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NCC says the
budget Congress is voting on
Shows ‘callous indifference’ to persons in need
by Leslie Tune
Washington,
December 14, 2005 – Denominational
heads and other religious leaders gathered in Washington Wednesday to
denounce the fiscal year 2006 federal
budget, with some comparing its congressional supporters to the evil
biblical King Herod.
The leaders braved cold temperatures to protest the budget that cuts
billions from programs that help the poor. Congress is to vote on the
budget this week.
The demonstration, which was organized by the evangelical Christian
group Call to Renewal, ended with more than 110 protesters being
arrested when they knelt in prayer in the Cannon House Office Building
to decry a budget they believe is immoral. Above, Rev. Wesley
Granberg-Michaelson, General Secretary, Reformed Church in America,
called the budget "a moral disgrace" and called on Congress to defeat
it.
Also among the leaders
who gathered on Capitol Hill were the Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, General
Secretary of the National Council of Churches USA; the Rev. John H.
Thomas, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ; and Phil Jones, Director of
Witness and the Washington Office for the Church of the Brethren.
 Thomas
(left) spoke of the upcoming celebration of Christmas and the parallels
between the birth of Christ and a vote on the budget.
“More than the
candlelight services we attend or the carols we sing, this federal
budget will reveal whether we and our leaders are like the Magi coming
to adore the child or like Herod who, whether through intent or
indifference, allows the innocents to be slaughtered,” Thomas said.
If passed, the
proposed budget would cut more than $50 billion in social programs that
help the poor while giving tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.
Religious leaders have been protesting the proposed budget since it was
first introduced by President Bush in January.
At the protest,
Edgar reminded members of Congress that one vote can make a difference
in defeating this budget.
In a letter sent to
members of Congress today, Edgar said that he and millions of persons of
faith “are appalled at the callous indifference to children, the
elderly, veterans and low-income families that this budget reflects.”
 The
proposed budget, Edgar said, “is immoral, unjust and it hurts the very
people it should be helping.”
He cited an earlier
appeal to Congress by persons of faith to restore provisions that help
the poor. (See below.) “Since January we have been writing and calling,
pleading and begging you to defeat this budget that bestows tax cuts to
the wealthiest among us while ruthlessly debilitating programs that help
those most in need.”
On Wednesday (Dec.
14), some persons of faith will risk arrest . . . while demonstrating
“their moral conviction that this is an immoral budget,” Edgar said.
The full text of
Edgar’s letter is below. Also below is a copy of an October 25, 2005
statement by religious leaders on the budget, and a report of the
grassroots opposition to the budget by more than 8,000 people who signed
a statement from the NCC’s
FaithfulAmerica.
Photos by Leslie Tune. For High Res
Pictures, see
http://www.ncccusa.org/Granberg-Michaelson.html; and
http://www.ncccusa.org/Thomas.html
Contact NCC News:
Leslie Tune, 202-544-2350; or
Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2252
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December 14, 2005
Dear Member of
Congress:
It is with profound grief
and extraordinary urgency that I send this appeal to you today on
behalf of the National Council of Churches USA as you work toward
final passage of the 2006 fiscal year budget. We speak with the
authority given to us as those who have been empowered with the Holy
Spirit and with the rights bestowed upon us as citizens of the United
States of America. We are appalled at the callous indifference to
children, the elderly, Veterans and low-income families that this
budget reflects. This budget is immoral, unjust and it hurts the very
people that it should be helping! We call on you to vote against this
budget.
This is not our first
appeal to you (see below). Since January we have been writing and
calling, pleading and begging you to defeat this budget that bestows
tax cuts to the wealthiest among us while ruthlessly debilitating
programs that help those who are most in need. Our faith has demanded
that we urge you not to go down this destructive path. We have prayed.
We have rallied. We have met with Members of Congress and their staff.
And, today some of our colleagues in ministry and other people of
faith may face arrest out of their moral conviction that this is an
immoral budget.
Now it is up to you. Now
you are in a position to make an immediate difference in the lives of
millions of people. For the families who struggle to make ends meet;
for the senior adult who depends on Medicaid to stay one step ahead of
an ailing body; for the Veteran who sacrificed that we might live in
freedom; and, for the child who may have to go to school hungry and
ill-prepared to learn; voting against this budget will make a real and
tangible difference. These are people in our congregations who we
greet before and after services on Sunday morning—or who stop by the
church during the week asking for our help. And although we do the
best that we can to help them and will continue to do so, churches
cannot nor should they attempt to take the place of the government!
