Wealth Sharing Quotes
At the time English democracy was still suspect especially among the aristocracy.
If I had the power I would steal all your royal wealth and give it to Christ’s brothers and sisters.
Her monasteries were organized into male and female sections with monks and nuns respectively—a complete gender reversal of control of religious institutions of the Catholic Church where until modern times females were subservient to males. Remarkably, Brigid controlled both as there was no abbot. She heard confessions, ordained clergy, and may have even celebrated mass. Her first biographer claimed that she had been consecrated a bishop. Bishops were occasionally elected by the people. Brigid was one of the first political advocates of redistribution of wealth.
It became a slogan and rallying cry for Long and his followers.
“Zakat” is the practice of giving a percentage of one’s property to the poor. This is similar to the concept of tithing and charity in Christianity and Judaism. One difference today is that many of the Muslim nations use the religious requirements as an element of state policy and the social safety net is intertwined by state and church. The Mormon Church in early Utah had the same amalgam of church and state, but that was abandoned in favor of separation of church and state. Turkey went through the same shift in the Ataturk revolution.
This speech is often referred to as her “Golden” of “Farewell” speech. It was her last Parliament.