Posted on 08/12/2015 11:24:38 AM PDT by marshmallow
As the Russian economy reels from low oil prices and Western sanctions, the country is seeing rising interest in unorthodox financial solutions, most recently one pitched by the Orthodox Church.
Last week, the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry threw its support behind a so-called Orthodox Financial System developed under the aegis of the Moscow Patriarchate and strongly resembling the better known Islamic financial system.
"The Chamber of Commerce and Industry supports the creation of the Orthodox Financial System … and is ready to provide its platform for detailed and professional discussion of these questions together with the relevant committees of the chamber," the chamber's press service reported last Friday after a meeting between its chairman Sergei Katyrin and Vsevolod Chaplin, a senior Orthodox cleric overseeing the project.
"Now, during a time of crisis when access to financial resources is limited because of sanctions, we are finally being heard. And society has reacted positively to our proposal," said Dmitry Surmilo, the coordinator of the working group creating the Orthodox Financial System at the Moscow Patriarchate's department of external church relations.
Based on Russian law, Orthodox morals and Russian business traditions, the Orthodox Financial System is designed to be resilient to world crises and help reduce Russia's reliance on the Western banking system, the project's authors said.
The Russian economy is expected to contract by about 4 percent in 2015 due to dropping oil prices and restricted access to Western finance as part of the sanctions package imposed last year against Russia over its role in the Ukraine conflict.
'Ethical Business'
The idea of developing its own financial alternative to the existing banking system was floated by the Russian Orthodox Church around 20 years ago but only recently garnered attention from banking officials and the public.
The Orthodox Financial System was.....
(Excerpt) Read more at themoscowtimes.com ...
Putin playing games
Yes, but you also have to remember something.
Until recently, charging interest on a loan (or receiving interest) was considered a mortal sin. It was called usury.
The shift from mortal sin to the Vatican bank is something that has interested me for a while. Many have proposed a different financial system, that keeps the prohibition on usury. The ROC is suggesting something along those lines if I read it right.
The prophet Ezekiel goes so far as to call usury --- like sodomy --- an abomination:
"If he has exacted usury or taken increase -- Shall he then live? He shall not live! If he has done any of these abominations, He shall surely die; His blood shall be upon him." (Ezekiel 18:13)
Interesting to see the Orthodox Church getting so very traditional as to take steps toward a Biblical economic ethic.
Why dont they just tell Putin to get out of Ukraine then no more sanctions
Good question.
This isn’t an Islamic system! It is quintessentially Orthodox, and Latin for that matter.
Would love to read the details
My late grandfather had some very, very, strong views on speculation, stocks, and futures contracts. He viewed them as worse than gambling, in that they would demand something from one party that he does not have. He viewed it as at best theft, and at worst something akin to sodomy.
To be honest, as a young man I didn’t understand why he felt that way, till I did some research on it. One writer from the late 1800’s said that when the Christian churches accepted Usury, they would accept sodomy and “the sin of Oman”. Which to be honest, many have.
I have long wanted to post something on FR about it, but it is the one mortal sin that both sides of the political divide are for. The whole economic system in the West (and much of the rest of the world) is built on it. To question usury is viewed as madness, even though the warnings given by those who went before us are being played out before our eyes.
And will the oil price be $100 per barrel again?
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