c. 1997 Religion News Service

(Dale Hanson Bourke is the publisher of Religion News Service and the author of”Turn Toward the Wind.”)

UNDATED _ It is the simplest of all seductions: the promise of pleasure without sacrifice.

Easy terms. No money down. No payments until next year. The words beckon and the money is there for the taking. Who can resist?

Not many, as it turns out _ especially not those who enjoyed the economic boon of the ’80s and are now trying to live in the high style to which they have become accustomed.

Along with all-time lows in unemployment and all-time highs in stock prices, Americans have easy access to money _ the ability to borrow so we can shop until we literally drop.

These are the best of times for the U.S. economy. But even with all the positive indicators, it is the worst of times for many. Delinquencies on credit card payments have hit their highest levels and some economists worry our national love of debt may be our undoing.

Even as economists poke around the edges of our deficits, few are asking the harder questions: Is it moral for our society to promote personal debt so aggressively? Is it right to give tax benefits to those with long-term debt? Is it ethical to encourage some of our poorest citizens to incure more debt than they can reasonably carry?

Not too many years ago, debt was bad. Our parents rarely borrowed, except for a mortgage, and they celebrated when they owned their home free and clear. Today, few of us would consider paying off our mortgages, even if we had the money. Tax laws favor interest deductions, so we tend to refinance to make our payments last longer. And those whose homes have increased in value often borrow against them, taking the cash and increasing their debt.

Today, this is considered smart money management.

But why do our tax laws discriminate against those not in debt?

Because, as one economist believes, our economy works best when we live beyond our needs and means. In his classic”The Age of Paradox,”Charles Handy writes,”Economic growth depends, ultimately, on more and more people wanting more and more and more things.” Many economists concur with the notion that if we ever tried to return to a cash economy _ paying as we go _ the growing market would screech to a halt. Our financial institutions thrive on debt, and not only on long-term loans, but especially on the high percentage rates charged by credit card companies.

And if you should try to pay off that balance each month, beware. Many credit card companies are now assessing fees for so-called convenience users _ those who shun interest payments by paying off the entire amount each month.

As a huffy customer service agent said to me when I called to complain about a convenience fee assessed to one of my cards,”What’s good to you is bad for us. What good does it do us if you pay off your balance every month? We never make any money off of you then. You just use your card for convenience instead of credit.” The issue isn’t only that people like me, who have a basic distaste for debt, are penalized. It’s a basic ethical concern: People who barely make it from paycheck to paycheck are tempted by more and more consumer credit until they are forced to consolidate their debt into one huge loan with a repayment schedule stretching out for decades.”They made it so easy,”one woman said tearfully during a TV news feature on debt.”I thought someone would tell me when I shouldn’t borrow any more.” The fact is, indebtedness has become so woven into the fabric of our culture that it lacks the stigma it once carried. Donald Trump brags about how far he is leveraged _ as if he wasn’t talking about borrowing money. TV commercials tout loans”for those who have been denied before”. People routinely talk about paying the minimum payment on credit cards, a fee so small it seems calculated into coaxing them toward long-term debt.

Unfortunately, few sermons are preached on debt, and ethicists rarely discuss it.

But as a nation, we have come to define as good what the Bible calls usury. And rather than heed the biblical admonition of loaning without excessive interest, we instead are enticed into high-interest loans.

Eventually, debt catches up with a nation. And when it does, the illusionary promise of pleasure without sacrifice will be exposed.

MJP END BOURKE