When I was a student at UC Berkeley, I had the great joy and privilege and playing piccolo for the Cal Marching Band. The Cal Band was (is), almost completely, a student run organization. It had a complex system that made the orgnization work, and every year we would have elections for the top leadership positions: Student drum major, student music director, secretary, etc. These were run as almost all elections are: the students would campaign, in a sense, and this would end with each of them giving a speech at an election dinner after which we would all vote by ballot. The reality is that the Cal Band typically has about 170 members, so most of us knew each other pretty well, we witnessed first hand the other members' strengths and weaknesses, and by the time that dinner and vote came along, I assume I was not the only one who pretty much knew who they were going to vote for even before the speeches were made. Still, there is one election that remains prominent in my mind, 30 years later.
Two young women were running against each other for one of the positions. What was unusual about this was that the two young women were known to be best friends. They were always together, very close, never out of each other's sights. But they were also very different in terms of temperament. One, whom I will call Jill, was very confident, strong, an achiever, well-organized, pretty much good at everything she did, and generally very well liked. The other, whom I will call Sally, was an emotional mess. I think today we might have more compassion and understanding about the mental illness or life struggles that had led her to where she was. But at the time, most of us chose to stay out of her way as much as possible. She threw herself, sexually, at most of the young men, she flitted in and out of very dramatic and emotionally charged friendships with the other young women (perhaps in part because she would not hesitate to fling herself at their boyfriends, too), she was often seen having emotional break-downs or throwing loud temper tantrums. She was dramatic and emotional and constantly in crisis. So when we all saw that these two women were running against each other for this position, all of us, I'm certain, planned on voting for Jill. We did not see how Sally could handle a leadership position in the face of all the other crises that seemed to run her life, frankly. We had our ballots in front of us as the speeches were made and I know that even before the speeches came, most of us had already marked our vote for Jill.
Sally stood up and she gave the speech most of us expected her to give. It was emotional but also passionate about her desire to serve in this way. I don't remember it much, except that she was clearly very nervous, and she made her earnest desire to hold this position very clear. Then Jill came to the podium. And Jill's speech I will never forget.
Jill stood before all of us, and instead of telling us why she wanted the position or why she would do a good job, she took the opportunity to slam her best friend, Sally. She called her "unstable" and was sarcastic and mean in her comments. It was a cruel speech. And this close community of the Cal Band had no tolerance for this. At her first comment, her audience collectively gasped with shock and concern. As her comments went on, groans and "oh!"s resounded. This shook Jill. Her stance as she began her speech was extremely confident, as she had every right to be. But as the rest of us responded negatively to each of her nasty comments, I saw her falter in her speech. What began with loud assertion, ended with a quiet, unsure, shaky speech. She read the speech she had written through to the end, and did not alter it, despite our reaction. But I am certain that as she finished, she could not help but see that none of us were looking anymore at her. We were all looking at Sally, with concern, and with compassion.
As Jill sat down, the next thing I saw was everyone's erasers on their ballots. Sally won that vote by a landslide. And Jill's popularity from that moment on was never anywhere near what it had been before. We all voted against meanness, against cruelty, and against that kind of attack. We expected our leaders to be community builders, community players. We voted in people who would care about the well being of even their opponents because we knew that that would reflect how they would treat each of us, how they would respond to our wishes for the Band. Or, to be more accurate in this case, we voted against someone who was so self-focused and self-aggrandizing that they were willing to be cruel even to their best friend to try to get what they wanted.
Unfortunately, this election does not seem to mirror the choices of our country. Instead, studies show that the mudslinging campaigns of attack on one another WORK. Usually, the person who does the most cruel (and often libelous) attacking of his/her competition wins in our bigger elections. These candidates avoid saying how they really feel about anything, and so people assume these folk are on the same page in terms of values. We hear from these candidates what is wrong with everyone else and that works to sway votes away those they are slamming, even when the things they say are lies, even when there is not a hint of truth in them. We vote in those who are best at cruelty, lying, and vicious attacks. Is that really what we want for the leadership or our country?
