The Spiritually Viral Hunger Fast

"These critical funds enable millions around the world to have access to food and clean water, the very basics needed for human survival. I am proud to join my colleague, friends, and over 30,000 Americans in this fast to call attention to the drastic cuts being proposed by House Republicans to critical programs and services."

- Rep. Rosa DeLauro on why she and other members of Congress are joining the hunger fast for a moral budget. (Source: CNN)

+ Sign up to receive "Verse and Voice" - our daily quote and Bible verse e-mail

The Spiritually Viral Hunger Fast

Get a free issue of Sojourners Donate to support Sojourners

The hunger fast for a moral budget has gone spiritually viral. Ten days ago, we announced at the National Press Club that the budget debate had become a moral crisis. Prayer, fasting, and radical action are now required. Sojourners, the Alliance to End Hunger, and Bread for the World spearheaded this effort, but many more organizations, churches, and individuals have joined each day. We now have more than 30,000 participants and are still growing.

From large Christian groups such as World Vision and Opportunity International, to secular groups such as Women Thrive Worldwide and the ONE campaign; from labor unions such as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents the poorest workers in the country, to MoveOn.org, involvement in this fast is amazingly broad. Twenty-five members of Congress will join the fast, and this work is now referenced constantly on the House floor. More members continue to join, and they plan to have at least one member fasting every day until Easter by "passing the baton" on to their colleagues.

We are keeping the pressure on Congress through emails and phone calls as well as media coverage. CNN, Fox News, PBS, NPR, and many print and online outlets have highlighted the hunger fast. Every story is another opportunity to raise awareness about what is happening in Washington, D.C., and how it will affect the poor across our country and the world. Others are spreading the word by connecting with us on Facebook and Twitter.

My favorite thing about these first 10 days of the fast has been the stories. For example, a doctor friend, calling with concerns about my health, said, "Well, I walked into church today and our youth group announced a 30-hour fast for the poor and a moral budget, and said they were inspired by your fast." Also, a Jewish activist joining our water fast told me he was re-reading the biblical story of Esther, who called the people to a public fast to change the king's mind. He spoke about the emotions he felt when he imagined his 2-year-old daughter having the hunger pangs he was now experiencing. Low-income workers from my hometown of Detroit, Michigan came to one of our congressional events to thank us for fasting, and to say they were joining us.

Finally, we were given a very generous gift from Christ House, a 24-hour residential medical facility for homeless men and women in Washington, D.C., founded by the Church of the Savior. Gordon Cosby, the 94-year-old founder of the church who now lives at Christ House, told me that the homeless men and women had raised the money themselves. And when Gordon said, "I am praying for you every hour," I felt ready to take on the giants of Washington for another day.

The message of the fast gets clearer each day -- fasting tends to focus you, and the message is that a budget is about the choices we make. This fast is not just about cutting spending, but about the values that will determine our priorities and decisions. Should we cut $8.5 billion for low-income housing, or $8.5 billion in mortgage tax deductions for second vacation homes? Should we cut $11.2 billion in early childhood programs for poor kids, or $11.5 billion in tax cuts for millionaires' estates? Should we cut $2.5 billion in home heating assistance in winter months, or $2.5 billion in tax breaks for oil companies and off-shore drilling? This debate isn't about scarcity as much as it is about choices.

This battle over a moral budget will be with us for a while, but it is bringing more and more Christians together -- from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to the Salvation Army, from the National Association of Evangelicals to the National Council of Churches, from Sojourners and Bread for the World to a growing number of other denominations and groups -- a vision and strategy is coalescing to form a "circle of protection" around the most critical and life-saving programs for the poorest and most vulnerable people in our communities.

The fast has energized the faith community, poverty and hunger organizations, and secular social change groups, and has helped to spark a broad and united movement for a moral budget. With 17 days left until Easter, we are continuing to create a spiritually empowered community ready to engage in the moral battle for a better budget, a better country, and a better world in the huge political fights that lie ahead. Join the hunger fast for a moral budget, and let's make this fast spiritually viral!

