Jesus said, "…come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry
and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a
stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick
and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me."
Jesus did not say, “…come you that
have all that you need and more and inherit the kingdom; for I was hungry and
you called me a freeloader, I was thirsty and you told me to fend for myself, I
was naked and you called me too lazy to get a job, I was sick and you told me
that to ensure that we all have healthcare would be to infringe on your God
given freedom (even though nothing in scripture is written about your freedom
of contract), I was in prison and you left me there.”
As the western world
continues to slip ever deeper into the unholy alliance of government abdication
to market forces and corrupt klepto-capitalism, society is becoming ever more
capricious and callous in its attitudes toward the poor. The result is a growing lack of moral
imagination and the capacity to truly appreciate the needs and dreams of our
neighbors and the dehumanizing force of market-centered morality.
In her compelling book, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine
Boo paints a picture of life in a Mumbai slum that could fail to move only the
most callous of hearts. She explores the
intricate reality of life in this sprawling area in the shadows of Mumbai’s
airport and the growing luxury of the market driving class. It is a moving human story that invites the
reader to stand in the shoes of a resident in Annawadi and, for a moment of
imagination in the pages of the book, know what it is to be cast aside in
deference to “progress.”
Standing in stark contrast
to Boo’s book is the budget recently passed in the House of
Representatives. An appalling breach of
the social contract, the budget is more troublingly a giant step toward a
society united not by a common bond of humanity but by the forces of the market.
The implications of
allowing the market to supplant our common humanity as the centering force of
society are vast. In a market driven
society, an individual’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product becomes the
metric for that individual’s worth.
There is no inherent worth in the market, there is only assigned worth. When the market becomes the centering
principle of our society and our social morality, it becomes not only easy but
acceptable to simply ignore the poor, undereducated, marginalized or anyone
else deemed to lack value to the system.
That Jesus’ message rejects
this sort of market centered ethic is beyond question. To make the claim that an Ayn Rand fueled Atlas Shrugged style individualism has
any purchase in the word of God is bordering on the absurd. Nonetheless,
this is the central argument of the “market as morality” movement. It is only, they say, when we respect the
individual’s right to rise or fall all on their own that we can be truly free.
How can the imprisonment of
hunger, poverty or marginalization be free?!
The budget passed by the
House is, nonetheless, rooted in this ethic.
It removes the generations old social safety net and replaces it with a
glass walled abyss. It declares that as
a nation we will invest only in those people who offer some measurable return
on our investment (i.e. millionaires get tax breaks because they supposedly
create jobs but poor families get their SNAP food support cut because there is
nothing to be gained by feeding them.)
Thankfully some voices from
within the church have spoken up on the issue of our national budget and what
it means for our common life. The 54-page
“Priorities for a Faithful Budget” http://faithfulbudget.org/files/2012/03/Priorities-for-a-Faithful-Budget1.pdf
is a call to our leaders to put care for neighbor and respect for all as the
central principle in the federal budget.
I am pleased that my own denomination’s leaders (in the PCUSA) have
signed on to this document.
A wise preacher once said, “you
can tell a lot about a nation by the way it spends its money.”[i] What will our nation’s budget say about
us? Will it reflect a common respect and
care for the inherent value of humanity or will it reflect the growing ethic of
a value-added humanity? Will it reflect
care for “the least of these” or underwriting the wealth of the few? Will the centering principle be “we the
people” or “me the person” and the radical individualism of klepto-capitalism?
This is one of those places
where the three taboo topics of religion, politics and money intersect. And this is no time for the church to yield
to Emily Post politeness. We, as the
community of Christ, need to speak up for an ethic of care and respect and
against the destructive and dehumanizing forces of market-centered morality.
Jesus stood in solidarity
with all those whom society deemed without value. As the body of Christ in the world, we, the
church, must do the same whether in the slums of Annawadi or in the halls of
power.
[i] I do not recall who wrote the sermon from which this line
comes. If anyone knows who deserves the credit,
please let me know and I will gladly make proper attribution.
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