I recently was in a conversation with someone who is my political opposite. I heard him say in light of the terrible way our politicians are treating everyone, are speaking about everyone, are attacking those they are running against, even on the same general "side," that he would choose to vote in this upcoming election for anyone who did not behave in this horrible way. He would vote for the first person who chose, in their campaign, to speak about what they valued, what they wanted, and what they believed, rather than speaking only to attack everyone else. And for the first time in our history together, I found myself on the same page as him.
I am deeply dismayed by what has been happening in our country, the policies that are so cruel, the hatred of anyone who is different from us, the constant villainization of the "other". I think that all of that is both a reflection of the very way in which people talk about and to one another these days, and it is condoning, and affirming this horrible way of treating each other on a day to day basis. There is a Sweet Honey in the Rock song based on a Chinese proverb that basically says that what you are at heart is reflected in your small actions that reflect into the larger attitudes and actions of the family, then the nation, then the world. We have forgotten this wisdom, this truth.
The bottom line:
If we want our world to be better, it has to begin with the ways we treat one another now, here, today. If we want our world to be better, we have to be kind to one another. But more, we must affirm kindness and expect kindness from our leaders. When we not only tolerate but condone and affirm cruelty from our leaders by our votes in reaction to their campaigns, what kind of naivete is it that expects that their intolerably vicious behavior will not then be aimed towards all of us in their policies, in their practices? Personally, I've had enough. I won't support that in any way. I can't. I'm voting for compassion this year. I'm voting for kindness. I'm voting for Love.
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Listening and Communication, Part II
After I had written my blog on listening and communication, I had a very interesting experience. Let me back up and say that I wrote the blog post on listening while I was on study leave. I couldn't post it: I didn't have internet access so waited to publish it until I was solidly home. But I wrote the post while I was gone at the CREDO conference. CREDO is an amazing and wonderful conference that is given to Presbyterian Pastors (you go by invitation only) that focuses on renewal, education, intense self-reflection and creating a future plan in 5 major areas: physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, and vocational health. Incredibly helpful, especially if there are areas you avoid or that make you uneasy. They gave a great deal of information, but also allowed time for processing with a small group and on your own in order to look at what ways the information applied to us personally, and what we would then need to do with the information we were gathering. At the end of the week, we were expected to have some plans for stepping forward with all the information. As I was gathered with my small group in order to share those plans, I found myself laying out my ideas in these five areas but stating that there was absolutely no connection between any of them. And that's when the conference took a complete 180 degree turn for me. My small group all stared at me like I was insane, and then calmly pointed out that not only was there a very clear unifying theme throughout all five of my areas, but that I'd even been using the same word over and over in each area to describe where I was and what needed to be addressed. The group reflected back to me clarity, they challenged and deepened my thinking, they brought my scattered thoughts together into a single forward direction.
And as I sat with this information, I had the uneasy revelation that it was not just that there had been over the last few years an increasing number of times when I have felt unheard by the people around me; it was, more seriously and more harmfully true, that I had been and still was unable to hear myself. And THAT realization felt like a strong punch in the nose.
I've always felt good about the fact that I am a self-reflective person. I own my sh... I easily apologize. I am more than willing to do the work to figure out which pieces of a problem are my own, and which pieces I don't need to claim. I am not afraid to ask for help with that self-reflection and to get other people's insights into what is really happening both within and without. When confronted, I take seriously what the other is saying to me and am able to be okay with owning my mistakes and the areas in which I still need growth and change. That is a core piece of my identity: I am self-reflective and willing to do the work of changing. And so, to realize that I had spent a week (and frankly, years before the week) working on specific issues and to have totally and completely missed what was actually at the base, at the root of what I was doing... well, it was a shock, to say the least.
