The Root of All Evil
If I could go back in time, I would bet real money on the likelihood that it was some male member of the highest level of clergy in some land who came up with the phrase from which the title of this brief piece is derived. My money — sorry, couldn’t resist — is on the Catholic Church, but that may just be because my mother attempted to raise me that way. The attempted infusion didn’t take, however; not even a little; not even as she was attempting it… because I wasn’t a gullible kid.
You’re drinking out of a golden cup and you need my money? I don’t think so.
But what a perfect scam. Money is evil, so you should divest yourself of it. Except… cathedrals? Really? How does anyone even buy that? (Excuse the turn of phrase.)
Money is not the root of all evil. Period.
The human mind, though, that’s another matter. That’s where the root of all evil is. And watcha gonna do about that?
I mean, the bishops could hardly bring that sad fact to light. After all, despite the pointy hats and crazy expensive vestments, they had minds… and did they ever! And they used them! They came up with the aforementioned BS, charging money for forgiveness of made-up sins, and 27 impressive ways to explain why having a mistress was OK for them but not for you. Then there was the whole plenary indulgence thing: sex with your dog’ll take you straight to hell but… if you can hand over 50 gold pieces, well, then… etc. and so on.
Money is useful. That’s all. It’s a means of exchange. It’s not evil; it’s not good. It’s a lot like a like a baseball bat in that way. You can play a friendly game of baseball if you’ve got a bat and some folks who like to run around a dirt track… or… you can bludgeon someone to death.
Got it?
