WASHINGTON – Some religious leaders have a message for Congress: Use Christian principles to solve the deficit problem and produce a “moral budget” that does not hurt the nation’s poor.
Two Christian groups, the Center for Public Justice and Evangelicals for Social Action, launched a campaign last month aimed at persuading lawmakers to cut federal spending, control health care costs, make Social Security sustainable, and reform the tax code.
The groups outlined their demands in an open letter, entitled “A Call for Intergenerational Justice,” that pleads with Congress to effect all that change in a way that respects America’s less fortunate. “To reduce our federal debt at the expense of our poorest fellow citizens would be a violation of the biblical teaching that God has a special concern for the poor.” the letter says.
The conservative non-partisan think tank American Enterprise Institute, based in Washington, gathered leaders who signed the letter and prominent opponents for a discussion this week on how Christians should think about government spending and the impact it will have on future generations.
“We are not saying it (the government) has a primary responsibility,” said Gideon Strauss, the president of the Center for Public Justice. “We are not saying that government is the first agency to address the problem of poverty.”
But Gideon does advocate that the federal government address poverty in a meaningful way, especially as it faces difficult budget decisions. And, he added, the U.S. must be known as a nation that does not abandon the poor during difficult financial times.
The church has a significant role and more urgent responsibility for direct charitable efforts for the poor, Strauss said, but government should shape social institutions and create paths for people to break free from poverty.
Some Christians don’t like that kind of government intervention, though. Jordan Ballor, a research fellow at the Christian conservative think tank Acton Institute, said the document is perilous because it can lull Christians into believing that the government is not already doing enough for charity – and removes personal responsibility in a way that’s dangerous.
“I don’t think that the document in itself gives enough of an impetuous for Christians to step up to the plate,” Ballor said. “That’s the last message we need to be sending to Christians right now.”
The Republicans’ 2012 budget plan would hurt poor Americans, said Ron Sider, the president of Evangelicals for Social Action.
“I think those are immoral kinds of cuts and it’s appropriate to say you are balancing the budget on the backs of the poor,” Sider said. ““I’m not at all convinced that more tax cuts for the rich are going to help the poor.”
The GOP has been touting the need for the nation to balance the budget. Republican Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the House Budget Committee Chairman, is the architect of the plan, which seeks to scale back the size of government and trim the federal deficit. Some in Ryan’s own party have criticized the plan as going too far.
Ryan’s solution to the budget crisis is worth pursuing, said Ryan Streeter, the editor of the website ConservativeHome USA and a policy director for former President George W. Bush.
“What type of government have we created where we are disconnected from the consequences of what we do?,” Streeter asked.
It is imperative that the government considers how its actions will affect future generations financially, Ballor said. The government cannot expect the next generation to handle the debt it is racking up now, he said.
“We are facing the real possibility that future generations will be worse off than the opportunities that I have been able to enjoy,” Ballor said.
Streeter agreed that Washington must consider how its programs are inhibiting growth for opportunity.
“The safety net of the government is going to shrink into non existence in a couple decades,” Streeter said. “The problem is going to run past all of us to the point where we won’t even have a safety net anymore.”