Thursday, October 9, 2008

Voice for the voiceless

In his blog Adam Taylor says,
"In the all too familiar script of presidential elections and debates, these words (middle class) have essentially replaced the words of Jesus. Candidates campaign on platforms based on a distorted remix of Mathew 25, replacing the all important middle class with Christ’s concern for the “least of these among you.” I listened carefully to the entire presidential debate last night, hoping that one of the candidates would have the foresight and courage to mention the poor in the context of our economic crisis and our foreign policy priorities. The first two debates have rightfully focused on the duress and hardship associated with the meltdown of Wall Street and the crumbling of our economy. Yet somehow candidates manage to systematically ignore the 36 million Americans living in poverty and the nearly 2 billion people around the world living perilously on less than $2 a day. Too often politicians follow the lead of our society in devaluing and dismissing the needs of the poor, exacerbating their marginalization."
The reality is that the candidates are following the lead of the media who in returns feeds off of public opinion. This is where the church must step up. We are called by Jesus to speak on behalf of the poor. We are to defend the poor. My pick for a candidate is one who will be a voice for the voiceless. I guess I will just have to keep looking for that candidate!

1 comment:

lifewalk said...

Perhaps another question may be in reference to how poor folks make up their minds on who to vote for. It seems unfair to me that if all they hear about or read about is the "middle class" and whats in it for them, what can a poor person do to make an intelligent decision? It boils down to one thing to me....I need something that tells me about the man running. I mean what's in his heart and what does he personally belive in? Unfortunately, the candidates and the "middle class" seem to be so wrapped up in "what's in it for me" that they dont reach a very, very silent large group of voters.