Neither candidate has given proper attention to the issue of poverty<\/a> in\u00a0this election. And that\u2019s because we, the voting population, have not been asking enough hard questions about their plans to address it. Candidates are always going to spend the majority of their mic time covering the issues that they think will get them elected. So if we aren\u2019t good and loud about what we care about, we aren\u2019t going to hear about it.<\/p>\n![\"bible-377978_640\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/333\/2016\/10\/bible-377978_640.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The gap between the rich and the poor in this country continues to grow, and it is a blight on our collective conscience. Furthermore, the issue of poverty lies at the heart of\u00a0every other major issue\u00a0<\/em>that you will find on the ballot.<\/p>\nFor instance: do you care about education? Investing in competitive wages for teachers and quality schools for every student\u2013regardless of their zip code\u2013is one of the most critical parts of the equation.<\/p>\n
Worried about the rising cost of healthcare? You should be. It is one of the main reasons that wages have not increased with the cost of living; and yet, the CEOs of major insurance countries continue to make millions every year.<\/p>\n
And about abortion\u2026 Listen, I don\u2019t like it either. If you are a single-issue, pro-life voter, then\u00a0you and I probably have some pretty different ideas about how to address the matter. But the bottom line is, addressing the root causes of poverty is THE most effective way to reduce abortion rates. If all women made a living wage, had access to preventative healthcare services, and could afford childcare, we would see a dramatic reduction in the number of women seeking to terminate pregnancy. Criminalization has long been touted as the \u201conly\u201d acceptable approach for people of faith\u2026 But whatever you believe, Roe v. Wade has been the law of the land for decades, and it is probably not going to change\u2013no matter who is in office. The best thing we can do to protect the sanctity of life, is to make sure that women have the resources they need to make good decisions about their bodies and their family lives.<\/p>\n
I could go on\u2026 crime, racism, climate change, and every kind of \u201cfreedom\u201d that we pretend to care about\u2013those conversations all begin and end, at least in part, with concern for the poorest among us.<\/p>\n
Care of the poor is mentioned more than 200 times in scripture, and is a continuous theme throughout both the Old and New Testaments. In every instance, the message is\u00a0clear: poverty is an affront to God; a true abomination. Most of the other things that come up in our daily discourse? Not so much. If you are a faith-based or values voter of any kind, \u201cthe least of these\u201d should be your first concern at the ballot box.<\/p>\n
To that end:\u00a0push back against\u00a0any rhetoric that amounts to\u00a0\u201cthose people just need a job;\u201d any message the demonizes the poor, rather than championing their interests. Ask hard questions about what KINDS of jobs we are talking about\u2013what those jobs will pay and what benefits they will offer. Because a pretty huge (and growing) demographic of the poorest Americans are, in fact, working\u2013in many cases, 2 and 3 jobs\u2013but with the rising cost of living and stagnant wages, it\u2019s still impossible to make ends meet. States that have experimented with trickle-down, Tea Party economics [Kansas, raises hand], will tell you that the overall effects on education, jobs and housing markets are devastating. The gap continues to grow, the rich get richer, and people of faith\u2013Christians, specifically\u2013continue to ask who is going to give us the most power, rather than who is going to empower the poor.<\/p>\n
Word on the street is that the next debate will offer the candidates an opportunity to talk more about what they would do to address poverty. Listen carefully. Study up<\/a> ahead of time.<\/a>\u00a0You can also explore what each candidate has done to address poverty<\/a>, former to this campaign.<\/p>\nMore importantly,\u00a0get involved locally. Engage your local and state representatives; support candidates who speak intelligently and compassionately about the poor; and speak up\u00a0when you hear leaders pontificate about \u201cwhat values\u00a0voters care about.\u201d Most change happens at the community level, however ominous we may be feeling about the upcoming election. And changing the questions that we ask is the only way to change the conversation.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re going to be a single-issue voter\u2013this is your issue. And\u00a0if you aren\u2019t concerned about the poor, you can\u2019t call your vote faith-based.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Here are things that I hear faith-based voters\u00a0talking\u00a0about this election season: -Abortion -Marriage -Guns (because Jesus\u2026?) -Freedom of Religion\u00a0 -Abortion\u00a0again -Terrorism -Abortion some more At least, this is what\u00a0candidates address when they court the faith-based vote. When we say \u2018faith-based\u2019 voters, that typically implies\u00a0a certain demographic of socially and fiscally conservative Christians. But there are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1154,"featured_media":4566,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,5],"tags":[771,1165,75,9,1341],"class_list":["post-4563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-being-a-person","category-faith-and-community","tag-faith-and-politics","tag-faith-based-voters","tag-poverty","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-values-vote"],"yoast_head":"\n
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