Insurance – A Religiously Controversial Matter
It is in the nature of man to protect himself. With the advance of civilization, this idea of protection extended to his family and his assets. Since ancient times, people have tried to minimize the risks they ran in everyday life or in their profession, so we can say that, in some sense, insurance appears simultaneously with the appearance of human society.
Documents show that the incipient forms of insurance appeared as early as the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C., when Chinese, Persian, Greek, Egyptian and Roman merchants tried to minimize the risk of losing their goods in various accidents. Since then people have always tried to devise new ways of protecting themselves. The more civilization developed, the more accidents were likely to happen, so the insurance market has continually developed, in order to keep up with the advance of society and to cover its members’ needs. Today it is a dynamic and profitable market, in full expansion, as the premium volume is expected to increase at an annual rate of 20 to 25 percent.
In Europe, in the 12th and 13th centuries, one of the missions of the famous Knights Templar was to protect the pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. Besides military protection, they also ensured their money, inventing the bill of change long before banks existed as financial institutions. The principle is very simple and is basically the same today: the pilgrim entrusted his money to the Order when leaving for pilgrimage, receiving a note which mentioned the sum. When he arrived in Jerusalem, or at any point during the journey, he went to the the Templars’ office and retrieved his money on presenting the note. In this way they could travel quite safely, without risking of being robbed or even killed.
Jewish rabbis and some Christians have had the misconception that taking insurance is an indication of lack of faith in God. The argument was that we should trust in God to shield us from disasters or misfortune, and that if He decides to inflict some kind of disaster on us we should submit to His will rather than try to avoid its impact in advance. But, as it happens in many debatable instances, it is all a matter of interpretation. Accidents happen: they are simply one of the hazards that we live with. So, if God requires us to take reasonable steps to protect ourselves from natural hazards, wouldn’t it be equally reasonable to take steps in order to protect ourselves from any kind of accidents that put our lives at risk? For example, it can be argued that by taking out appropriate third party cover to insure that our neighbors would not suffer if our property, damaged by, let’s say, fire, ended up damaging theirs is actually a reflection of the commandment to love others as we love ourselves.
On the other hand, we shouldn’t necessarily associate insurance with misfortune. There are packages devised to provide funds for school fees or retirement. A life insurance is meant to provide the family with a comfortable existence in case one of its supporting members dies. Insurance even has positive effects, in some cases. It makes people be more careful with their buildings, for instance, or when handling polluting substances, as it is clearly stated that insurance policies do not cover damages caused intentionally or by carelessness and negligence. Many companies raise the premiums of car insurance if the respective driver has caused many accidents, thus stimulating people to drive more carefully and minimize road accidents.
If you take out an indemnity insurance your business will be protected.
