Opponents of payday lending have a new ally in the fight against predatory lenders: Leaders from the 15.7-million member Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot sit by idly while some of the poorest among us are preyed on by people simply looking for a quick buck with no regard for the devastation they cause in the lives of others,\u201d\u009d said Barrett Duke, vice president for public policy and research at the SBC\u2019s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC).<\/p>\n
The ERLC is one of the founding members of the newly-formed Faith for Just Lending coalition, which launched earlier this month. Among other members are the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the National Baptist Convention USA, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, and the PICO National Network.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile representing distinct institutions with different histories and practices, these faith organizations hold a shared conviction that Scripture speaks to the problem of predatory lending\u201d\u201dcondemning usury and teaching us to respect the God-given dignity of each person and to love our neighbors rather than exploit their financial vulnerability,\u201d\u009d the group stated in a press release. \u201cThey believe that just lending is a matter of biblical morality and religious concern.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n