How many times do Republicans make it seem as if one of their desires, one of their points, is to embrace cruelty, instead of being merciful and trying to deal with difficult situations with compassion? It is possible, and probable, many of them are seriously incompetent, and do not understand the ramifications of the laws which they try to establish, but not all of them can be so incompetent. Some must understand what they are doing, because there is no way they can accomplish all that they have done without someone having a modicum of competence and understanding guiding and directing them. It seems they are not concerned with what happens as a result of their policies; if things go bad, as they predictably will, they hope they will be able to place the blame on Democrats and gain even more power as a result. This can be seen in the way Republicans engage immigration and immigration reform: they constantly deny needed reform or anything which would help deal with the situation at the border, and then, when chaos ensues, they blame Democrats and lie about what Democrats wants (“open borders”). It can be seen in the way they treat the budget; when they say they want to cut back funding for the IRS, that will not only make sure IRS collects less of the taxes it should be collecting, creating a greater deficit, but it will make sure Americans become more annoyed with the IRS is they will be even slower in processing refunds. It can also can be seen in their newest idea, their newest push (connected with budget discussion): to make the complex situation around Student Loans even messier than it is now. Not only do they want to make it more difficult for those paying loans to have everything processed in order to have their debt forgiven when the law says it should be forgiven, they want to cut back funding those who process student loan payments, which will make it difficult for those paying back loans to do so, as the Office of Management and Budget indicated in its examination of H.R.-5894:
The Administration strongly opposes the bill’s $265 million reduction to Student Aid Administration. This reduction, which comes on top of flat funding in FY 2023, would deal a devastating blow to borrowers and the supports they need to successfully navigate repayment. Borrower communications and call center support would be severely curtailed and possibly eliminated, leaving students and parents without help when they have questions or issues related to their loans.[1]
Ayelet Sheffey, writing for Business Insider, shows us how Republican proposals would adversely affect the rights of borrowers:
And the bill’s provisions would target the Education Department’s recent initiatives to get relief to borrowers. For example, the bill would seek to prohibit funding for streamlining the borrower defense to repayment plan. That program is a route for borrowers who believe they were defrauded by their school to apply for loan forgiveness.[2]
Republicans do not seem to care about the American people. Certainly, they have no problem creating laws which will hurt Americans who have been defrauded. And while they say they want people to pay back their debts, they seem to want to make it harder to do so, as they cut back on the funds needed to process such payments. The fact that their policy would make it more difficult to pay back loans should make it clear, their rhetoric and what they propose are often in opposition to each other. They do not want to make things fair and equitable, but rather, make tough situations worse. That is, as with the border, or deficit funding, they hope they can convince the American people that the Democrats are to blame for the chaos they created. Again, while some Republicans might be incompetent, others seem to be entirely malicious, and no matter which they are, they threaten the American people with their proposals.
This appears to be the way Republicans consistently act when they hold power. They highlight a few issues, hoping to convince the American people they are the most important issues before them, but then provide a response to those issues, when properly examined, which will only make things worse They talk about the budget deficit, but their proposals will only make it grow. They will bend over backwards to help the rich get richer as can be seen in the way they embrace tax cuts for the rich, but they will tell the poor they must pay their fair share to meet the deficit which their policies made worse. They have no problem with forgiving the rich all kinds of debt, as can be seen in the way they treated PPP loans, but again, the poor are told they should have no opportunity for debt forgiveness. While all of this is bad, what makes it worse for Christians is that these same Republicans like to claim they are Christians, and their policies are all about promoting Christian morality in the United States.
Authentic Christian morality, seen in Scripture and represented by longstanding Christian tradition, says the poor should be given help when they need it. If they have debts which they cannot pay, debts can and should be forgiven. Indeed, those who have had their own debts forgiven should know how important it is for others to receive similar debt forgiveness. For, as Jesus told Christians in his parables, if they lack mercy and are unwilling to forgive the debts of others, they will be expected to pay back all their own debts, even those they had previously been forgiven (cf. Matt. 18:23-35). Similarly, he indicated the same thing in Pater Noster, the Our Father: “And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt 6:12 RSV). There are many kinds of debts being implied by the Our Father, not just monetary debt, among which are those which come with sin. This does not mean it does not apply to monetary debt. Jesus wants us to embrace a spirit of mercy and forgiveness which relates to all kinds of debts, including those who are burdened with monetary debts. What Jesus preached was the culmination of the revelation given to the people of Israel with Moses, the revelation which began with the call for the people of Israel to be merciful and compassionate, embracing forgiveness by making sure every seven years, all of them forgave each other their debts:
At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the LORD’s release has been proclaimed. Of a foreigner you may exact it; but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. But there will be no poor among you (for the LORD will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance to possess), if only you will obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all this commandment which I command you this day (Deut 15:1-5 RSV).