And it brought me back to the issue of listening. Meditation is not just about listening to God (or the Divine or the Universe or whatever it is you listen to that is outside of yourself). It is also about taking the space and breathing deeply enough to listen to yourself. Training on how to listen to others can also help us to learn how to listen to ourselves. Journaling, writing, walking, talking... all of these can help us to listen to ourselves. But if we are not intentional about taking the time, if we are not purposeful and willing to really look deeper at things that may be uncomfortable, listening and being willing to really hear ourselves is not a given.
I also found myself thinking that if we struggle to hear ourselves, how much are we really able to hear others? Don't our own unexamined motivations get in the way of truly going deep into hearing what another is saying?
Looking, then, to take this to the bigger level, I wonder if part of our increasing inability as a country, as a people, to hear one another hasn't started with the busyness of work, social media, entertainment and the blasting of the world with noise and lights that has prevented us from listening deeply, and firstly, to ourselves. It takes time and space to really hear. It takes enough quietness that our thoughts are not drowned out by everything else going on. It takes genuine rest and breathing in air that is not cluttered by worries, fears, anxieties, and that thing we have to do next. If we can't make the space to learn to hear ourselves, how will we ever create a place where we are able to hear one another, especially across differences and diverse world views?
I left the week with many goals. But my primary goal is simply to make sure there is time and space to listen: to God, to myself and to others. This isn't something I can learn once and then move on: it has to be a life long commitment to being in the world differently: without all the noise and distractions and fears. One step at a time I strive to move into this. I am grateful for the wonderful people around me who listen better than I. I have much to learn. I am grateful for those who have much to teach.
And as I sat with this information, I had the uneasy revelation that it was not just that there had been over the last few years an increasing number of times when I have felt unheard by the people around me; it was, more seriously and more harmfully true, that I had been and still was unable to hear myself. And THAT realization felt like a strong punch in the nose.
I've always felt good about the fact that I am a self-reflective person. I own my sh... I easily apologize. I am more than willing to do the work to figure out which pieces of a problem are my own, and which pieces I don't need to claim. I am not afraid to ask for help with that self-reflection and to get other people's insights into what is really happening both within and without. When confronted, I take seriously what the other is saying to me and am able to be okay with owning my mistakes and the areas in which I still need growth and change. That is a core piece of my identity: I am self-reflective and willing to do the work of changing. And so, to realize that I had spent a week (and frankly, years before the week) working on specific issues and to have totally and completely missed what was actually at the base, at the root of what I was doing... well, it was a shock, to say the least.
And it brought me back to the issue of listening. Meditation is not just about listening to God (or the Divine or the Universe or whatever it is you listen to that is outside of yourself). It is also about taking the space and breathing deeply enough to listen to yourself. Training on how to listen to others can also help us to learn how to listen to ourselves. Journaling, writing, walking, talking... all of these can help us to listen to ourselves. But if we are not intentional about taking the time, if we are not purposeful and willing to really look deeper at things that may be uncomfortable, listening and being willing to really hear ourselves is not a given.
I also found myself thinking that if we struggle to hear ourselves, how much are we really able to hear others? Don't our own unexamined motivations get in the way of truly going deep into hearing what another is saying?
Looking, then, to take this to the bigger level, I wonder if part of our increasing inability as a country, as a people, to hear one another hasn't started with the busyness of work, social media, entertainment and the blasting of the world with noise and lights that has prevented us from listening deeply, and firstly, to ourselves. It takes time and space to really hear. It takes enough quietness that our thoughts are not drowned out by everything else going on. It takes genuine rest and breathing in air that is not cluttered by worries, fears, anxieties, and that thing we have to do next. If we can't make the space to learn to hear ourselves, how will we ever create a place where we are able to hear one another, especially across differences and diverse world views?
I left the week with many goals. But my primary goal is simply to make sure there is time and space to listen: to God, to myself and to others. This isn't something I can learn once and then move on: it has to be a life long commitment to being in the world differently: without all the noise and distractions and fears. One step at a time I strive to move into this. I am grateful for the wonderful people around me who listen better than I. I have much to learn. I am grateful for those who have much to teach.
