usury
Illustration by Sam Brewster
IF IT'S CURRENT, it’s cool. Anything old, unless it’s retro, is worth ignoring. C.S. Lewis called that attitude “chronological snobbery.” He defined it as “the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate of our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that count discredited.” Such an approach carries two distinct but related dangers: One, as Arthur Lindsley of the C.S. Lewis Institute put it, “we need the help of past ages in order to see our own times more clearly.” And two, we lose the ability to benefit from truths discerned by our predecessors — the wisdom of the ages.
Image via James R. Martin / Shutterstock.com
White House officials have joined faith leaders in endorsing an end to payday lending abuses that often charge triple-digit interest rates. Valerie Jarrett, Cecilia Munoz, and Jeff Zients, all top aides to President Obama, met April 14 with religious leaders from across the country who described “heart-wrenching stories” of congregants whose lives had been ravaged by payday loans.