Jim Wallis is the author of Rediscovering Values: A Guide for Economic and Moral Recovery, and CEO of Sojourners. He blogs at www.godspolitics.com. Follow Jim on Twitter @JimWallis.

	E-mail this article to friends
	Share this article on Facebook
	Comment on this article on the God's Politics Blog

The reasons for raising doubts about the human causes of global warming, explains Skeptical Science's John Cook, are often political rather than scientific. Cook hears from climate change skeptics that "'it's all a liberal plot to spread socialism and destroy capitalism.' ... However, what is causing global warming is a purely scientific question."

+Read John Cook's list of myths and facts about climate change, and Sojourners' extended interview with Cook in our April 2011 issue.

+ See what's new on the blog of Jim Wallis and friends

Afghanistan Weekly Digest: Quran Burning. Troop Drawdown. War Tax Calculator.
by Hannah Lythe
As part of Sojourners' campaign to end the war in Afghanistan, we will run a weekly Afghanistan news digest to educate our readers about the latest news and developments related to the war, the U.S. military's strategy, and the people impacted by our decisions.
+ Click to continue

Glenn Beck and Teachable Moments
by Jeannie Choi
It was announced today that Glenn Beck will end his program on the Fox News Channel later this year in order to create a "variety of television projects for air on the Fox News Channel as well as content for other platforms ... ."
+ Click to continue

In the Midst of Fasting, I am so Grateful
by Mary Kay Henry
On day three of my prayer fast, I woke up with the hymn, "I Am So Grateful," which the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ Children's Choir sang beautifully yesterday, running through my head.
+ Click to continue

The Hunger Fast Resource Post (Updated)  
by Hannah Lythe
As part of our campaign to Pray, Fast, and Take Action for a Moral Budget, this post will serve as a resource to our readers so you can stay updated on the hunger fast and Jim Wallis, Sojourners, our partners, and the budget debates.
+ Click to continue

Burning Anger and Small-Minded Men
by Debra Dean Murphy
The first time the Rev. Terry Jones threatened to burn the Quran -- 200 copies of it -- local and national media alerted the world.
+ Click to continue

Rediscovering Values for Lent: The Power of Grief
by Jim Wallis
A few months ago, I could tell that Luke was trying to work out, in his prayer life, what he had heard about almost 30,000 children dying every day around the world due to hunger and disease.
+ Click to continue

Entering God's Story
by Julie Clawson
The Bible isn't just a book of facts giving us a snapshot of past events that we have to swallow whole. It's a story of God that we are invited to enter into and be transformed by.
+ Click to continue

The Church Called to Rebellion
by Alex Awad
People can take a certain amount of oppression. However, when it gets beyond their ability to tolerate, they rebel. This seems to be the time of rebellion in the Middle East and North Africa.
+ Click to continue

Terry Jones, Burning a Quran, and Evangelicalism
by Gary M. Burge
It isn't as if the Middle East needed another complication. Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen -- now Terry Jones? Rev. Jones is a fringe pastor in Gainesville, Florida, who spent about 30 years as a missionary in Europe.
+ Click to continue

Martin Luther King Jr. and the Silent Betrayal of our Veterans
by Logan Mehl-Laituri
Today, soldiers are bringing home the wounds of war in massive numbers. In hours, they go from a world where the violence is external and obvious to a totally different world where the war is waged internally.
+ Click to continue

Why I am Fasting (Again)
by Ambassador Tony Hall
In 1993 -- nearly 20 years ago -- I went on a water only fast to protest the lack of conscience of the U.S. Congress towards hungry people. I was mad that leaders in Washington, D.C. were going to eliminate the only committee that worked with the poor and hungry. So I fasted for 22 days -- water only.
+ Click to continue

The Medicaid Card: A Useless Piece of Plastic?
by LaVonne Neff
The other day I saw a quote from The New York Times that I found especially interesting: "My Medicaid card is useless for me right now. It's a useless piece of plastic. I can't find an orthopedic surgeon or a pain management doctor who will accept Medicaid," said Nicole R. Dardeau, a nurse in Opelousas, La., who needs surgery for herniated discs in her neck.
+ Click to continue

