There is one person in Washington who wants to return the emphasis where it belongs, House Speaker Dennis Hastert. [Hat tip: Think Progress]
House Speaker Dennis Hastert has decided to mark the season by loudly insisting that the Capitol’s decorated spruce be called a “Christmas tree,” as opposed to a “Holiday tree.” He is right on this point. It is a Christmas tree. And while the Speaker may consider his action a “work,” the message of Jesus means more.
The message of Jesus IS important and that message is that faith without works is dead. If we celebrate the birth of Christ as a Christian nation, but act in ways that neglect the needs of the poor, then we are a nation of hypocrites.
If Speaker Hastert really wants to put Christ back into Christmas, he should start by joining a long list of religious leaders in supporting a budget that isn’t balanced on the back of the poorest and most vulnerable.
Before the House went on Thanksgiving break, it passed $50 billion in spending cuts that target millions of poor and working-class Americans... The Congressional Budget Office estimated the House bill “would cut food stamp benefits by about $45 a month for 225,000 people” and that 40,000 children would lose their eligibility for free meals at school. At the same time, conservatives are seeking to “extend several of Mr. Bush’s biggest tax cuts, including those on stock dividends and capital gains” — over half of the benefits from those cuts go to people earning over $1 million per year.
Hastert should heed the true spirit of Christ by caring for the vulnerable. As Jesus reminds us in Luke 4:18-20, by following his example we can “bring good news to the poor.”
Washington has an opportunity to act with Christian charity and restore the spending cuts. I pray they will listen to their hearts and do what's right.
2 comments:
You take an interesting stance. You are for Christmas, and yet against Bush tax cuts. On Christmas there has been an interesting debate on my blog www.biggerview.blogspot.com
I'm for Christmas as a celebration of the birth of Christ, not as a celebration of commercialism. As far as the tax cuts are concerned, I don't see a contradiction there. Christ said we should feed the poor, clothe the naked, etc. Bush is a self-professed Christian, yet he allowed budget cuts that hurt the poor directly, but pushed for tax cuts that benefit those earning over $1 million per year.
We need to cut spending and reduce the deficit, but as a Christian I believe it is wrong to cut funds for the poor in order to reduce the budget. Besides, the savings we gain from reducing the budget are more than offset by the lost revenue the tax cuts cost us.
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