A little change of pace for today's post. Because of all the Wall Street headlines dominating the news, here are several stories that are examining the intersect of faith and finance.
“Christian” Real Estate
The Washington Post is running
an interesting story that looks at a new trend in the real estate world—agents using their Christian faith to promote their businesses. There’s even a large association, the Christian Real Estate Network, that connects agents with clients through referrals. The problem is, the group’s original policy of only allowing traditional Christian denominations into the group (and not say, Jehovah’s Witnesses) violated a brokerage law by The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In fact, some of the real estate agents have concerns that using Christianity to promote their business violates anti-discrimination laws. And though observant Muslims and Jews practicing Kosher law also have their own real estate groups, faith-based business practices often walk a fine line when it comes to obeying laws prohibiting discrimination based on religion.
Faith and the Stock Market
Speaking of faith and business,
Time magazine has decided to examine this hot-button question: “
Which Religion Picks the Best Stocks?” The story looks at how several of the word’s major religions have invested in mutual funds—and which ones have chosen winners. At least they’re not afraid of stirring the pot.
A Cure for Consumerism?
Do Americans suffer from “chronic materialism”? And even if we do spend lots of money and are some of the world’s top consumers (almost two-thirds of the American economy is from consumer spending), how does this conflict with Christian values. Well, regardless of what you think about Christianity and consumption, according to the
Los Angeles Times, the current “
Acute economic crisis may cure the nation's chronic materialism”
Methodists Go Fair Trade
According to
this press release, the United Methodist Church is encouraging members who are participating in trick or treating this Halloween, to use only Fair Trade chocolate. They’ve partnered with the group Equal Exchange to assure that the candy they are promoting will benefit small-scale farmers whose families depend on them receiving a fair wage for their work in developing countries. Of course, you probably have your own opinion about Halloween in general and the practices of the United Methodist Church regarding Halloween, but I do think that seeing a denomination endorse a practice like Fair Trade is a sign of how churches and Christian groups can actively promote a practice that makes a difference in fighting world poverty.