Washington Examiner, by Sam Brownback: Testifying before the Senate last month, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon spoke eloquently of what a wonderful country we live in and about the freedoms we enjoy.
“We live in the greatest country in the world predicated on foundational beliefs in freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise, the sanctity of the individual, and the promise of equality and opportunity for all,” the CEO told the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. He even went so far as to say, “These core values are the fabric that bind us as Americans, where the best of what we are shines through, especially in times of adversity.”
While I was glad to hear Dimon speak proudly of America and our freedoms, I am concerned that his bank fails to live up to such lofty ideals. He referred to religious freedom as a “foundational belief,” but his bank recently decided to close the account of the National Committee for Religious Freedom, a nonpartisan, faith-based nonprofit organization dedicated to defending the right of everyone in America to live one’s faith freely.
The NCRF is a diverse organization representing people from every faith and walk of life. Our bipartisan National Advisory Board includes members who are Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Latter-Day Saints, and Muslim.
After organizing the NCRF as a nonprofit group, our executive director and I opened a bank account at JPMorgan Chase & Co. We chose Chase because of its national footprint and the multigenerational banking relationships our team had with the bank. Our experience was initially very positive.
However, three weeks after opening our nonprofit business checking account, we received a letter notifying us that Chase had decided to “end their relationship” with the National Committee for Religious Freedom and that our account would be closed. The bank actually closed our account before we received the letter.
We were surprised at being canceled by Chase. When our executive director called to see if this was an error, he was informed that “a note in the file read that Chase employees were not permitted to provide any further clarifying information to the customer.”
Why the cancellation? Why the secrecy and lack of transparency? Why was Chase hiding its reasons and intentions for closing the account of a client that seeks to serve the public good and defend religious freedom for every person in America? After all, in the words of the bank’s CEO, religious freedom is a core value that forms part of the fabric that binds us together as a country. So why cancel an organization that exists to protect the most foundational of core American values?
Prophetic Link:
“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Revelation 13:16, 17.