June - July, 2008
People of Faith are We Walking the Walk?
by Linda Ketcham
Twenty Twenty years or so ago there was a skit on
Saturday Night Live, part of a news commentary that contained the line
"and remember, the meek will inherit the earth but that's okay because
when they do we'll just push them down and take it back." It seemed
funny at the time, now it seems rather haunting. Haunting because, at
the national, state and local levels we have policy makers, community
leaders and elected officials to adhere to this sort of twisted
theology.
In early March First United Methodist Church voted
unanimously to continue to serve as an overflow shelter for homeless
men. As a result of the congregations commitment to living their call
they lost some parking for congregants on Sundays that had been made
available to them (for $50. per month rent) by a local businessman.
Some members of our community would prefer that our homeless brothers
and sisters be exiled to outside of the main downtown area, maybe even
outside of Madison, without recognizing that the homeless are already
in exile.
Locally, undocumented immigrants are being picked up
and detained in increasing numbers, tearing apart families and putting
hundreds of children at increased risk. I recently had a conversation
with a long time community activist who was working to help a pregnant
wife and mother of a four year old, who is living in fear and
isolation, on the fringe of poverty after her husband was picked up by
ICE and is being detained pending deportation.
"you shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens
in the land of Egypt." Exodus 22: 21
In our offices, on a daily basis we see men and women
who struggle to rebuild their lives after incarceration. Employment,
housing, just two of the challenges facing them. We advocate against
legislative efforts to continue punishing our brothers and sisters
through increasingly wrongheaded and discriminatory bills designed at
appealing to fear, racism and whatever other base instinct they can in
an effort to claim themselves "tough on crime." Many of the
legislators obsessed with forever punishing people are acting in ways
contradictory to their professed faith.
"Then Peter came and said to him, 'Lord, if another
member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As
many as seven times?' Jesus said to him, 'not seven times, but, I tell
you, seven times seventy.' Matthew 18:21-22
On Easter Sunday the death toll among U.S. Service
members reached the 4,000 milestone. Much less emphasis was paid by
our media to the number of wounded, both U.S. and Iraqi, and the
number of Iraqi citizens killed. At a cost of billions of dollars per
month an unjust war drains our economy, pulling funds from crucial
human services and other non-profits while creating record profits for
Federal contractors and oil companies.
"He shall judge between many peoples, and shall
arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their
swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; and
nation shall not lift up sword against nations, neither shall they
learn war anymore;" Micah 4:3
Hunger in our country is increasing. In Wisconsin, one
in eleven households is what our federal government calls "food
insecure." What that means is that those households are regularly
skipping meals or reducing their intake to make their food last. At
MUM we call that hunger and morally unacceptable.
More families are becoming homeless as the housing
market crashes, in part due to exploitative practices by lending
institutions. Our government moved slowly to offer help to families
losing their homes, they are seen as foolish for having purchased
homes they could not afford. Last week the Federal Reserve pledged to
essentially bail out one of the largest financial institutions in the
country as it faces collapse due to its role in the sub-prime mortgage
scandal.
"God commands justice and fair dealing." Quaran 16:90
"When all the people of the world love, then the
strong will not overpower the weak. The many will not oppress the few.
The wealthy will not mock the poor. The honored will not disdain the
humble. The cunning will not deceive the simple." Mo-Tse
"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: naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took
care of me: I was in prison and you visited me. Then shall the
righteous answer him, saying 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 at 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 my brethren, you did
it to me." Matthew 25:35-40
As an interfaith organization we are at no loss for
guidance on what our response to injustice ought to be. It can be more
difficult to put our theology into practice. I started this article
expressing my discouragement about the twisted theology that has
subverted the common good and social compact in this country. I end it
with a sincere profession of faith in justice, and in my neighbors, it
is how MUM has managed to survive for thirty-five years.
W.E. B. DuBois wrote: "The prayer of our souls is a
petition for persistence, not for the one good deed, or single
thought, but deed on deed, and thought on thought, until day calling
unto day shall make a life worth living." And so, each day we, people
of divergent and diverse faith traditions and communities, arise to
work another day for our common call for justice. It can be no other
way and we give thanks for each of our companions on this walk.
May we work to make it so.
Linda Ketcham is the Executive Director of Madison
Area Urban Ministry (MUM); 2300 S. Park St. #5, Madison, WI 53713.
Phone: 608-256-0906; emial:
linda@emum.org
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