Slave-day loans
by Paula Sophia
Special issues Columnist
With all the cultural upheaval about transgender rights and marriage equality, with all the pronouncements about the need for our nation to repent of its sins and usher in a new era of Christian dominionism, there has been no mention about the prevalence of usury in the national debate.
If people want to protect children, then they should look at the prolific presence of payday loan businesses in Oklahoma. These businesses prey upon the poor, the most vulnerable among us, charging enormous interest rates. In a December 2011 Forbes magazine article (ironically one that defends payday loan businesses), the compounded interest rates can go upwards of 300 percent to 400 percent annually.
According to a State Impact article authored by Joe Wertz, more Oklahomans use payday loans per capita than any other state. At well over twice the rate nationally, 13 percent of Oklahomans have used payday loans within the past five years. The typical customer takes out relatively small loans to use as a stop-gap measure between paydays. They most often use this money to pay rent, to buy food and clothing, or to pay for unforeseen expenses such as automobile repairs.
When one of these families can’t maintain the cycle of debt and immediate repayment, the loans automatically default. That’s when the penalties, fees, and interest rates start stacking up, digging the hole deeper and deeper, making it nearly impossible for families to recover. With mounting debt like this, families cannot buy new vehicles, a home of their own, or pay for an education. They find themselves trapped in a cycle of poverty and immobility, enslaved to spiraling costs.
If we are indeed a Christian nation as the dominionists like to proclaim, why do we let payday loan businesses persist? Why aren’t Paul Blair and Sally Kern denouncing ACE Cash Express, EZ Money Payday, Check ‘n Go, the World Acceptance Corporation and others? Why aren’t there picket lines in front of these businesses? Why aren’t they showing graphic photographs of the malnourished, the addicted, and the abused – images of people who have lost hope?
The Bible has much to say about the sin of usury, mentioning it multiple times. Leviticus 25:35-38 states that we are to relieve our poor brethren, taking no usury or increase from them. Isaiah 10:1-2 sends a warning, “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.” I can post many others, but I think these passages make the point.
The hypocrisy of the religious right creates a stench that harms Oklahoma’s future, making it hard to breathe free. Changing these laws is not only a Biblical imperative; it is the right thing to do. Advocating for the poor, offering them justice and opportunity is one of the most important teachings of any serious, life-giving religion.
If people who call themselves Christian do not move to kill the payday loan industry as it exists today, then they cannot claim to be righteous.
The Gayly – October 7, 2016 @ 12:30 p.m.