lenders are like any business and are targeting everyone who needs some extra money. CRL's own credit union, Self Help, has recently been found to be giving seven times more sub-prime adjustable rate mortgages to those who can least afford them. Then when the poor people can???t repay the loan the credit union forecloses on the home. That is the definition of "predatory lending." Lending those who cannot afford to repay the loan. CRL is just another wolf in sheep's clothing. CRL hates payday lending because it takes away from credit unions largest source of revenue: bounced check and overdraft protection fees. CRL and other credit unions motives are not entirely pure.

If anyone can offer short-term, high-risk cash loans less than payday lenders then they should jump in the market and offer these loans. Some say credit unions are doing this, but reality shows they can only do this if they hide the true APR (i.e. "participation & origination fees) and they get tax breaks.

banks and christians working the poor folks from both ends...
poor people don't have a chance, boy!
ha,ha,ha.