Christian Outrage: No One Should Go Hungry
I continue to be stunned by our country's contradictions and cruelties. We claim to be a Christian nation, but have forgotten that Jesus' teachings emphasize caring for the hungry, viewing it as service to God.
𝐼𝑛 𝑀𝑎𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑤 25:35-37, 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠, "𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑎𝑡... 𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑦 𝐼 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒." 𝐽𝑜ℎ𝑛 3:17-18 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑢𝑠, "𝐼𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚, ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛?"
These aren’t just New Testament ideas. The Old Testament makes feeding the hungry a sacred duty.
𝐷𝑒𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑦 15:11 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠, "𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑏𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝐼𝑠𝑟𝑎𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑦." 𝑃𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑚 146:7 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑 "𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑦." 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑏𝑠 22:9 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠, "𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑜𝑟." 𝑃𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑚 107:9 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐺𝑜𝑑 "𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠."
The press is still debating who is responsible for the government shutdown, as though Republicans don't control all three branches of government. Moreover, the king-President does whatever he wants whenever he wants.
Senate Republicans could negotiate in good faith and commit to not letting the President disregard whatever deal is made. If they're not interested in negotiations, they have the power to eliminate the filibuster, the rule requiring 60 votes in the Senate to pass most laws.
Meanwhile, the President has shown he can move money around when he wants to. He's still paying ICE agents even as other services shut down. If there's money to fund deportations, there's money to fund food assistance.
However, this whole debate misses the bigger picture. The real problem isn't about laws, rules, or procedures. It's about right and wrong, and the loss of our humanity.
We live in the richest country in the world, yet one in eight Americans, or about 42 million Americans, do not have enough food.
These aren't just numbers. They're our neighbors, our coworkers, the person who rang up our groceries. Many of them have jobs and work full-time, but still can't afford housing, clothing, and food.
This is what we should be talking about, and it should simply be unacceptable. Not the political blame game over a shutdown, but the deeper injustice of a country that lets millions go hungry while billionaires hoard unimaginable wealth. We've gotten used to people struggling even though we have more than enough. We've turned the suffering of working people into a political argument instead of treating it like the crisis it is.
This is what makes my blood boil. Not blue versus red. Not that the government machinery is broken or that good governance is out the door. It's that we've lost our sense of what's right.