Hunger fast for a moral budget

The “hunger fast for a moral budget” is a movement which has become closely associated with Jim Wallis who is heavily promoting it. It has gone viral and has been joined by many large organizations including a number of members of Congress who mentioned it frequently from the house floor during the recent budget debates.  It was launch on March 28^th by 4 individuals (Jim Wallis being one of them) and I first read about it, along with a lot of other people, in the March 29^th New York Times article by Mark Bittman, “Why We’re Fasting.”

For those who might not be familiar with Jim, he is a Christian advocate and activist for the poor and hungry of the world.  He writes a daily blog, GodsPolitcs (which I have followed religiously for some time) and does guest appearances on major news networks.  I think highly of Jim and his efforts for the needy in this world!  I do become troubled when the ends begin to justify the means.  What appeared to begin as prayer and fasting for God’s intervention has transformed into a fast for media attention and popular intervention; from Gospel to Gandhi.

There’s no question that throughout both the Old and New Testament there is a constant demand that God’s people have a heart for the poor, the hungry, the children and all who cannot fend for themselves.  I also agree that whether you wish to quote Isaiah 58 or James or any one of many scriptural references, the heart must be backed up with appropriate actions.  But, it is a misuse of these scripture references to defend or promote specific tax policy.  In fact, scripture leans heavily in the opposite direction.

You can always fall back on, “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s” but I would rather look at John 12:3-8.  Mary poured a year’s wages worth of perfume on Jesus’ feet.  Judas, who kept the purse with the money for the poor, complained that it should have been sold and used for the poor.  Jesus basically told Judas that it was hers to do with as she pleased.  It was also inferred that Judas was more concerned about the fact that he wouldn’t get his hands on it.  I think the parallels to people with money, the government as Judas, and the desire to tax “for redistribution to the poor” is fairly obvious.

If you prefer Old Testament then consider the story of Joseph and his taxation during 7 years of abundance (Genesis 41). This is often told as a positive story.  Joseph collected 20% of the harvest during the years of plenty so that no one would go hungry when the famine came.  But most don’t pay attention to what happened later (Genesis 47).  The poor and starving (which was now everyone) got food but still had to pay the tax.  The government took all their land and possessions in payment for the food that was originally theirs anyway and then rented their land and animals back to them.  Ultimately everyone ended up being a slave to the government.

I have no issues with the “hunger fast for a moral budget” movement other than their efforts to try and appropriate scripture in a selective and inappropriate way.  I find their bracelets which say, “What would Jesus cut” to be offensive.  The point of what Jesus did was to transform hearts so that the community took care of those in need.  Not to determine which group of people are righteous and which group needs to be exploited or attacked.