The way you think and feel about the world is shaped by what you see when you get out of bed in the morning. I remember hearing this from civil rights activists. It simply means that perspective is hugely determined by place, context, and vantage point. This is profoundly true for me and most of the people I've ever met. You see the world from the place you live.
Part of the problem in the current budget impasse in Washington, D.C. is the perspectives of the politicians in the debate. Every morning they see and hear each other; the gladiator ring of national politics; the Washington media; their donors; their ideological base; and their latest poll ratings. Sure enough, the perspective that dominates politicians of both parties on the budget is who's up and who's down; whose power is growing or diminishing; whose constituents and donors are better organized and get their interests in front of the lawmakers; what the pollsters say; and how the end result of the debate will impact electoral gains. This perspective also dominates the news coverage.
So we at Sojourners thought there needed to be another perspective in this debate, and that the nation needed other voices. We need to hear from people who see and hear something different from politicians when they get up in the morning -- real people who are struggling, some of whom are poor, families, children, and the elderly, and maybe people whose job forces them to have to read the Bible.
I'm talking about local pastors. Every day, pastors relate with the people in their congregations and communities. Pastors can't avoid the real world, which is so easy to do in Washington, D.C.
We wondered, what do pastors think about the budget debate? We decided to go to them and ask them to speak out, and now they have. "An Open Letter to Congress and the President" was initiated by a group of pastors two weeks ago and sent out to their colleagues. Their letter talked about the real people who will be most impacted by this debate, and that any budget deal should be evaluated by how it affects the poorest and most vulnerable. God requires this of us, they asserted. We decided to try for 1,000 signatures from local pastors -- in July, when so many people are away, when things are shutting down for the summer, when it's hardest to get a response on anything. It was an act of faith. So far, in two weeks, 4,700 pastors have responded and made their voices clear. A full page ad titled, "Listen to Your Pastors" appeared in Politico yesterday. A copy of the ad with a full list of signers is here. You can also listen to a press call I moderated on Wednesday featuring Rev. Rich Nathan, Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber, and Rev. Derrick Harkins.
"The recession has cost hundreds of our church members' jobs and homes," said Rev. Rich Nathan, senior pastor of the Vineyard Church of Columbus in Columbus, Ohio. "But I am concerned about something that has even more devastating consequences for our nation: the adoption of a philosophy that says, 'I got mine! You're on your own!' Jesus had an infinitely wiser philosophy for building a flourishing society: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' This is as meaningful in today's budget debates as it was two thousand years ago in ancient Israel."
Growing numbers of Christians are condemning the immorality of extending tax breaks and benefits for the wealthy, while programs that help the poor and vulnerable meet their most basic needs are being cut. The clergy signers of the letter told political leaders, "We work, pray, and do whatever we can to remain faithful to the responsibility of every Christian to help the poor. Still, we can't meet the crushing needs by ourselves." They reminded Congress that government is a critical and necessary partner in serving the common good.
Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber, founding pastor of House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado, was also a recipient of a program that could be cut. "As a member of the clergy and a mother of two children with strong minds and bodies -- which benefited for three years from WIC [the Women, Infants, and Children program] -- I stand with all Christians in America who believe the cries of the poor and the cries of the children are not only the very voice of Christ, but are indeed the sound of our future waiting for response," Rev. Bolz-Weber said. "How shall we answer?"
In their letter, the clergy rejected the false choice between moral and fiscal responsibility, and reminded political leaders of the need to get our country's finances in order without making the poor bear the burden of deficit reduction. "This is not about some nameless, faceless 'other.' The choices politicians make about the budget will harm or help our neighbors," said Rev. Derrick Harkins, senior pastor of the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. "We want to serve those who don't have lobbyists on K Street. Our budget is a moral document, and it is either going to reflect the best of who we are, or the worst."
Christian opposition to budgets cuts that harm low-income people continues to grow. In May, more than 50 of America's most prominent Christian leaders formed a "Circle of Protection" coalition that laid out principles and values for a moral budget. Thousands of people of faith have since joined this campaign.
Our country is in the midst of a clash between two competing moral visions, between those who believe in the common good, and those who believe individual good is the only good. A war has been declared on the poor, and it is a moral imperative that people of faith and conscience fight on the side of the most vulnerable. Pastors have spoken up. Will the lawmakers listen to their pastors? This may be the only hope we have as we grimace in listening to reports of their budget debates. Hoping the politicians listen to their pastors is also an act of faith in July. But you never know.
Jim Wallis is the author of Rediscovering Values: A Guide for Economic and Moral Recovery, and CEO of Sojourners. He blogs at www.godspolitics.com. Follow Jim on Twitter @JimWallis.