It is not too late.
During this season of Advent when we celebrate the birth of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ, we are profoundly aware of the power of one.
One person can turn the world upside down! One person can bring hope
to the hopeless and exchange beauty for ashes and joy for mourning.
One person can cast a vote that will make a difference! We call on you
to be the one to cast that vote. This moment requires courage. This
moment requires resolve. We pray that you will have the courage to
make a difference and the resolve to stand on the side of
righteousness and justice because “. . . what does the Lord require of
you but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with
your God?” (Micah 6:8)
Sincerely,
Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar
General Secretary
National Council of Churches USA |
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October 25, 2005
Statement by Religious
Leaders on the Budget
As leaders of America’s
major faith communities, we write to you at a moment of great moral
urgency for our nation when hundreds of thousands of our most
vulnerable citizens are at risk. We urge you to put aside partisan
politics and pass a federal budget that reflects the moral priorities
of the wide majority of Americans. We urge you to work for, not
against, the common good of all of America’s citizens and not just a
privileged few.
This is a grave time in
our nation. We are in the midst of a tremendous social and economic
crisis, thrust vividly into public view by the recent natural
disasters along the Gulf Coast. The times demand profound changes if
the quality of life is to improve for millions of families. The United
States budget is a reflection of who we are and what our priorities
are as a nation. It is inconceivable—in the wake of the devastating
impact of the recent natural disasters—that Congress would propose $50
billion in cuts for child care benefits, Medicaid, Temporary
Assistance to Needy Families, Head Start, student loans, and other
vital services for people in need. In the aftermath of these
disasters, such catastrophic cuts can only deepen the pain and
suffering and dramatically increase the number of people living in
poverty in this nation.
We watched as members of
Congress vowed to help rebuild the Gulf Coast. We heard our
representatives promise to make helping those affected by hurricanes
Katrina and Rita a national priority. Yet despite those pledges,
members of Congress now stand ready to cut $50 billion in essential
programs that help those in need, while maintaining excessive tax cuts
that help only the wealthy. The hurricanes were a natural disaster.
But this proposed budget reconciliation would be a moral disaster of
monumental proportion—and it is one that can be avoided.
The role of government is
to protect its people and work for the common good. This is not the
time for the budget reconciliation process to create greater hardships
for those who are already experiencing great suffering. To do so is
not only unjust; it is a sin. It violates all the fundamental
Christian principles of loving thy neighbor, caring for the poor, and
showing mercy. As religious leaders, this violation is unacceptable to
us. How is it that we show mercy for oil millionaires and not
hurricane survivors? We urge you to change this destructive course of
action for the sake of our nation and for generations to come.
The outrage expressed by
Americans across the country to the images of injustice following
Hurricane Katrina—and the subsequent outpouring of generosity from
these same citizens—is a message from the grassroots that our
government’s priorities and budget must reflect American values by
helping those most in need at their time of need. Please call a halt
to budget reconciliation negotiations that are detrimental and direct
your attention to healing rather than harming our society.
Respectfully submitted,
Signed (as of October
19, 2005)
Bishop Thomas Hoyt, Jr.
National Council of Churches USA
Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar
National Council of Churches USA
The Rev. Dr. Stan Hastey
Alliance of Baptists
His Grace Bishop Vicken
Aykazian
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Friend Retha McCutchen
Friends United Meeting
Friend Thomas H. Jeavons
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
His Eminence Bishop Dimitrios
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Rev. Michael E. Livingston
International Council of Community Churches
His Grace Metropolitan
Zachariah Nicholovos
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
The Rev. David L. Wickmann
Moravian Church in America
Rev. William Shaw
National Baptist Convention USA
Dr. Melvin Wade
National Missionary Baptist Convention of America
The Most Reverend Robert M.
Nemkovich
Polish National Catholic Church of America
The Rev. Dr. Clifton
Kirkpatrick
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The Rev. Dr. Major L. Jemison
Progressive National Baptist Convention
Rev. Tyrone Pitts
Progressive National Baptist Convention
Ms. Christine Laintner
Swedenborgian Church
The Rev. John H. Thomas
United Church of Christ
Mr. James Winkler
United Methodist General Board of Church and Society |
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