Friday, February 17, 2017
Why I believe our government needs to help with social services.
A friend who is politically the polar opposite from me asked me recently through a Facebook comment why I believed government should be in charge of social services, rather than people of faith living out their faith. I've sat with his question for the last couple weeks for several reasons. First, I've never seen it as an "either/or" kind of thing, so I found it hard to answer because the basic assumption didn't hold for me. But also, I realized the answer to the question was long and has many facets to it, so it could not be a simple or short answer: certainly it would not fit as a "comment" to a Facebook post. Third, I struggle at times with choosing to speak when I believe it won't matter, that opinions will not be changed. As I've listened to friends and parishioners express their different opinions on the current political issues, it's really come home to me that we don't start from the same place, we don't trust the same news sources or even the same recounting of history. How can you have a genuine discussion with someone when what you say they won't believe and what they say you "know" to be untrue (and yes, I put that in quotes. What we hear in news and in history is always told from the perspective of the teller. There is always bias. None of us ever hear or even witness complete truth because we always interpret even our own experiences through the lenses of our beliefs and perspectives)?
But at the same time, the question, and the answers that I have inside have continued to rattle around within me so I am answering the question here. While it may make no difference to his understanding, articulating my thoughts around this has the potential to make a difference for me. And there is always the hope that it may create more understanding of our differences even if it doesn't change where we both come out in the end.
With all of those caveats, here goes:
The scriptures in Matthew 25 that talk about finding Christ in the "least of these" are pretty central texts for me. In particular vs. 34-45: "Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’"
These are vital descriptions to me of how we are to live out Jesus' two commandments to love God with all we are and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Tie that into his descriptions of who those neighbors are, (Matthew 5:43-48: "You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do that?") and you get a very clear picture that we are to love everyone in the same way and to the same degree as we care for ourselves. This is THE message, the commandments, or, as Jesus put it in Matthew 22, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”. We are to love even those people we fear, even those people we don't like, even those people from other countries and other ethnic backgrounds and other sexual orientations and other religions and other genders and ages and abilities, etc, etc, etc as we love ourselves. It's that simple. And it's that hard. And what that looks like is offering and helping them to have the same resources, opportunities, chances and choices, the same rights that we have.
So I begin there. Do I think then that the government has the sole responsibility for caring for others? Of course not. I believe we are called to share our talents and our resources in every possible way with those who do not have as much. We are to be stewards of what we have been lent by God. And that is how I see it. "My" house is not "my" house: it is a resource that belongs to God that has been lent to me to use for the good of all people. "My" income is not "my" income: it too is a resource that comes from God that has been lent to me to use for the good of all people. My talents, my gifts, my abilities: all are to be used to love God. Loving God means taking care of God's people, and, frankly, all of creation: all of God's earth, all of God's creatures, all of God's beauty. God loves it all. And when we use it for ourselves, when we abuse any of it for ourselves, or even for our "own" people, when we do this, I think it makes God incredibly sad. I don't think any of this has been given to us to create luxury for me and mine. I don't find in scripture or in my own experience of God a God who wants us to use the resources lent to us for our own over-indulgence while others suffer. My own experience is that the more I give, the more I find I have enough. Again and again and again. It has only been in the times when I have knuckled down out of fear and hoarded what has come my way that I have felt in need.
Getting back to the original question then, of shouldn't people of faith just do this without the help of the government, again, my answer is no. I don't believe God is asking us to care for each other just as a practice in faith, or as proof of our love for God. I genuinely believe that God loves all of God's people and all of God's creation. It hurts God to the core (and, just as was written in Matthew we are doing it to God-self!) when we fail to take care of each other. Therefore, we have a responsibility to do that by every single means possible. Individually? Yes. As faith communities? Yes. As countries? Absolutely.
