Rockville Centre's religious leaders discuss economic reform

Although Thursday’s interfaith forum on economic justice featured an eclectic group of religious leaders from a variety of faiths, the message each provided was surprisingly similar.

The group of pastors, reverends and rabbis from five of Rockville Centre’s religious institutions presented their analyses of religion’s connection to the economy to an audience of more than 20 residents.

The presenters included The Rev. Jeffrey Laustsen of the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, The Rev. Peter Dennebaum of the United Church of Rockville Centre, Msgr. William Koenig of St. Agnes Cathedral and Rabbi Marc Gruber of Central Synagogue. The Rev. Robert Herrick of The Church of the Ascension, where the forum was held, acted as moderator.

Though the reasoning often differed, the theme of each presentation was centered around the idea that, in order to fulfill God’s will, those in need must be looked after and protected by society and the government.

The requirement for a just society means that we need to provide the means for their basic human dignity,” Gruber said. “Each person is created… in the image of God and each person must therefore be treated as one of God’s creatures.”

Koenig said that although some parishioners don’t realize it, the Catholic Church has had a long history of supporting equality in the economy, through a number of statements from a number of Popes over the years.

“That is part of our teachings,” said Koenig. “There is a great body of teaching that we have on the common good and on justice.”

In his presentation, Laustsen said that because God provides what people need daily, and because it is God’s will that everyone share in the abundance of creation, it is the responsibility of the people to make sure that God’s will is accomplished.

“Through our work we should be able to express and be treated in ways consistent with our God-given dignity,” Laustsen said. “The dignity should be reflected in hiring, compensation and workers’ rights, practices to which the Church commits itself and calls other employers to do also.”