智慧人生篇章 第25期:别把财富妖魔化

 　　The trouble about money is that it is often linked to power. Money well used can do great things which benefit many people, anything from funding the arts to bringing food and water to a starving nation. It has great pragmatic possibilities. But there is another power which has to do with the presumption¹ that enough money should buy influence and assure control to the benefit of those who are wealthy.As a Christian² I could never demonise money. Jesus mentions it in half his parables³. He relies on charitable giving especially from women, and he's clearly at ease in the company of affluent⁴ people. There is nothing in the Jewish-Christian tradition or in any great world religion to my knowledge which says that money is intrinsically bad. Nor can it be claimed that moral questions only rise when we consider the unhealthy addiction⁵ some people have to accumulating wealth.The primary moral issue is whether in dealing⁶ with wealth, we become less concerned about the good things our money can do, and more convinced of the presumed synonym⁷ that money equals power.

　　金钱经常与能力挂钩。钱使好了，可使很多人受益，譬如资助艺术，给饥荒国家提供食水等等，总之很具实用性。但钱还有另外一种能力，钱能带来影响力，可以保证富裕阶层的既得利益。作为一个基督徒，我从不把钱妖魔化。耶稣在他泰半的寓言故事中都提到了钱。他依靠别人，尤其女人的慈善捐助度日，而且很明显，他跟富人相处很自在。在犹太基督，或者世界上任何其他主流宗教传统中都没有说过钱不好。而且我们也不能说，聚富成瘾的人就一定会产生什么道德上的问题。其实关键问题是，面对金钱时，我们是否变得不再想着钱能做的好事，却越来越相信金钱就等于权力。

1 presumption   

n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定

参考例句：

• Please pardon my presumption in writing to you.请原谅我很冒昧地写信给你。
• I don't think that's a false presumption.我认为那并不是错误的推测。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 parables   

n.（圣经中的）寓言故事( parable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jesus taught in parables. 耶酥以比喻讲道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In the New Testament are the parables and miracles. 《新约》则由寓言利奇闻趣事构成。 来自辞典例句

4 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

5 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 synonym   

n.同义词，换喻词

参考例句：

• Zhuge Liang is a synonym for wisdom in folklore.诸葛亮在民间传说中成了智慧的代名词。
• The term 'industrial democracy' is often used as a synonym for worker participation. “工业民主”这个词常被用作“工人参与”的同义词。