Christian Leaders
Unite to Protect Poor People in Budget Debate
Form “Circle of
Protection” Around Programs for Poor People
Washington,
DC, April 27, 2011 –
Evangelical, Roman Catholic, mainline Protestants, African-American, and
Latino Christian leaders have joined together to defend the lives and
dignity of poor and vulnerable people in the current budget debate. The
release of this joint statement marks the strongest and most unified
Christian voice in the budget debate. Signed by more than 50 Christian
leaders, it states:
“As Christian
leaders, we are committed to fiscal responsibility and shared sacrifice.
We are also committed to resist budget cuts that undermine the lives,
dignity, and rights of poor and vulnerable people. Therefore, we join
with others to form a Circle of Protection around programs that meet the
essential needs of hungry and poor people at home and abroad.”
In a press call today, heads of diverse Christian
organizations said that politicians in both parties have failed to bring
moral leadership to the budget debate.
In the words of the Christian leaders:
“These choices are economic, political—and moral. As Christians, we
believe the moral measure of the debate is how the most poor and
vulnerable people fare. We look at every budget proposal from the bottom
up—how it treats those Jesus called “the least of these” (Matthew
25:45). They do not have powerful lobbies, but they have the most
compelling claim on our consciences and common resources. The Christian
community has an obligation to help them be heard, to join with others
to insist that programs that serve the most vulnerable in our nation and
around the world are protected.”
Congress will reconvene Monday, May 2, after a
two-week recess. The FY 2012 budget and raising the ceiling on the
national debt will top its agenda. According to the
Christian leaders’ statement:
“Budgets are moral documents, and how we reduce future deficits are
historic and defining moral choices. As Christian leaders, we urge
Congress and the administration to give moral priority to programs that
protect the life and dignity of poor and vulnerable people in these
difficult times, our broken economy, and our wounded world.”
The leaders outlined eight principles for ethical
decision-making that must be considered in a moral budget. These include
protecting and improving “poverty-focused
development and humanitarian assistance to promote a better, safer
world” and ensuring that budget discussions “review and consider tax
revenues, military spending, and entitlements in the search for ways to
share sacrifice and cut deficits.” They also call for a focus on
creating jobs since “decent jobs at decent wages are the best path out
of poverty, and restoring growth is a powerful way to reduce deficits.”
The leaders said that it is the “vocation and obligation of the church
to speak and act on behalf of those Jesus called ‘the least of these.’”
This basic principle has provided a unifying point for Christians that
gets past the partisan politics dominating Capitol Hill. Plans are being
made to hold political leaders accountable for protecting programs that
serve poor and vulnerable people and for using moral principles to make
budget decisions.
For a full list of
signatories and the complete statement, please visit
www.circleofprotection.us
###
Speakers’ Quotes:
“A just framework for future budgets
cannot rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor
persons. It requires shared sacrifice by all, including raising adequate
revenues, eliminating unnecessary military and other spending, and
addressing the long-term costs of health insurance and retirement
programs fairly. The moral measure of this budget debate is not which
party wins or which powerful interests prevail, but rather how those who
are jobless, hungry, homeless, or poor are treated.”
Bishop Stephen E. Blaire
Bishop of Stockton and Chairman,
Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development,
“Why should Christians
care about what the national budget does to the poor? Jesus understood
his ministry as one which called on the community, again and again, to
respond to the poverty around them. In Luke 4 Jesus says, “The Sprit of
the Lord is upon me for He has anointed me to preach good news to the
poor.” These are words from Isaiah 61, and after reading them, Jesus
announces that, in their hearing, that day these words were coming into
being. These words of Isaiah were words spoken to the king - the
governmental structure of his day. Jesus says my ministry is about
announcing good news to the poor by calling on the nations of the world
to do the justice that is good news to the poor. The Church has not
always recognized the extensive presence in the bible of the call to
economic justice in our national life. Sometimes we have gotten so
concerned about our personal lives we have neglected this very point.”
Rev. Peg Chemberlin
President, National Council of
Churches
As
people of faith, we understand good stewardship of resources whether
they stem from our tithes or taxes.
Even the working poor with limited incomes, high taxation, and no
benefits contribute to the economy of this nation and profits to
business and industry. Our
churches stand with them and the most vulnerable in calling Congress to
accept its moral responsibility in keeping the programs we the people
essentially fund and need.
“We as a nation carry the moral
responsibility of reconciling a commitment to deficit reduction with the
Christian optics of bringing good news to the poor. As a Hispanic
American Christian, I understand very well the challenge of breaking the
bondage of poverty embedded in segments of the Latino community. We
cannot sacrifice the poor and hurting on the altar of political
expediency.”
Rev. Sam
Rodriguez
President,
National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
Hispanic National Association of Evangelicals
“Approximately
one in five federal dollars supports programs focused on helping hungry
and poor people. With one in seven Americans currently living in poverty
and more than one billion people worldwide barely surviving, this is not
the time to cut vital programs for hungry and poor people in an attempt
to cut the deficit—even though it must be reduced. We should, at a
minimum, maintain our current level of effort to fight poverty, both at
home and abroad.”
Rev. David Beckmann
President, Bread for the World
“It was the faith community that
coined the phrase ‘A budget is a moral document.’ Now a majority of the
American people believe that is true. Budgets are not about scarcity;
they are about choices—moral choices. And in a remarkable statement of
unity, faith leaders from across the theological and political spectrum
together now say you cannot choose to slash budgets and reduce deficits
by causing even greater suffering for the poorest people—that is simply
not acceptable to us. Our duty before God is to defend the people Jesus
called ‘the least of these’ and, in this budget battle, we will.”
Rev. Jim Wallis
President and CEO, Sojourners
“Evangelicals take seriously the
clear teaching found in every part of the Bible that God loves and cares
for the poor—and invites us to follow his example. Our nation
honors God when we feed the hungry, heal the sick, clothe the naked and
shelter the homeless, both at home and abroad. Protecting the poor
should not be a partisan issue but rather a unifying value and shared
commitment of all Americans.”
“On April 4th, we commemorated the
life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., reminded that 43 years
ago, he was on his way to
Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner
Co-Facilitator, National African
American Clergy Network
“
Ambassador Tony Hall
Former Congressman (D-OH) and
Executive Director, |