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Originally Posted by ///MPhatic
I thought this was a joke at first, I've used that line before, and I'm pure atheist. So forgive me for asking, but this is true, your religion doesn't allow you to buy things with interest?? How does one buy a home? Hiding the interest surely can't be looked at as not paying it, right? I think if there were a God it'd know.
And the reasoning behind this? What's wrong with interest? You're literally just giving something to someone because they helped you get something you'd not otherwise be able to get. Like if someone said I'll allow you to eat today, but you must work on my shed for a hour." That's interest, no? Sorry if this has been addressed, I didn't read all responses. And NO DISRESPECT intended!
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It's true. Technically dealing with interest is forbidden. I'm not an expert by any means, but from my understanding the religion ends up prohibiting certain things that can lead to self destructive harm, which may be viewed as perfectly normal activity in society today (i.e. drinking alcohol).
In regards to interest specifically, I think it comes down to avoiding the exploitation of less fortunate people, who are more prone to getting stuck in a vicious cycle of compounding interest, growing the loan balance while they continue to make minimum payments. It's essentially - rather than specifying exceptions, complicated rules, etc, let's eliminate even the possibility of predatory lending by prohibiting interest altogether. At least this is my interpretation of why it's forbidden.
In modern society, the interpretation of interest within the religion has varied quite a bit. Some say interest is fine to pay as long as you're not the one collecting interest - because avoiding it in today's world is nearly impossible. Then there's others (some I know personally) who very strictly adhere to the religion and will actually hold off on large purchases until they have the means to purchase those items in cash.