Two blocks away from the First Bank of the United States, sits Independence Hall. And right in front of Independence Hall sits the Liberty Bell, with an inscription that reads:
"Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof", which is a biblical reference to the Jubilee, found in the Book of Leviticus.
The Jubilee is G-d’s command, that every 50 years, slaves are to be set free, land must be returned to its original owner and all land is to lay fallow (no crops can be grown for one year).
This part of Leviticus is rooted in the belief, that G-d owns all the land on earth in perpetuity, and grants people crop years, never ownership of the land itself. Likewise, G-d holds that here on earth, people belong to their families, therefore anyone forced to sell themselves (as slaves) to feed their families, must be returned to their families during the Jubilee. Just to be clear, if a man is enslaved 49 years after a Jubilee, he must be freed in one year (during the next Jubilee).
Both these Jubilee requirements, prevented the sin of usury (interest) from holding onto land and slaves (to wit, no one could morally claim, this slave paid his debt but still owes me interest on interest). That the SIN of usury was the foundation for the sharecropper system during Jim Crow cannot be overstated (so I capitalized it).
Parts of the bible like this is the reason that slave bibles were printed. Slave bibles removed anything and everything that would have told slaves, that the people enslaving them were d’evils (who were knowingly violating divine law). Instead, slave bibles contained only versus regarding slave behaviour. Removing “honor thy master” from its context was pure evil. That slave bibles also eliminated all of Exodus – the story of Moses leading his people OUT of slavery and G-d parting the Red Sea to give them safe passage – is the epitome of evil.
Apparently, the train of thought you put me on hasn’t reached its destination.
While the Catholic church preached all Hell against the SIN of usury (interest on loans), monarchs and the Pope still needed to “fund” their wars for power. In the 1100s, the Catholic church’s private military, known as the Knights of Templar, established the first bank in Europe. The Knights of Templar fought the Crusades, murdering, torturing and terrorizing their way through Europe, while protecting pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land. One of the Knights’ protections included safeguarding pilgrims’ money, by allowing them to deposit their money in Europe and withdrawing it in the Holy Land. The Knights banking services grew and grew, until Crown Jewels were being used as collateral for loans. By the 1500s, merchant bankers were in the business of buying and selling debts all over Europe.
Mr. Edwards, I can’t recall commenting on your work before, so if I am out of line here, please let met me know. For now, I thank you for the train of thought.
