'Usury'

The Bible states that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and I’ve observed that those who are obsessed with money are capable of almost anything. In Shakespeare’s play "The Merchant of Venice," the character Shylock exemplifies this love for money; he profits by lending to desperate neighbors at exorbitant interest rates. This practice, known as usury, was condemned as a sin by the Catholic Church and was therefore illegal in 16th-century European culture, but only for Catholics. Shylock’s character is inspired by Jewish families in Europe who circumvented these usury laws because they were not Catholic. In some instances, Catholics would conspire with Jews to bypass these restrictions for profit. How is usury being used today to keep people and nations in debt, and what evil has been done to achieve that goal? Join the conversation and get answers to these questions and more on According2Sam episode #249.