Looking at history (and again, recognizing we don't read the same interpretations of that history), the number of people who were in extreme poverty before FDR put his welfare and social systems into place was astonishing. The number of people he helped by setting government aid into place was extraordinary, and that has continued to be the case. Were there individuals at the time who could have ended poverty in this country on their own? Probably. But the point is, they didn't. When we look at the wealth discrepancy in our country now, it is far greater than it was then or ever. And it remains true that the wealthiest people give the least amount in terms of percentage of their incomes towards helping others. The poorest give the most, consistently. This is statistically true (see The Charitable Giving ), and it is also my own personal experience. I never experienced as much generosity as when I have been and when I am with poorer people, both abroad and in this country. While the giving of wealthy individuals in this country could wipe out hunger and homelessness, it doesn't, because those with the resources don't share them as they should.
This isn't just my experience in the United States. When I have spent time in other countries that do not offer the same kind of aid, the poverty is extreme. I spent a summer doing mission work in Brazil in the early 90's. The amount of people living in cardboard boxes, the children who were so skinny you could almost see through them was beyond belief. Their implementation of social programs has also made a huge difference in that country. (see Social Welfare Programs Worked). Since I was working there with some of these extremely poor children, I heard their stories, I lived their stories with them. I cannot begin to believe in a God that would be happier to have those children suffer than to have them supported by government help. The government reflects us and our values. I would hope that our values would strongly reflect care and love for one another.
I realize that people fear that the resources the government gives to those on welfare are misused.
I know this is a great fear, despite the fact that statistics tell a very different story (welfare chart, cheating welfare). Conservative estimates give a percentage of about 10% cheating the system. Other sources say as low as 2%. To me, that's still worth it. It means 90% or more are not cheating the system. Is this help necessary? Again, if you want to return to the days before FDR set his system in place, we can cancel our welfare programs to find out. But I'll tell you as someone who has volunteered for years with homeless families, in shelters, with emergency assistance programs and with feeding programs that when you know these families' stories, it is easy to see that they would not survive without BOTH the government programs and faith community help. There are members of my own family who almost fell through the cracks completely, and who would not have survived without this help.
One story in particular: I am very close to someone (whom I will not embarrass by naming in this public place) who grew up in extreme poverty here in the United States. His family lived on food stamps and welfare help for a few years. The local church also helped them to survive with food bags on a monthly basis. But still, there were many kids in the family, many little people who needed watching after, and a single mom who could only get work that would pay her about as much as she would have had to pay for child care. This person has shared with me stories of outgrowing the one pair of shoes he would receive each year and then simply going barefoot or cutting holes in the shoes so his toes could stick out. He has told me about stolen food being the only thing they would eat sometimes, and he has also shared times of pure hunger. Without the checks that family received, they simply would have died. I have no doubt of this after having seen children die in Brazil in similar situations before there were social service programs there. Was his family taking advantage of the system? I do not believe so. The mother now has an education, has worked very successfully and the entire family has moved into a middle class economy. But they needed that help for those few years after the father of the family had died and there was no real way to support these little children. Again, volunteering and working in interfaith emergency programs, I have heard and seen this story playing out again and again. And the great majority of the time, that assistance is temporary, despite what some would tell you. It gets a family through during a rough patch until they can get back on their feet. But without both the faith community help and the emergency assistance from the government, I know these families would not make it.
Finally, we know that in countries where there is less poverty and more education and health care, crime rates and mortality rates are much lower. There is less disease for everyone because there are less severely sick people spreading that disease. There is less crime because there is not the desperation and need that pushes people to steal what they need or to act out in rage at a country full of people who don't care. There is a much more general sense of well being because people are making educated, informed decisions about what is best for everyone. It benefits everyone in the country when the country cares about the people, all the people, within its bounds and takes part in ensuring that people have their basic needs met.
I deeply believe that we are all connected. I deeply believe that everyone around me really is my brother and my sister. I believe beyond a doubt that somehow we are all one (John 17). I know that if my child or my sister were in need, I would want to bring every resource available to help that person. And when I see people in need, it feels like it is my child or my sister who is hurting. I can't help everyone on my own. But I will do whatever needs to be done to assure that all of my siblings (everyone) has what they need.
