Payday Loan | Christian Right and Usury in Theory and Practice

In the academic study “Usury Law and the Christian Right: Faith Based Political Power and the Geography of the American Payday Loan Regulation,” Christopher Peterson of the University of Utah and Steven Graves of California State Northridge show via collected empirical data that there’s something quite surprising about the distribution of payday loan businesses throughout America.

Of Usury, from Brant's Stultifera Navis

The proverbial “Christian Right” has traditionally been among the most vocal opponents of the product, which they consider to be usurious in the most pejorative modern definition (for the original definition, look here… usury may not be what you think it is). However, Peterson and Graves find that no fax payday loan companies tend to concentrate in high densities in conservative Christian states, particularly in relation to the number of traditional banks. In fact, whether or not there was a conservative Christian presence was shown to have a much greater impact upon the density of payday loan businesses than race or poverty levels (two of the primary weapons well-funded hatchet groups like the Center for Responsible Lending try to use against the industry).

What they say about usury

In one form or another, payday loans have been around for some time. Historical records speak of them in ancient Mesopotamia. Contracts and receipts were recorded on clay tablets. Lenders used the lunar cycle as a tool in establishing short-term loan due dates. The more abusive lenders who refused to deal in a civil manner with delinquent borrowers were essentially what prompted societies to consider loan pricing. The Babylonian and Roman Empires each had highly structured rate limits on various types of lending.

In the Bible, there are numerous Scriptures cited by the Christian Right as being against lending. A few of them are as follows (King James translation):

Exodus 22:25 - “If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shall thou lay upon him usury.”

Ezekiel 22:16-16 – “In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou has greedily gained of they neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the lord GOD. Behold therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at they blood which hath been in the midst of thee. Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it. And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee. And thou shalt take thin inheritance in theyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.”

Ezekiel 18:8-17 – “He that hath not given forth on usury, neither hath taken increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from  iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and man, hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to  heal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.”

CLICK HERE to continue reading and see how the Christian Right deals with the payday loan in practice.