The Root of All Evil

This soon to be released music (The Root of all Evil) is a part of the musical ministry a song about how money is the root of all evil. I consider myself an egalitarian. I believe in equality for all however I also see the decline in the American dream. The wealth disparity in this country is beyond alarming. The top one percent own almost half of all the wealth in this country, this is a recipe for disaster, greed is one of the 7 deadly sins. Matthew 16:26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

The Gospel story regarding the rich man and Jesus is an increasingly relevant parable on which to reflect. Its anti-materialistic message is in stark contrast to the consumer-driven society we live in today. Jesus elaborates that following the Ten Commandments is not enough to truly be one with God and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Rather, only by giving up our material possessions will the holy gates be opened for us. Jesus’ teachings, challenges us to look deep inside ourselves and uncover what is most important in our lives.

Jesus implies that the rich are distinguished by what they choose to value. A rich man’s primary concern is to make himself look better compared to everyone else, and society convinces him to demonstrate his worth by buying the fanciest cars and the biggest houses, therefore he is more inclined to praise his possessions and money more so than a relationship with God.

This song (The Root of all Evil) is about overcoming adversity, all can be redeemed for past and current transgression. If the reconciliation is coming from a good place and not just a place of control and power God will bless the true stewards of goodwill, but he warns us not all money is good money.

Reconstruction is also discussed in this song which is a very imperative part of American history seldom examined. It covers the time when slavery was abolished and how blacks had to transition into a society they weren’t prepared for and how the system of governance was designed for blacks to fail which is some of the beginning throes of systemic racism. Slavery was an institution that helped make America a very wealthy country (blacks worked for free for over 400 hundred years) and the money was never shared, it was horded there was and still is a propaganda campaign to degrade blacks to make it seem as though a certain segment of people were responsible for all the monetary success and growth of America, which is not true. The fact that America such a beautiful country is the big melting pot of different nationalities all working together and contributing to the success of American society is what a certain segment of people don’t want you to know. Unfortunately, we still have many Jim crow relics in our system of governance that must be reimagined, overhauled and more emblematic of a fair and just system for people of all nationalities specifically the ones that helped America curate much of its wealth.

I say to people of all nationalities don’t let your pursuit of money cause you to lose your soul. Your physical body can only die one death but your sprit which is encased in your body can die a thousand deaths, inside your body and outside of your body. The greed and hording of all the resources by the ultra-wealthy is bringing this country to the brink of destruction.

We sincerely hope this song can inspire more conversation on how to subvert this wealth inequality and systemic racism. We are on the brink of passing infrastructure and climate change legislation along with child-care and free college that can significantly change the trajectory of economic empowerment for the disenfranchised a true blessing for all.

The word entitlement that Joe Manchin is so cavalierly espousing is often branded as a racist trope used in American society when talking about welfare benefits or other governmental assistance for the poor, implying that those who receive these benefits don’t deserve them because they lack the motivation to improve their situation. There is also the false implication that wealth redistribution is bad for society. What the studies about attitudes of the wealthy show is that those with power and money consider themselves entitled. Moreover, the wealthy their entitlements are branded differently they call them tax loopholes, subsidies, nepotism and so on and so forth. What the world needs now is Economic Harmony.