I by no means presume that reading South Dakota's pastor blogs makes up for not going to church. But it is good for my brain... and for everyone's financial thinking.
Father Tim bends our brains a bit by pointing out that Muslim Sharia loans don't make his hair stand on end. He looks at some arch-conservative freak-out-ery over federally bailed-out AIG's support of Sharia-compliant financing and notes that Sharia loans simply take seriously "God's prohibition of excessive interest and gimmicks that keep borrowers stuck in debt for the lender's profit."
Then Father Tim starts talking real revolution:
If AIG can come up with a Sharia-compliant loan, is it evidence that the interest rates charged to the rest of us are unnecessary and gratuitous? [Father Timothy Logan Fountain, "Sharia compliant loans - are they proof that lenders can survive without usury?," Northern Plains Anglican, 2011.01.26]
Some other religious observers seem to think Sharia loans are part of a vast conspiracy to indoctrinate us all into Islam. I suggest it is equally logical to speculate that the fundie-hype over Sharia loans is part of a vast corporate conspiracy to avoid competing models to the materialist crony capitalism that conflates patriotism and piety to protect its profits... from prophets.
Speaking of profits, just up the road, Father Tim's coreligionist, the Archer of the Forest (I'm still wondering where the forest is in Brookings County) is apparently nonplussed at this snippet of televangelist Joel Osteen dancing around his conspicuous wealth in an interview with Piers Morgan. Osteen suggest apologizing for wealth is "almost an insult to God" while his wife looks on in hypnotizing wide-eyed agreement. If your camel doesn't fit, buy a bigger needle....
You SO ROCK! Weave it, baby.