Economics and religion

THE other day, a posting in the social network caught my attention. It was an article lifted from a prestigious American magazine. It talked about the economic situation of our country.

It was a well-researched essay, and the author sounded very knowledgeable about his stuff and had a very polite, scholarly style of writing. But it brought bad news for us.

It was so bad that someone immediately commented in the social network that with the tragedies that we are having, he thought it was not yet the time for such article to be brought out. He said the article was like kicking someone who was already down on the ground.

In gist, what the article said is that the Philippine economy is actually is a bubble created by the heavy pumping of money, the so-called quantitative easing (QE) by the US for the purpose, I suppose, of stimulating American, if not, the world economy.

I confess that though I had economics as my collegiate course, I did not bother to closely examine the very tenuous line of reasoning supported by all sorts of charts and data. I just gave it the benefit of the doubt that what it concluded is at least probable.

In short, we are supposed to be in a very precarious situation economically, or that we are living in a bubble that can burst anytime and plunge us into some bitter reality.

My consolation is that not many people are aware of this potential danger. In fact, if we are to believe our government economists, we seem to be awash with economic boom.

But I have always held the belief that it is always prudent to hear all sides of a certain issue, no matter how ridiculous the views may be. That way, we can have a better, if not the global picture of the situation that can help us plot our strategies for the future. Obviously, we need to be discerning and discriminating before we make our conclusions, judgments and decisions.

Of course, as priest, I cannot enter much into the technicalities of the issue, but what I can say is that while economics has its laws and theories, all very dynamic and malleable due to its very nature of being a social science, it cannot be held exclusively without relating it to other sciences and especially to our religion or faith or core beliefs.

Economics can only demonstrate a certain part of our human reality. It certainly cannot have the last word in any human drama, though any human situation will always somehow include an economic dimension, just as it will also have some social, political, historical, cultural dimensions, etc.

Yes, it’s true that the laws, theories and findings of economics have to be given due attention, and we should try to be very strict in this. But they are just one strand among many that make the rope of our whole proper understanding of events.

Otherwise, we can fall into extreme, bizarre and sometimes funny conclusions that are way off the mark as history unfolds. Think, for example, of the Malthusian theory of population. If that were true, we would already have sunk with overpopulation many, many years ago.

There are certain things that economics, being a social science, cannot detect in its radar. The resiliency of people, for example. How would we measure that economically? The determination of the people to rise from the ruins of a calamity, irrespective of socio-economic conditions, is another example.

At the same time, our faith and religion which contain our core beliefs should always be respectful of the laws and theories of economics, though they definitely go beyond the scope of economics.

This is where elements such as the spiritual strength of the people, the reality of grace, the possibility of miracles, the need for prayer and sacrifice, etc., are found. They are beyond measure. But our faith and religion must also know how to express themselves in economic terms where these are due.

Thus, in Christian doctrine, there is already good and growing part of what is now called as the social doctrine that precisely tries to make the proper blend between faith and religion, on the one hand, and economics and the other social sciences, like politics, on the other.

It behoves everyone, and especially our leaders in business and politics, to study and live the social doctrine of the Church. We should not forget that in the middle of our economic affairs, is not only man, nor dollars, but God himself, who governs everything with his Providence.