In Missional Theology I, we were required to write contemporary paraphrase of the gleanings laws in Lev. 19:9-10 and Deut. 24: 19-22. Here is mine:
Now when you develop ever more sophisticated global communication networks that facilitate creativity and trade, when you discover new medicines, when your lands produces the abundance resulting from advanced farming and husbandry technologies and genetically modified stock and seeds, when your study of the human genome yields new insights about human health, when you create new cultural and technological goods from the traditional and biological resources of the South, you shall not seek all the rents available to an efficient monopolist under a strong intellectual property regime; you shall leave a portion of the rents to the poor, the orphan, the widow, and the stranger. You shall permit the poor, the orphan, the widow and the stranger to access your technologies and information on equitable terms that promote their welfare and development. You shall remember that you were once a developing country and the LORD brought you freedom and abundance; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.

Add to Newsvine
Add to StumbleUpon












Dave (#9) -- I don't think anyone is suggesting that the OT law is "binding" today in a one-to-one sense. I personally am not anything like a theonomist, nor, I am sure, is the professor who assigned this to us (BTW, the course was an online course at Biblical Seminary -- really great stuff!). I think, though, that the gleanings laws beautifully reflect some overriding moral themes in the Bible: that all the resources we have ultimately are given by, and belong to God; that God cares deeply about the poor, the oppressed, and the stranger; and that those who have resources are obligated to share with those in need. My paraphrase is just an attempt to apply these principles to the sort of resources that often matter most in our post-industrial culture.
LOVE it doperbeck... simply love it...
Capitalism and other things set aside.. following the rule of "love thy neighbor... and loving them by giving them access...
Love this! This law doesn't have to do with countries and IP as much as companies. We - those following Jesus- own stock in, are employed by, and have 401k funds invested in these companies. It very much pertains to US!!
Brilliant challenge - thanks
Dopderbeck,
I respect any serious effort to solve real problems. I'm afraid I assumed you were a idealistic (young?) seminary student with little real-world experience! Thanks RJS for setting me straight on that. I tried the link that had your "boring and wonkish" details, but it led nowhere.
I live in a country with very little respect for patents or intellectual rights. I've seen some of the consequences of this. We have bootlegged products from everywhere, including medicines. The problems with this are sometimes not obvious at first, but the whole business atmosphere is poisoned by it.
I also wonder if we don't often expect companies and laws to do the work that we as the church have failed to do. It's easy to speak out against the exploitive practices of pharmaceutical companies. It's harder to go serve in a clinic in a developing country with a broken-down system.
Sorry I couldn't respond more quickly, but we sleep here while y'all are blogging there.
Don't know why that link didn't work. Weird. Here's another one: http://law.vanderbilt.edu/publications/vanderbilt-law-review/archive/volume-58-number-2-march-2005/download.aspx?id=3036
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.