Monday, April 29, 2013

Sequester and the Moral Failure of Congress

Last week Congress voted to end flight delays by voting more money for the FAA. This was a self-serving and a genuflect to the wealthy. I am appalled that while so many suffer Congress chose to act on that measure.

"Repealing the small part of sequestration that affected Congress itself and the donor class, while letting cancer patients go without chemotherapy, seniors go without meals on wheels, pregnant mothers go without nutritional assistance, and children get kicked out of Head Start programs, is a new low in our debased public morality." Fear of Flying: Cancer v. flight delays from the Washington Post.

I am a Christian.  I have never believed we were meant to be a Christian Nation nor have we ever been one. The sequester confirms we are not one.  I believe we are being judged by how we treat the least among us and we are abject failures.

Matthew 25: 31-46


The Judgement of the Nations

 ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “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.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. 

Will we raise our voices for those sick with cancer, seniors without food, mothers without food for their babies, little children denied education because they are poor?

Will we raise our voices for the immigrant(the stranger), for the unjustly imprisoned, for the poor, and all who suffer needlessly in this nation of wealth? 

Will Congress stand up for the least or grovel before their rich donors' Golden Calf?

Will we worship Mammon instead of God?


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