WaPo‘s Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite abuses both her position as a Washington Post writer and as someone charged with the heady responsibility of covering areas of religious faith.
This has to be read to be believed:
We need to start taking student loan debt seriously, both as a troubling moral issue and as a ticking economic time bomb. By some reports, student loan debt in the U.S. will exceed 1 trillion dollars this year, more than the credit card debt of all Americans.
A whole generation of young Americans is at risk in this excessive borrowing. They fall further and further behind in “servicing their debt” because they have no way to keep up with the payments as many of them are unemployed or underemployed. They will delay starting marriage and families; they dare not take the risk of quitting a paying job (if they have one!) and starting their own business to create jobs, and they certainly cannot save to buy a home. They are trapped.
Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12) Forgiving debt is a moral issue. Forgiving some of the worst of this student debt is crucial literally to save this American generation.
[…]
Currently, I’m advocating debt forgiveness. It is the moral thing to do and it is the right civic thing to do. This is what Jesus actually meant; real debts, real debtors, forgiving and forgiven. This is what government is actually about–of the people, by the people, for the people. We still have a chance to show young people that democracy can work for the common good.
This woman is not only drunk with her own power, she’s also way, way out of line. And what a simpleton to think the answer to this complicated question is as cut and dried as she presents it.
After all, who holds that trillion dollar student loan note?
Not the evil banks or even the evil 1%. Not the moneychangers and not the Romans.
We the taxpayers own that trillion dollar note. And some of us taxpayers never enjoyed the benefit of a college education because we couldn’t afford one, and we surely can’t afford another trillion dollars added to the deficit just to benefit the college-educated elite.
And how “Christian” is it really to start giving away college educations? If we’re going to spend a trillion dollars in the name of Jesus, there are more pressing needs in the world than a bunch of young, healthy, educated twenty-somethings blessed to live in the richest country on Earth. Cancer, world hunger, and our veterans strike me as a higher priority.
Furthermore, debt during the time of Jesus was an entirely different matter as compared to today. People went to jail then; they went hungry and could end up homeless. What’s the worst that can happen to today’s college graduates saddled with loans? They can’t buy a Porsche? Regardless, nobody goes to jail and nobody goes hungry in this country over unpaid loans. The worse case scenario is that you struggle, and it’s those early struggles in life that build character.
Moreover, what would forgiving this debt do to the debtors themselves? Is it really God’s grace to teach young people irresponsibility and that there are no consequences for your actions? Teaching someone that their word means nothing isn’t exactly in line with my idea of helping others, especially in the area that matters most — and that’s character. If you want to ensure someone lives a miserable, un-Christian life, do everything in your power to turn them into a spoiled, entitled crybaby who wants something for nothing.
Finally, forgiving all this debt will hurt society as a whole. It would only prolong the inevitable burst of the tuition bubble. The only reason tuition is so obnoxiously high is because of government student loans — because the government makes getting all of this money too easy. Until the bubble bursts, nothing’s going to change for the better.
This is just me speculating out loud. Politically I know I’m right but I’m certainly not going to use Jesus Christ as some kind of cynical trump card to back up my worldly beliefs. But what I do know is that this pompous Washington Post writer didn’t even consider the many moral ramifications involved in this issue before coming to her sanctimonious conclusion.
As a conservative Christian, I can only hope and pray that what I politically believe in and advocate for is in line with my faith. As a matter of fact, this question is a daily struggle of mine and something I seek guidance for through prayer.
The thought of summoning the arrogance necessary to say Jesus Christ would agree with me on taxes or health care or student loans is, in a word, unthinkable.
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