I want to be part of a place that cares about its people, that recognizes that we all are less when even one of us is suffering and that is focused on taking care of its own so that each of us, and therefore all of us, have what we need to live whole lives. This mirrors my faith beliefs but also mirrors my hopes for a country that is more loving than hating, more compassionate than afraid, and more giving than hoarding. Again, our government should reflect us and our values. And those are the values I would hope would be central for all of us.
But at the same time, the question, and the answers that I have inside have continued to rattle around within me so I am answering the question here. While it may make no difference to his understanding, articulating my thoughts around this has the potential to make a difference for me. And there is always the hope that it may create more understanding of our differences even if it doesn't change where we both come out in the end.
With all of those caveats, here goes:
The scriptures in Matthew 25 that talk about finding Christ in the "least of these" are pretty central texts for me. In particular vs. 34-45: "Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’"
These are vital descriptions to me of how we are to live out Jesus' two commandments to love God with all we are and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Tie that into his descriptions of who those neighbors are, (Matthew 5:43-48: "You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do that?") and you get a very clear picture that we are to love everyone in the same way and to the same degree as we care for ourselves. This is THE message, the commandments, or, as Jesus put it in Matthew 22, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”. We are to love even those people we fear, even those people we don't like, even those people from other countries and other ethnic backgrounds and other sexual orientations and other religions and other genders and ages and abilities, etc, etc, etc as we love ourselves. It's that simple. And it's that hard. And what that looks like is offering and helping them to have the same resources, opportunities, chances and choices, the same rights that we have.
So I begin there. Do I think then that the government has the sole responsibility for caring for others? Of course not. I believe we are called to share our talents and our resources in every possible way with those who do not have as much. We are to be stewards of what we have been lent by God. And that is how I see it. "My" house is not "my" house: it is a resource that belongs to God that has been lent to me to use for the good of all people. "My" income is not "my" income: it too is a resource that comes from God that has been lent to me to use for the good of all people. My talents, my gifts, my abilities: all are to be used to love God. Loving God means taking care of God's people, and, frankly, all of creation: all of God's earth, all of God's creatures, all of God's beauty. God loves it all. And when we use it for ourselves, when we abuse any of it for ourselves, or even for our "own" people, when we do this, I think it makes God incredibly sad. I don't think any of this has been given to us to create luxury for me and mine. I don't find in scripture or in my own experience of God a God who wants us to use the resources lent to us for our own over-indulgence while others suffer. My own experience is that the more I give, the more I find I have enough. Again and again and again. It has only been in the times when I have knuckled down out of fear and hoarded what has come my way that I have felt in need.
Getting back to the original question then, of shouldn't people of faith just do this without the help of the government, again, my answer is no. I don't believe God is asking us to care for each other just as a practice in faith, or as proof of our love for God. I genuinely believe that God loves all of God's people and all of God's creation. It hurts God to the core (and, just as was written in Matthew we are doing it to God-self!) when we fail to take care of each other. Therefore, we have a responsibility to do that by every single means possible. Individually? Yes. As faith communities? Yes. As countries? Absolutely.
Looking at history (and again, recognizing we don't read the same interpretations of that history), the number of people who were in extreme poverty before FDR put his welfare and social systems into place was astonishing. The number of people he helped by setting government aid into place was extraordinary, and that has continued to be the case. Were there individuals at the time who could have ended poverty in this country on their own? Probably. But the point is, they didn't. When we look at the wealth discrepancy in our country now, it is far greater than it was then or ever. And it remains true that the wealthiest people give the least amount in terms of percentage of their incomes towards helping others. The poorest give the most, consistently. This is statistically true (see The Charitable Giving ), and it is also my own personal experience. I never experienced as much generosity as when I have been and when I am with poorer people, both abroad and in this country. While the giving of wealthy individuals in this country could wipe out hunger and homelessness, it doesn't, because those with the resources don't share them as they should.
