deuteronomy
Liz Theoharis 1-26-2021
Vehicles lined up in a stadium parking lot for a San Antonio Food Bank mega-distribution. Photograph by Tamir Kalif / The New York Times / Redux Pictures
SINCE I BEGAN to help organize a movement to end poverty, people have said to me that our goals are too ambitious—that demands for human rights and human dignity are both politically inconceivable and impossibly expensive. They quote the Bible, arguing that since Jesus said, “the poor will be with you always,” it can’t be God’s will for everyone to share in the abundance of our world.
But when I read the Bible, including and especially Jesus’ statement above, what I see from Genesis on through the New Testament is a constant revelation of God’s will that no one should be made hungry, sick, homeless, underpaid, indebted, or bereft by the violence of social injustice. I read an ongoing indictment of those who would take and keep the wealth of our world for themselves and cause others to suffer. I hear the biblical command to “fill the hungry with good things” (Luke 1:53), not simply as “caring for the poor” as an end result but by advocating for policies and structures that lift the load of poverty—admonishing nations to “do no wrong to the immigrant, the homeless, the children. And do not shed innocent blood” (Jeremiah 22:3).
Biblical roots of justice
The founding story in the Bible tells of a diverse group of freedom fighters who have been on the march since the burdens of Egyptian slavery and scarcity got to be too much, since leaders like Moses, Aaron, Miriam, and many others—named and unnamed—came forward to say, “It doesn’t have to be this way.” And God sent plagues and pandemics that only hardened the heart of the ruling authorities, who doubled down on misery, dispossession, and militarization.
Cathleen Falsani 11-03-2011
"God helps those who help themselves," is, unfortunately for Mr. Carney, NOT in the Bible.Rather it's an oft-quoted aphorism that sounds like it should be in the Bible but isn't. A "phantom scripture," if you will.
Aaron Taylor 6-08-2011
I've been a Christian all of my life. My parents taught me that God loves everyone equally and that all people should be treated with dignity and respect.
Valerie Elverton Dixon 6-23-2010
Today is International Widow's Day. It is a day set aside to consider the lives of the more than 245 million widows worldwide. It is a day to consider the lives of their children.
Elizabeth Denlinger Reaves 6-18-2010
We are witnessing a massive despoiling of God's creation that will impact ecosystems for generations. Our response must think that far ahead as well -- to our children and our children's children.
Aaron Taylor 5-25-2010
In March, I wrote a piece praising the Biblical character Boaz for showing compassion to Ruth, w