Follow Jim Wallis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jimwallis
The question really is - will the people listen to the pastors? Revolution can happen when enough people are fed up with things. Will the people get out and vote? Will they become more politically and socially active? And most importantly - will they think about the long term consequences of their political choices and know lasting solutions sometimes take longer than we'd like? That is where change must and will happen. It won't happen in the House or the Senate, or in any governor's mansion or state capitol.
Any comparison to OT examples in this case simply cannot be justified. Israel was a theocracy and God was at the center of the Govt. That is not the case with us.
Christians must resist this veiled attempt to link Christianity with govt welfare.
As an added element. It cannot be giving from the heart when you FORCE people to give to the govt. I suggest that those who are promoting this ungodly agenda reconsider
Pastor Larry Robinson
You have proven my case. It is a power grab by the Christians. You cannot stand to have both Christians and the Gov. help people, you have to stop the Gov. from doing so to keep power for only yourself, no matter how many people you hurt. You make Christianity sound immoral and sick. If I were a Christian with any morals I'd be mad at you for giving Christianity a bad name. But they do not speak up. "ungodly" Un your god. What an arrogant, aggressive, disrespectful, hostile statement that is. To assume that your way is the only way and demonize everyone else who may not believe as you do is immoral and abusive. Boy, people like you give what was good about Christ a bad name.
How about they just listen to the voters and work to implement the will of the people? Polls have made it very clear that the majority of Americans think the rich pay too little and that budget cuts should come from corporate welfare, defense spending and the end of two useless and idiotic wars. If the politicians would listen to that and actually do it, we would be well on our way to an economic recovery.
I would prefer to have the politicians listen to their conscience. Unfortunately, getting elected at the national level is a good indicator that you have no conscience, compassion or empathy.
How about they just listen to the voters and work to implement the will of the people? Polls have made it very clear that the majority of Americans think the rich pay too little and that budget cuts should come from corporate welfare, defense spending and the end of two useless and idiotic wars. If the politicians would listen to that and actually do it, we would be well on our way to an economic recovery.
Economic recovery depends on every citizen's self-control. Individual lack of discipline is a traitorous threat to the nation and the world.
Recessions and depressions are just red flags. No government can pull selfish and profligate people out of the hell they create --without mass participation -- on a "war footing" without war.
Dogma: a fixed, especially religious, belief or set of beliefs that people are expected to accept without any doubts.
It is not dogma that leads an atheist to discount the delusional belief in a skydaddy, it is lack of evidence.
Every Priest and nun I have ever none preached kindness.
The problem with encouraging the religious minded to speak from a religious perspective is easy to understand. Even if you agree with the pastors on this issue, you'll find a lot of those same pastors have reactionary religious stances when it comes to other social issues - such as woman's right to choose, and the right of homosexuals to be legally and civilly married.
So we should NEVER, EVER give anyone a special dispensation just because they're pastors.
You want to speak to the rest of us? Then speak to us as FELLOW CITIZENS - nothing more, and nothing else.
Not until they put the country and its people before their own ambitions, party and ideology. Being a politician is not compatible with being a Christian.
Regarding the New Testament, nowhere does it say that Christians are to make a civil government take money away from one group of people and give it to another group of people. Instead, the New Testament encourages Christians to use their own money to help the poor.
Apparently, Wallace is reading into the Bible something that isn't there while ignoring what is there.
On the other hand, Wallace isn't demanding that the federal budget be enlarged or that federal taxes be increased. He just doesn't want programs that aid impoverished people to lose federal funding. If Wallace's goal is simply to protect such programs, then I have no argument against that.
I have spent over half of my life being in the battle against poverty, and I have done so using my own money. I do not expect governments to do the job that individual Christians and churches are supposed to do.
disparity is always going to be part of the equation.. it is up to us what we do about it and who is ultimately responsible.. I don't have any problem paying taxes on people in transition.. I do have problems paying for governments that oppress people just because we need them to do our bidding.
Diderot
Truer words were never spoken.
Last night I had an epiphany regarding the framers of the constitution; they embraced the Divine Right of Kings, hiding themselves and their intent in a new pair of pants, deism. And today, I had another one.........so do atheists.
Gotta chuckle about these things.
While the deist acknowledges God, God doesn't intervene. Atheists, not to be outdone, claim, "What God, there is no God, I am King."
Or, to put it in the words of Alexander Pope, "From Nature's chain whatever link you strike, 10th or 10,000th, breaks the chain alike"
Today I think it means intellectual marginalization, with the realization that both aristocracy and religion (which tend to be joined at the hip) should be recognized as antiquated notions which, like viruses, tend to be destructive forces in progressive democracies.