Usury - A moral and private matter

1 Focusing on the loan of the horse we see that the relation ship between these hypothetical neighbors is first one of self-benefit and then, after discussing potential mutual benefits, a voluntary agreement to act.

2 The transaction is moral, ethical, and correct in every sense.

3 It is an example of two fundamental principles: each party exercising responsible dominion over his own property, and each party understanding the benefit which might come to him through voluntarily entering into a reciprocal relationship with his neighbor.

4 Although our hypothetical transactions described the loans of a rock and a horse, and the usury that was charged for these loans and paid, the moral principles involved do not change if we were to describe loans of other objects, or if no usury was to be paid, or both.

5 When a thing owned by one person is loaned to another person, the morality of the relationship cannot rightly be questioned by third parties, as long as no force or fraud was involved in bringing the lender and borrower into an agreement.

6 So if the thing lent is a rock, a horse, a cow, a bull, a lawn-mower, or even the money to buy a lawn-mower, the transaction — again, barring complaint of force or fraud — is moral, ethical, legal, and beyond legitimate third-party intervention.

7 The profit to the lender, which might seem high to some and low to others, is nobody else’s business.

8 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.