St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church

For many people, the priest is the person who tells people how to regulate their lives. For most people, this means sex. Abortion and homosexuality are aspects of this. Abortion becomes a way of regulating women's sexuality, and restrictions on homosexuality is a way of regulating men.

I recently updated our page about money. I tried to be as honest as I could about what the church needs, and how we might talk about it.

I'm convinced that churches can be the best local distributors of services to the indigent, the mentally ill, and the undocumented. I think, however, the theology gets in the way for most people.

One Atheist argued with me that the church is a money making institution. I admit, sometimes I wish it were. But that's not the experience of most churches, which struggle just to keep their buildings safe.

From Slate:

Bear Stearns has gone from $143 a share to $2 a share. It will be sold for $270 million dollars. The employees often have 30% of their stocks in the company.

One commentator on NPR remarked that the financial system was based fundamentally on trust, although the incentive structure was based on short-term personal gain. The combination creates deception.

Who pays?

Perhaps there was some employee who sold his stock options and is living in a modest apartment in Yonkers, drives a used car and has invested in triple A municipal bonds. Those would be the ones who survive.