We knew it happens. It’s embedded in our nature. But the sheer audacity of the phrase coming over the airwaves was astonishing. No such thing as nuance! No subtlety involved – just straight out with it – what’s my cut?
In the world of kickbacks, Irish business has never been behind the curve.
This incident was recorded by RTE who set up a fictitious company which was looking for permission to build wind farms. It approached local councillors to see how this could be achieved. The three representatives who were secretly recorded were caught seeking to feather their own nests.
When challenged by the airing of the programme this week the trio were combative and self-confident with one actually claiming that he knew it was a set up and was playing along with his questions! In another case his fellow councillors have required his resignation. Resigning electorally is a bit of a bonus! History shows that it does the felon’s candidature no harm at all. In fact the result is usually a substantial increase in the polls! The guilty who get caught cry out infamy, infamy. They have got it ‘in for me’!! The sympathy vote follows.
So much for our keepers of civic order. Pity the constituents, had it been a real application, to have a wind farm imposed upon them. The tribunals of the last 25 years testify to a level of corruption from the top down. With the prevailing culture of impunity, the guilty go free even getting their legal fees paid!
Perhaps the clearest parallel in the Bible came from the mouth of Judas who, when conversing with the Chief Priests over the betrayal of Jesus, asked “What’s in it for me?”
St John has the official version, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him 30 pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.”
Judas was known to be fond of money. In fact he was a thief and as the treasurer he had plenty of opportunities to help himself (St John Chapter 12 verses 4-6). Greed had blinded him and the devil had possessed him (St John Chapter 6 verse 70). The devil’s promptings are recorded at the foot-washing of the disciples when Judas saw a way to make some money by informing on Jesus. This grew to a full-blown satanic attack. Judas was now in the evil one’s control (St John Chapter 13 verses 2 and 27).
When Judas saw that Jesus was condemned to death, remorse seized him. He made his confession to the Priests who didn’t want to know. He threw the money into the Temple and went away and hanged himself (St Matthew Chapter 27 verses 3-10).
The story of Judas’s downfall is not a pleasant one. Nor is it intended to be. It is a wakeup call to all who read it, to look to our own guilt. It cannot be offloaded to priests. It needs to be repented of. The repentance needs to be from the heart – “godly grief” St Paul called it when he contrasted it with the “worldly grief” shown perhaps by Judas (2 Corinthians Chapter 7 verse 10).
The irony of the story is that while all this was going on an atonement was being made on a hill outside the city wall as the crucified Christ provided a redemption for us repentant Judas’s of this world. ‘In our place condemned he stood.’ And on the cross he ‘sealed our pardon with his blood.’ And we can add with the hymn writer Philip Bliss ‘Hallelujah what a Saviour.’