Bernie Madoff and Human Depravity
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At the end of June, financier and swindler Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in federal prison. He had defrauded thousands of people of over $65 billion. Although many of his victims were relatively well-heeled, plenty of poor-to-middling investors lost their life savings. These bare facts reveal a tragedy, but one that is not particularly unique except for its record-breaking scale. A quick google news search shows that another dozen ponzi schemes have popped up in the news in just the past 24 hours.
But Madoff’s sentencing took on a special significance. As the judge “read his sentence, the courtroom, filled with many of Madoff’s devastated victims, broke into applause.” NPR interviewed a number of Madoff’s victims who took turns alternately decrying how horrible Madoff’s actions were and wishing that he could be punished above what the federal sentencing guidelines allow.
America united to condemn the many sins of Bernie Madoff. He became a larger-than-life figure in the process. Not only was what he did wrong or criminal but his crimes revealed his ‘extraordinary evil.’ This theme repeated itself on blog posts and online forums. Madoff’s trial and sentencing were opportunities for ritualistic, communal condemnation.
One of the oddities of our current economic recession is that most people don’t know who to blame. Was it corrupt bank CEOS? Greedy lenders? Average people borrowing beyond their means? Government interference in the market? Too little government interference in the market? There is no widespread consensus. Bernie Madoff gives us an opportunity to point our collective finger. I suspect that much of the emotion surrounding the case had less to do with Madoff’s crimes per se and more to do with our delight at finally finding a solid target.
We are using Bernie Madoff to expiate a lingering sense of communal guilt. I wonder if many Americans feel a vague, subconscious sense of guilt over what has happened; even if it isn’t guilt, we do fear that others will misinterpret our actions. So the family that just bought a new house with an adjustable rate mortgage for which they can no longer afford the monthly payments, the newlyweds up to their ears in credit card debt, or the bank CEO who accepted a large bonus can each justify (or at least distract from) their own actions by decrying Bernie Madoff’s.
This compulsion is typical of human behavior. By condemning other people who engage in less communally acceptable forms of behavior we look all the better by comparison. “I may have told a little white lie to my spouse, yelled at my kids, or lusted after a co-worker, but at least I didn’t cheat on my spouse, beat my kids, or sleep around.”
The case of Bernie Madoff shows how fundamentally lacking our understanding of human nature is. We are depraved, sinful creatures with fallen natures. In our hearts we are no different from Bernie Madoff. His extravagant sins are no worse than our own. It is only by the grace of God that we can ever do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly. We need God’s freely offered mercy in order to have any hope of living lives that conform to the image of Christ.
What would a Christ-like response to Bernie Madoff’s sins look like? I believe that the Amish reaction to the shooting deaths of five of their little girls in 2006 should be a real rebuke to us who are so quick to condemn Mr. Madoff. They grieved, certainly, but they also forgave the man who killed their daughters. They provided for the shooter’s family, paying for the future education of his children. They lived out the gospel.
Contrast the Amish response to tragedy with the response of Madoff’s victims (and the watching public as a whole). Where the Amish forgave, we have condemned. Madoff’s sentencing reminded me not a little of a passion play. I almost expected a “crucify him!” to punctuate the judge’s statement. The same investors who crowned Bernie Madoff as the king of investment gurus were crowing for his blood just a few months later.
Of course the analogy breaks down very quickly. Christ was without sin while Madoff was anything but! Yet I believe that the curious case of Bernie Madoff ought to encourage us to think hard about expiation, human depravity, and our desperate need for grace.
http://paulmatzko.edublogs.org/2009/07/14/bernie-madoff-and-human-depra…
But Madoff’s sentencing took on a special significance. As the judge “read his sentence, the courtroom, filled with many of Madoff’s devastated victims, broke into applause.” NPR interviewed a number of Madoff’s victims who took turns alternately decrying how horrible Madoff’s actions were and wishing that he could be punished above what the federal sentencing guidelines allow.
America united to condemn the many sins of Bernie Madoff. He became a larger-than-life figure in the process. Not only was what he did wrong or criminal but his crimes revealed his ‘extraordinary evil.’ This theme repeated itself on blog posts and online forums. Madoff’s trial and sentencing were opportunities for ritualistic, communal condemnation.
One of the oddities of our current economic recession is that most people don’t know who to blame. Was it corrupt bank CEOS? Greedy lenders? Average people borrowing beyond their means? Government interference in the market? Too little government interference in the market? There is no widespread consensus. Bernie Madoff gives us an opportunity to point our collective finger. I suspect that much of the emotion surrounding the case had less to do with Madoff’s crimes per se and more to do with our delight at finally finding a solid target.
We are using Bernie Madoff to expiate a lingering sense of communal guilt. I wonder if many Americans feel a vague, subconscious sense of guilt over what has happened; even if it isn’t guilt, we do fear that others will misinterpret our actions. So the family that just bought a new house with an adjustable rate mortgage for which they can no longer afford the monthly payments, the newlyweds up to their ears in credit card debt, or the bank CEO who accepted a large bonus can each justify (or at least distract from) their own actions by decrying Bernie Madoff’s.
This compulsion is typical of human behavior. By condemning other people who engage in less communally acceptable forms of behavior we look all the better by comparison. “I may have told a little white lie to my spouse, yelled at my kids, or lusted after a co-worker, but at least I didn’t cheat on my spouse, beat my kids, or sleep around.”
The case of Bernie Madoff shows how fundamentally lacking our understanding of human nature is. We are depraved, sinful creatures with fallen natures. In our hearts we are no different from Bernie Madoff. His extravagant sins are no worse than our own. It is only by the grace of God that we can ever do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly. We need God’s freely offered mercy in order to have any hope of living lives that conform to the image of Christ.
What would a Christ-like response to Bernie Madoff’s sins look like? I believe that the Amish reaction to the shooting deaths of five of their little girls in 2006 should be a real rebuke to us who are so quick to condemn Mr. Madoff. They grieved, certainly, but they also forgave the man who killed their daughters. They provided for the shooter’s family, paying for the future education of his children. They lived out the gospel.
Contrast the Amish response to tragedy with the response of Madoff’s victims (and the watching public as a whole). Where the Amish forgave, we have condemned. Madoff’s sentencing reminded me not a little of a passion play. I almost expected a “crucify him!” to punctuate the judge’s statement. The same investors who crowned Bernie Madoff as the king of investment gurus were crowing for his blood just a few months later.
Of course the analogy breaks down very quickly. Christ was without sin while Madoff was anything but! Yet I believe that the curious case of Bernie Madoff ought to encourage us to think hard about expiation, human depravity, and our desperate need for grace.
http://paulmatzko.edublogs.org/2009/07/14/bernie-madoff-and-human-depra…
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