This isn't just my experience in the United States. When I have spent time in other countries that do not offer the same kind of aid, the poverty is extreme. I spent a summer doing mission work in Brazil in the early 90's. The amount of people living in cardboard boxes, the children who were so skinny you could almost see through them was beyond belief. Their implementation of social programs has also made a huge difference in that country. (see Social Welfare Programs Worked). Since I was working there with some of these extremely poor children, I heard their stories, I lived their stories with them. I cannot begin to believe in a God that would be happier to have those children suffer than to have them supported by government help. The government reflects us and our values. I would hope that our values would strongly reflect care and love for one another.
I realize that people fear that the resources the government gives to those on welfare are misused.
I know this is a great fear, despite the fact that statistics tell a very different story (welfare chart, cheating welfare). Conservative estimates give a percentage of about 10% cheating the system. Other sources say as low as 2%. To me, that's still worth it. It means 90% or more are not cheating the system. Is this help necessary? Again, if you want to return to the days before FDR set his system in place, we can cancel our welfare programs to find out. But I'll tell you as someone who has volunteered for years with homeless families, in shelters, with emergency assistance programs and with feeding programs that when you know these families' stories, it is easy to see that they would not survive without BOTH the government programs and faith community help. There are members of my own family who almost fell through the cracks completely, and who would not have survived without this help.
One story in particular: I am very close to someone (whom I will not embarrass by naming in this public place) who grew up in extreme poverty here in the United States. His family lived on food stamps and welfare help for a few years. The local church also helped them to survive with food bags on a monthly basis. But still, there were many kids in the family, many little people who needed watching after, and a single mom who could only get work that would pay her about as much as she would have had to pay for child care. This person has shared with me stories of outgrowing the one pair of shoes he would receive each year and then simply going barefoot or cutting holes in the shoes so his toes could stick out. He has told me about stolen food being the only thing they would eat sometimes, and he has also shared times of pure hunger. Without the checks that family received, they simply would have died. I have no doubt of this after having seen children die in Brazil in similar situations before there were social service programs there. Was his family taking advantage of the system? I do not believe so. The mother now has an education, has worked very successfully and the entire family has moved into a middle class economy. But they needed that help for those few years after the father of the family had died and there was no real way to support these little children. Again, volunteering and working in interfaith emergency programs, I have heard and seen this story playing out again and again. And the great majority of the time, that assistance is temporary, despite what some would tell you. It gets a family through during a rough patch until they can get back on their feet. But without both the faith community help and the emergency assistance from the government, I know these families would not make it.
Finally, we know that in countries where there is less poverty and more education and health care, crime rates and mortality rates are much lower. There is less disease for everyone because there are less severely sick people spreading that disease. There is less crime because there is not the desperation and need that pushes people to steal what they need or to act out in rage at a country full of people who don't care. There is a much more general sense of well being because people are making educated, informed decisions about what is best for everyone. It benefits everyone in the country when the country cares about the people, all the people, within its bounds and takes part in ensuring that people have their basic needs met.
I deeply believe that we are all connected. I deeply believe that everyone around me really is my brother and my sister. I believe beyond a doubt that somehow we are all one (John 17). I know that if my child or my sister were in need, I would want to bring every resource available to help that person. And when I see people in need, it feels like it is my child or my sister who is hurting. I can't help everyone on my own. But I will do whatever needs to be done to assure that all of my siblings (everyone) has what they need.
I want to be part of a place that cares about its people, that recognizes that we all are less when even one of us is suffering and that is focused on taking care of its own so that each of us, and therefore all of us, have what we need to live whole lives. This mirrors my faith beliefs but also mirrors my hopes for a country that is more loving than hating, more compassionate than afraid, and more giving than hoarding. Again, our government should reflect us and our values. And those are the values I would hope would be central for all of us.
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