While some can argue that the Jubilee Year was for the people of Israel alone, we must remember, it was only a foreshadowing of what would be revealed in and through Jesus, where much which was particular with the people of Israel became universalized. That universalization began with Moses himself, who preached the need for the people of Israel to treat foreigners kindly because they were themselves once foreigners in a strange land, then the prophets reminded the people of Israel they should help the poor, including poor foreigners, and when they did not, God’s judgment and wrath would fall upon them. Finaly, we see the completion of this line of revelation with Christ, as he made the Jubilee Year itself be indicative of the way he would set the whole world free. But in doing so, Jesus pointed out that such forgiveness must be embraced as a whole: one who receives it must act upon it and make sure forgiveness becomes universal and not just for a select few, for the one who does not embrace such universal forgiveness, will cut themselves off from it.
Sadly, the rich have tried to convince Christians throughout the ages to ignore what Jesus and the rest of Scripture said in relation to the rich and the poor. The rich, using the resources and power they had, made sure they could and would receive more and more benefits and protection from society at the expense of the poor. St. Salvian called this out, and if we read carefully what he said, it would be easy to see how his words could be applied to the situation in the United States today:
Consider the remedies recently given to some cities. What have they done but make all the rich immune and pile more taxes on the wretched poor? In order that the old taxes should be remitted the former, they have imposed new taxes on the latter. The cancellation of all semblance of taxation has enriched the former; the corresponding increase has made the latter suffer. The rich have become richer by lessening the obligations which they bore lightly; the poor are dying from the multiplication of the burdens which they were already unable to bear. Thus, the great remedy most unjustly exalted the one and most unjustly killed off the other: to one it was a most wicked reward, the other a most wicked poison. Hence it is I make the observation that there is nothing more vicious than the rich who are destroying the poor by their remedies, and none more unfortunate than the poor whom those things kill which are given as a remedy to all.[3]
Salvian recognized how the poor always are the one burdened by society’s debts and have no recourse like the rich, for the rich always find ways to not satisfy their obligations to society:
But to your will, O rich men, we the poor accede. What you, the few, order, we all pay. What is so just, so humane? Your decrees burden us with new debts; at least make your debt common to us all. What is more wicked and more unworthy than you alone are free from debt, you who make us all debtors?[4]
When the poor are being told they must pay more, with less to pay it, while the rich continue to have tax cuts, and so, accumulate more and more money, often by gaming the system and finding more ways to make more on the poor (such as with price gouging), the poor eventually are not going to be able to pay back what is expected from them and society will begin to collapse in on itself. At such a time, the rich who exploited the poor might suffer the wrath of the poor, as history shows, though many likely will find a way to escape the ramifications of their actions. But they will be able to do so for only so long. Christianity teaches us that the rich who exploit the system will be judged for what they have done at the end of history:
The oppressors of the poor should know that they are deserving of a more serious sentence when they have prevailed over those whom they desired to injure. For they are to be condemned to a more atrocious future punishment to the extent that they have behaved more forcefully in this world against the life of the wretched ones.[5]
Republicans seem to be interested in making those who are poor and in debt to suffer and told they must find a way to pay more with less; on the other hand, Republicans try to find every way to help the rich, even if the rich are in debt, and so will offer every kind of aid and relief to the rich (which means, the poor will have to pay even more to make up for what the rich do not pay). Republicans seem to worship wealth and act like its possession is what gives someone value. They also like to use religion, especially Christianity, as a tool for power. Because they proclaim themselves to be Christians, or at least, agree with Christian values, they should be told what those values entail so that their hypocrisy could made clear. As St. Hildegard says, they, sharing in with the rich their exploitation and denigration of the poor, blaspheme God:
Through the pride of his riches the rich man rules over other men, whom he can harm, and treats them badly, just as if they were not fellow creatures, and in this way the good name of mankind (that man is the image and likeness of God [cf. Gen 1.26]) is blasphemed. [6]
Government should be for the common good, not for the few who are rich and powerful. It be able to help the poor and needy with a social safety net. The system which Republicans want in place, the system they constantly enforce, is one which looks down upon the poor. They promote a preferential option for the rich and powerful, justifying it by denigrating the poor and needy. What they promote is far from Christian, and for that reason alone, Christians should fight against Republicans when they act so cruel to those who need the most compassion and mercy. Of course, they should also be able to see the economic problems which underlies Republican governance and use that to engage non-Christians in rejecting Republicans, so that together, Christians and non-Christians alike can promote the common good.
[1] Office of Management and Budget, “Statement Of Administrative Policy H.R.-5894” (11-13-2023).
[2] Ayelet Sheffey, “Key Student-loan Relief Is On The Line As Congress Once Again Works To Avoid A Government Shutdown” in Business Insider (1-8-2024).
[3] St. Salvian the Presbyter, “The Governance of God” in The Writings of Salvian the Presbyter. Trans. Jeremiah F. O’Sullivan (Washington, DC: CUA Press, 1962), 101.
[4] St. Salvian the Presbyter, “The Governance of God,” 139.
[5] St. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae. Trans. Thomas L. Knoebel (New York: Newman Press, 2018),208.
[6] St. Hildegard of Bingen, “Letter 378” in The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen. Volume III. Trans. Joseph L Baird and Radd K Ehrman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 165.
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