CHRISTIAN LAWYERS SAY BANKRUPTCY REFORM BILL, BIBLE DON’T MESH

March 4, 2005

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A national attorney group calls on church leaders to lobby against bankruptcy reform legislation. By SHIRLEY RAGSDALE REGISTER RELIGION EDITOR March 4, 2005

A national group of Christian lawyers is appealing to church leaders to
join them in lobbying against the bankruptcy reform bill introduced by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Ia. The lawyers say the legislation runs contrary to the forgiveness of debt and charity required by the Bible.

“As Christian attorneys, we strongly believe that it was never God’s intention to create a society where indebtedness was a crime or a badge of dishonor,” Christian members of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys wrote in a letter sent Feb. 26 to hundreds of church leaders across the nation.

The bill, which is receiving Senate debate, would make it harder for most people to receive full debt cancellation under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy laws. More people would have to repay at least part of their debt, based on income.

The lawyers note that in the Old Testament, God did not outlaw borrowing and lending, but provided that loans would become discharged every seven years.

In response, Grassley said Congress could not be bound by biblical mandates because “the Constitution does not provide for a theocracy.”

“I can’t listen to Christian lawyers because I would be imposing the Bible on a diverse population,” Grassley said. “I’ll bet those lawyers wouldn’t want us to impose the principles of forgiving debt every seven years. If that were the law, nobody would loan them money.”

When introducing his bill, Grassley said bankruptcy was not intended as a “convenient financial planning tool where deadbeats can get out of paying their debt scot-free while honest Americans who play by the rules have to foot the bill.”

Iowa bankruptcy lawyers who signed the letter said Thursday that their spiritual hackles were raised by Grassley’s depiction of their clients as deadbeats.”

“Never once in the 20 years I’ve practiced this specialty have I had a client who really wanted to file for bankruptcy after purposely running up a big debt,” said Des Moines attorney Nancy Thompson.

Grassley contends frivolous bankruptcy filings hurt the economy. The attorneys said objective studies have shown that families file for bankruptcy because they have been driven to do so. Copyright (c) 2004, The Des Moines Register.