Sin For Sale?

“Cap and Trade” is a popular methodology bantered around by many politicians today on a systematic approach to curbing environmental emissions and, thus, reducing global warming. The essence of it is: reduce your carbon emissions and you can receive credits for it. If another company is struggling to reduce, they can purchase your credits and continue to produce their emissions for a price. In other words: it’s ok to pollute…as long as you pay for it. Although it may “theoretically” work, its actual achievements are full of debate.

Why do I bring up such a matter? Well…it reminded me of a similar methodology used by the Catholics. In Catholicism, when a person sins they need to confess and be absolved by a priest. Once you have been absolved, however, you still need to pay a penance which is proportional to the sin. Here comes the cap and trade analogy…“Indulgence”. This is the Catholic assertion that those who are extremely pious are considered to have built up an excess of merits or “goodness” and can, therefore, intervene on behalf of other sinners and either reduce or completely eliminate their penance. You can probably already see the practical predicaments this creates. During the Middle Ages this practice became so rife with abuse and corruption that a whole profit industry was formed and was not really contested until Martin Luther brought about the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s.

To try and barter our actions so that we can feel better…just isn’t working in my book; whether it be religious or environmental. When it comes to ‘sin’ and ‘paying a price’…the Bible is extremely clear on this point. Everyone has sin in their lives; everyone deserves to pay the price of death; Jesus Christ has paid that “sin debt” on our behalf so we don’t have to. There is no cap and trade when it comes to the economy of salvation. Christ paid it in full and all we have to do is believe and accept in faith this gift of grace.

Each time I hear about the cap and trade method in the news, I think about my salvation…and thank God that He has transcended all the politics and economic trials we face today.

Greg Morton
© December 17, 2009