Words We Have Yet to Hear

The campaign is nearly over, but some things remain to be said. John Carter, Rector of St. John’s Church, Salisbury, Connecticut, said some of them in a recent sermon and I think they need to be passed on:

“In presidential politics we hear a great deal about the legitimate needs of the “middle class.” I understand the political reasons for this focus. But what about the millions of poor persons and their families in our country? The “least of these” are left out of the conversation. No words for them or about them. In America there are large islands of poverty that rob dignity and hope from many who are surrounded by oceans of wealth. There has never been a nation in the history of the world with the level of affluence found in the United States.

“As of this writing, shelters in Massachusetts are already overflowing and many homeless persons are being put up in motels paid for by the state, because Massachusetts assumes this responsibility for its poor. Winter has not even started. Where are the words of the presidential aspirants that acknowledge the poor?”

Where indeed are those words? There have been complaints about any suggestion of “redistributing wealth,” but the most massive redistribution of wealth in our country’s history has taken place in the last eight years. The rich are much richer and the poor are relatively poorer and somehow its all right to redistribute wealth upwards and not downwards.

In a country where the vast majority of the people claim to be Christian, does no one remember the parable of the Last Judgment?

I have some hope that when this election is over, we will see some policy changes to help those who have been left out of the conversation. If not, judgment awaits us as a nation.

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