The American people must wise up and rise up!
Yes we must. I came up with that little phrase yesterday and it makes so much sense. Until WE act, we will get the same old thing.
Sometimes politics comes down to a moral issue, an issue of right or wrong, a time where rhetoric can not mask the choices. We face such a time now.
Some religous leaders spoke truth to power yesterday. Religous leaders who support the Circle Of Protection met with President Obama at the White House to deliver the message of Mathew 25.
Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners describes the meeting:
Yesterday, before congressional leaders were due at the White House for critical negotiations, I, along with 11 other national faith leaders, met with President Obama and senior White House staff for 40 minutes. We were representing the Circle of Protection, which formed in a commitment to defend the poor in the budget debates. Sitting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, we opened in prayer, grasping hands across the table, and read scripture together. We reminded ourselves that people of faith must evaluate big decisions on issues like a budget by how they impact the most vulnerable.
Matthew 25 — Why We Went to the White House
We urged the president to protect programs for low-income people in the ongoing budget and deficit debate, and in any deal concerning the debt ceiling and default crisis. In an engaging back and forth conversation, the president and faith leaders discussed how we can get our fiscal house in order without doing so on the backs of those who are most vulnerable. We shared the concern that the deficit must be cut in a way that protects the safety net, and struggling families and children, and maintains our national investments in the future of all of us.
The meeting started with the recognition that the poor and vulnerable are at great risk in this debate. But we told the president some good news about how a Circle of Protection has formed in response to this crisis. It is now the most unified and broadest coalition of churches that any of us has ever seen — and is endorsed by our brothers and sisters of other faiths and secular organizations who also work for low-income people.
We made our simple principle clear: The most vulnerable should be protected in any budget or deficit agreements — as a non-partisan commitment. The most vulnerable need a special exemption from all spending cuts as they usually have had in previous times of deficit reduction. We told President Obama that this is what God requires of all of us.
We agreed that we need both fiscal responsibility and shared sacrifice. Those already hurting should not be made to hurt more, and those doing well should do their part in sacrificing. And whatever we decide should be fair, balanced, and compassionate.
President Obama agreed that the sacrifices needed to reduce the deficit must not be borne by the “least of these.” It was good to hear a reference to Matthew 25 and Jesus’ words, “As you have done to the least of these, you have done to me,” in the White House. This verse motivated many of us to be at the White House meeting yesterday, and it continues to serve as a guiding principle for how we make critical decisions, including the one the nation is about to make.
Matthew 25 — Why We Went to the White House
Here are more details on the Circle of Protection and who signed it, but the following is long and you can skip it if you want to. The real news is the religous pressure on the President not to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the receipt of that message by the President.
President Obama agreed that the sacrifices needed to reduce the deficit must not be borne by the “least of these.”
Let's hope he remembers as the negotiations continue with the Ayn Rand party.
The Circle of Protection:
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. God is calling us to pray, fast, give alms and to speak out for justice.
The following is a statement by church leaders from diverse theological and political beliefs who have come together to form a Circle of Protection around programs that serve the most vulnerable in our nation and around the world. All people are invited to sign the statement and we'll send a copy to President Obama and your members of Congress. (Click here for the statement and list of originating signers.)
Circle of Protection: A Statement on Why We Need to Protect Programs for the Poor
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As people of faith, 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.
1. The nation needs to substantially reduce future deficits, but not at the expense of hungry and poor people.
2. Programs focused on reducing poverty should not be cut. They should be made as effective as possible, but not cut.
3. We urge our leaders to protect and improve poverty-focused development and humanitarian assistance to promote a better, safer world.
4. National leaders must review and consider tax revenues, military spending, and entitlements in the search for ways to share sacrifice and cut deficits.
5. A fundamental task is to create jobs and spur economic growth. Decent jobs at decent wages are the best path out of poverty, and restoring growth is a powerful way to reduce deficits.
6. The budget debate has a central moral dimension. Christians are asking how we protect "the least of these." "What would Jesus cut?" "How do we share sacrifice?"
7. As believers, we turn to God with prayer and fasting, to ask for guidance as our nation makes decisions about our priorities as a people.
8. God continues to shower our nation and the world with blessings. As Christians, we are rooted in the love of God in Jesus.
You can sign it here. Those who are not Christians may have a few issues with a couple points, and that's okay. Find another way to fight to do what's right.
Circle Of Protection
Here is a list of the orignial signers:
Circle of Protection Signers
April 21, 2011
Leith Anderson President National Association of Evangelicals
Dr. Carroll A. Baltimore, Sr. President Progressive National Baptist Church
David Beckmann President Bread for the World
Geoffrey Black General Minister and President United Church of Christ
Bishop Stephen E. Blaire Bishop of Stockton and
Chairman, Committee on Domestic Justice and Human
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Bishop Charles E. Blake Presiding Bishop Church of God in Christ
Bishop Claire S. Burkat Bishop of Southeastern Evangelical Luteran Church in America
J. Ron Byler Executive Director Mennonite Central Committee
Bishop Minerva Carcaño Bishop of the Southwest United Methodist Church
Very Rev. Thomas P. Cassidy, SCJ President Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Dale Evans US President Food for the Hungry
Daniel Garcia International Coordinator Kairos Prison Ministry International
Wes Granberg-Michaelson General Secretary Reformed Church in America
Ken Hackett President Catholic Relief Services
Ambassador Tony Hall Executive Director Alliance to End Hunger
Dick Hamm Executive Director Christian Churches Together in the USA
Bishop Mark S. Hanson Presiding Bishop Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Herman Harmelink III Ecumanical Officer International Council of Community Churches
Mitch Hescox President Evangelical Environmental Network
Bishop Howard J. Hubbard Bishop of Albany and Chairman, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Sister Mary Hughes, OP President Leadership Council of Women Religious
Joel Hunter Senior Pastor Northland: A Church Distributed
Michael Kinnamon General Secretary National Council of Churches of Christ
The Very Reverend Leonid Kiskovsky Director of External Affairs and Orthodox Church in America
Kate Kooyman Christian Reformed Church
Michael Livingston Director, Povery Initiative National Council of Churches of Christ
Carlos Malave Associate for Ecumenical
Relationships, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
John McCullough Executive Director and CEO Church World Service
Wendy McFadden Executive Director and Church of the Brethren
A. Roy Medley General Secretary American Baprist Churches USA
Rich Nathan Senior Pastor Vineyard Columbus
Stanley J. Noffsinger General Secretary Church of the Brethren
Gradye Parsons Stated Clerk of the General Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Rader Ecumenical Officer, Council of United Methodist Church
Commissioner William A Roberts National Commander The Salvation Army
Samuel Rodriguez President National Hispanic Christian Leadership
Bishop Monroe Saunders Presiding Bishop United Church of Jesus Christ (Apostolic)
Ron Sider President Evangelicals for Social Action
Rev. Dr. Stephen Sidorak General Secretary, General United Methodist Church
Rev. Larry Snyder President Catholic Charities USA
Ervin R. Stutzman Executive Director Mennonite Church USA
Stephen J Thurston President National Baptist Convention of America
R. Lamar Vest President and CEO American Bible Society
Daniel Vestal Executive Coordinator Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
Berten A. Waggoner National Director Vineyard USA
Jim Wallis President and CEO Sojourners
Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins General Minister and President Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Rt. Rev. Elijah Williams General President The United Holy Church of America
Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner
Co-facilitator National African American Clergy Network
Jim Winkler General Secretary, General Board
of Church and Society, United Methodist Church
The American people must wise up and rise up!