BuckeyeBlog

It appears that Governor Ted Strickland has changed his mind about payday lending. Earlier this year he condemned it as usury, which he called “one of the oldest of the sins.” Now, however, he says “I don’t know what that issue has to do with the Christian faith…”  We’re glad that Governor Strickland has come around to realizing that condemning payday lending as usury is a misuse of the Bible. We hope he starts chastising his alllies who oppose payday lending as being sinful for taking on an issue that has nothing “to do with the Christian faith.”

During the debate over payday lending, there have been quite a few people who condemn it as “usury.” For instance, this recent letter to the editor in the Toledo Blade accuses payday lenders of committing usury, “which is prohibited by the Lord” (although it seems at least one Christian group takes an opposite view of payday lending).

I decided to actually look into the issue of what the Bible says about usury and found that usury does not mean excessive interest; it means all interest. You can’t condemn payday lending as usury without also condemning all lending of money at interest (including your savings account). Read my article on the subject here.