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Federal budget 'unjust' |
| Church leaders term Bush budget
‘unjust’ Kirkpatrick among those
calling for opposition to ’06 spending plan
by Jerry L. Van Marter,
Presbyterian News
Service
[3-11-05]
WASHINGTON, DC — March 9, 2005 – The leaders of five mainline
Protestant denominations, speaking together at a press conference here
yesterday, called President Bush’s 2006 federal budget "unjust."
The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church
(USA) General Assembly, had been scheduled to attend, but stayed in
Louisville for the announcement of the successful conclusion of the Taco
Bell boycott. (See
story.)
Kirkpatrick was represented by the Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory, director
of the PC(USA)’s Washington Office. She read a statement Kirkpatrick had
prepared.
In their joint statement, the leaders — of the PC(USA), the United Church
of Christ, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Methodist
Church and the Episcopal Church (USA) — urged all people of conscience to
join them in opposing the President’s budget plan.
Frank Griswold, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, invoked the
story in the Gospel of Luke about a poor man named Lazarus whose needs are
ignored by the rich man who finds him lying at the gate of his comfortable
home. When the two men die, Lazarus goes to heaven and the rich man goes to
hell.
"In telling this story, Jesus makes clear that perpetrating economic
injustice is among the gravest of sins," Griswold said.
In their statement, the church leaders said: "Like many Americans, we
read our daily newspaper through the lens of faith, and when we see
injustice, it is our duty to say so. The 2006 Federal Budget that President
Bush has sent to Capitol Hill is unjust. It has much for the rich man and
little for Lazarus."
They concluded: "We urge the members of our churches, of other churches
and other faiths, and all whose conscience compels them to do justice, to
join us in opposing this budget. And we invite them to work with us on
economic policies infused with the spirit of the man who began his public
ministry almost 2,000 years ago by proclaiming that God had anointed him "to
bring good news to the poor."
Each of the five also issued separate statements, outlining areas of
particular concern.
The full text of Kirkpatrick’s statement:
On behalf of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), I
am pleased to join my colleagues as we address this nation on the critical
moral issues related to the federal budget.
As both chambers of Congress develop their respective budget
resolutions for the coming year, the churches of this nation urge them to
develop resolutions that respond to the real deficits faced by our society
— the deficits of hunger, poverty and access to health care.
When the Presbyterian Church (USA) adopted The Confession of 1967, we
proclaimed: "The reconciliation … through Jesus Christ makes it plain that
enslaving poverty in a world of abundance is an intolerable violation of
God’s good creation." (The Confession of 1967, 9.46)
Enslaving poverty in a world of abundance is an intolerable violation
of God’s good creation. My friends, we see this intolerable violation
today:
 | 36 million Americans live below the poverty line, and nearly half of
them live in deep poverty, with incomes below half the poverty line —
and their number is growing! |
| 18 percent of children — nearly one in five kids — in this country
are living in poverty — and their number is growing! |
| 45 million Americans are without health insurance and millions more
are underinsured — and their number is growing! |
| 13 million children in the U.S. live in households where people have
to skip meals or eat less to make ends meet — and their number is
growing! |
This is a moral outrage in a nation, like ours, of abundance; a nation
with a gross domestic product of about $11 trillion. And a nation with
wide income disparities.
The Gospel of Matthew (at) 6:21 says, "For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also." The heart of our federal budget must be
directed toward those who are in need.
This budget does not do enough to address the human-needs deficits
faced by our society. It calls for at least $45 billion in cuts to
Medicaid, the program that provides health care for low-income families
and seniors, over the next 10 years. It would cut Food Stamps for 200,000
to 300,000 individuals in working families. It would cut the number of
children receiving child care assistance by 300,000 in 2009.
Members of Congress: we seek a federal budget with a plan to reduce the
human-needs deficits that we face as a nation. We call on you to advocate
for a budget resolution that will address the intolerable violations of
our world today — particularly poverty, hunger and inadequate health care.
Let our budget truly reflect the fact that we sincerely treasure the
vulnerable among us as they, too, are children of the same God we all hold
dear.
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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Plan now for our 2010 Ghost Ranch
Seminar!
GHOST RANCH SEMINAR
July 26-August 1, 2010
WE’RE ALL IN
THIS TOGETHER
CONFRONTING THE STRUCTURES OF INJUSTICE |
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