Terry Jones: We Have Lost Our Brother
by Valerie Elverton Dixon
Christian faith in the salvific power of the death and resurrection of Jesus saves us all from oblivion. The actions of Terry Jones and his congregation are not acts that earn them eternal condemnation. But Christian faith in the salvific power of the life of Jesus causes this act to earn them the loss of his relationship with the church.
+ Click to continue

Martin Luther King and the Spiritual Death of a Nation
by Duane Shank
Today is the 43rd anniversary of the martyrdom of Martin Luther King Jr. Although I never met him, I value his life and teachings more and more each year.
+ Click to continue

Remembering the Real, Radical Martin Luther King
by Jarrod McKenna
"Martin Luther King was a radical!" These shocked words were spoken to me this weekend after an activist training I'd been running in Sydney.
+ Click to continue

Friday Links Round Up: Afghanistan. Geography Game. @jimwallis.
by Jeannie Choi
Afghanistan. Geography Game. @jimwallis. Here's a little round up of links from around the Web you may have missed this week.
+ Click to continue

Can We Stand to Lose 70,000 Children?
by Hannah Lythe
On Wednesday, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), testifying before a House panel, told legislators that the House version of the budget bill would result in the deaths of at least 70,000 children.
+ Click to continue

Finding God on the Running Course
by Kierra Jackson
I started running because of my sister. Kim and I began when we were pre-teens. I believed running was the key to making me more like her -- 5 foot 9, lean, beautiful, and highly intelligent.  
+ Click to continue

Faith That Creates Jobs
by Rev. Darren Cushman Wood
As the old saying goes, "In God we trust -- all others pay cash." As our economy shows promising signs of recovery, the cash is not translating into jobs.
+ Click to continue

Why I am Joining the Fast: Global Hunger is Getting Worse
by Ruth Messinger
It seems that the fate of more than 1 billion people living in poverty could take a backseat to opportunistic politics on Capitol Hill, where a cynical group of ideologues have used deficit reduction as an excuse to propose draconian cuts to humanitarian aid.
+ Click to continue

Nestling for the Planet
by Sasha Adkins
My research results on the impact of plastics on human health and the environment are often quite demoralizing to hear. More than once when I am presenting them, an audience member has literally started to cry.
+ Click to continue

How To Talk With Climate Change Skeptics
by John Cook
The reasons for raising doubts about the human causes of global warming, explains Skeptical Science's John Cook, are often political rather than scientific.
+ Click to continue

+ Sign up to receive our "Daily Digest" e-mail - the latest headlines on critical issues

Top Stories:

Minister Goes On Fast To Protest Budget Cuts
NPR's Michel Martin interviews Jim Wallis on the tenth day of his fast on Tell Me More.

Activists Ask Pelosi to Halt Budget Cuts
In an article from The Hill, journalist Ambreen Ali writes about a recent meeting between Nancy Pelosi and Hunger Fast activists, including Jim Wallis.

Progressive And Labor Leaders To Fast In Protest Of Budget Cuts
The Huffington Post
Sam Stein of the Huffington Post covers the recent Hunger Fast collaborations between faith and labor leaders.

Thousands join fast to protest proposed budget cuts
CNN.com
Journalist Laura Klairmont of CNN writes about the growing movement of individuals fasting to protest an immoral budget.

"Sojourners in the news" articles are the most recent news clippings that mention Sojourners in any way - whether favorably or unfavorably. Though we provide the text on our site for your convenience, we do not necessarily endorse the views of these articles or their source publications.

GET THE MAGAZINE: Subscribe today

CONTACT US: General inquiries: sojourners@sojo.net | Advertising: advertising@sojo.net | About Us

PRIVACY NOTICE: Sojourners won't trade, sell, or give away your e-mail address. Read our privacy policy.