Can hedge fund managers go to Heaven?

[RR1997]

Discuss.

I believe that only God knows who can go to heaven and not. I wish the best for everyone. .

[RFayette]

My short answer is yes, though it depends what conception of heaven we're talking about.

If we're talking about the standard Jack Chick style, "once-saved-always-saved" Christianity, then duh.  If you say the magic words "I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior" then you're saved no matter what.

If we're talking about Lordship/Ray Comfort-style "repentance is key!" salvation, then the hedge fund manager might have to be sorry for what he did (if he did significantly wrong things, which is quite likely for the occupation) and make some type of corrective action before dying.

If we're talking about the average American's view of heaven and hell, then the guy's good works would have to outweigh his bad works, in which case it is totally dependent on the person and what he did as a hedge fund manager.

[angus]

"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them."
                                            --Isaiah 11:6

[Хahar 🤔]

It's not my place to judge, obviously, but there are certain jobs involving money that I would not take.

[Panda Express]

IIRC one of Jesus' disciples was a hedge fund manager.

[7,052,770]

It's not my place to judge, obviously, but there are certain jobs involving money that I would not take.

Wouldn't any job that has to do with interest be frowned upon?

[bedstuy]

You don't go to work on Wall Street to earn a place in heaven.  You go to make money.

[Türkisblau]

Depends on if they do good works with the money they make, so yes although I hate the system that allows their line of work to exist.

[TNF]

No, because heaven isn't real. When you die, you rot in the dirt. That's it.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Only if they get really good at getting camels to pass through the eye of a needle.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Standard American belief suggests they have a Fast Pass!  Job Creators

[Franzl]

If we're talking about the average American's view of heaven and hell, then the guy's good works would have to outweigh his bad works, in which case it is totally dependent on the person and what he did as a hedge fund manager.

Is it really? I don't know of any church that makes such a simple heaven-hell judgement.

[Torie]

Hedge funds, if kept within certain bounds, so that they don't threaten the structure of the financial system, provide a useful economic function, helping companies and portfolio managers, to manage risk. It's terribly ignorant in my view, to traduce them in the way that they are traduced. The tax code writers need to be vigilant however to close up tax loopholes, that the high paid tax advisors of hedge fund managers are so clever at finding, with complex financial products, converting ordinary income into capital gains, or deferring income, or keeping it offshore and away from US taxation, and so forth.

[Rockefeller GOP]

No, because heaven isn't real. When you die, you rot in the dirt. That's it.

Sweet, (Working Class) Bro.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

If they're saved and bathed in prayer, of course.  As we've learned from ODF, lying won't keep you out of heaven.

[angus]

Depends on if they do good works with the money they make, so yes although I hate the system that allows their line of work to exist.

Hmmm, not quite Catholic, and not quite Calvinist.  What is that?  Methodism?  Lutheran?

I'm no religious scholar.  I simply googled "do dogs go to heaven" and chose to quote a response from among the hits I saw, but yours seems like a well-considered response.  I'm impressed, and I'm guessing that it comes from the vaguely-familiar Protestant Work Ethic concept.  

[Dr. Cynic]

No. You're not going and neither am I. I have a better chance of reanimating the corpse of my great-grandfather who has been dead for 65 years than any of us have of getting into heaven.

[angus]

No. You're not going and neither am I.

The question didn't ask whether you are going to heaven, did it?  Of course you're going to burn in hell.  We all are, assuming such a thing exists.  The question merely asked you to show your knowledge of theology, or at least make a pretense of having some knowledge thereof, sort of like we all do when it comes to public policy questions.  If we can all pretend to be public policy experts, then why not pretend to be theology experts as well?  I think that it's an interesting question.  

My guess is that Usury is a construct of the Medieval Church, and it probably explains why so many Spanish and other European Jews have names like Silver-something and Gold-something, since the concept of Usury-as-sin wouldn't have affected them, contractually, at least with their god.  Somebody had to be the lenders, and that naturally would fall upon those whose moral appetites would be unaffected by the rambling and arbitrary edicts of the Pope.  Getting back to the basics of monotheistic theology, where does it write that engagement in filings of note automatically results in a fall from Grace?  Ernest studies such things--as did Supersoulty and jmfcst back when they posted here--and I think it would be interesting to hear from people who think about the ramifications of such questions as these.

[© tweed]

if this is based on the "it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle..." Jesus quote, my answer is, in practice, it's too difficult to keep all of those balls in the air, so to speak.  in practice the very wealthy will be idolaters and not focused on the Kingdom of Heaven.  (I don't know that there's evidence that Jesus believed in a go-to-heaven-after-you-die scheme like we do today).