{"id":3051,"date":"2012-07-23T06:00:44","date_gmt":"2012-07-23T10:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/?p=3051"},"modified":"2012-07-23T06:00:44","modified_gmt":"2012-07-23T10:00:44","slug":"whose-benefits-would-jesus-cut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/07\/23\/whose-benefits-would-jesus-cut\/","title":{"rendered":"Whose Benefits Would Jesus Cut?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A recent study<\/a> from the US Department of Agriculture noted that more than one in five children in the United States lives in a household that struggles to put enough food on the table. Among Latino children, says the organization Bread for the World<\/a>, it\u2019s more than one child in three that\u2019s at risk for hunger. Ivone Guillen, immigration policy fellow at Bread for the World Institute, noted that while many immigrant families might qualify for programs such as SNAP<\/a> (formerly known as food stamps), they are often afraid to apply, fearing that they might be at risk for deportation if they do. As a result, just 44% of eligible Latino children receive SNAP benefits.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>What\u2019s more, current laws limit access to safety-net programs. Undocumented immigrants\u2013AND legal immigrants who\u2019ve been here for less than 5 years\u2013can\u2019t receive SNAP.<\/p>\n

I could be wrong, but I don\u2019t think that most Christians would argue that Jesus would ask someone\u2019s immigration status and only feed those who entered the country legally. And yet, I\u2019ve encountered Christians who doubt whether we<\/em> have an obligation to neighbors in need who may be undocumented or \u201cundeserving\u201d in some other way. But extending fellowship and help in the form of food is so basic to Jesus\u2019 ministry<\/strong>\u2013and so basic to what he called his followers to do\u2013that I can\u2019t help but feel certain that it\u2019s these very people\u2013the most at-risk and the least secure economically and socially\u2013that we are especially obligated to serve in Jesus\u2019 name.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/dt>\n
It says \u201cJesus es mi amigo mejor\u201d (Jesus is my best friend.)<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d one might counter, \u201cthat\u2019s fine if you want to have a food pantry, or otherwise privately conduct handouts, but the government has no obligation to feed people that have broken the law by coming here.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s true: government might not have any particular obligation to people who\u2019ve entered the country illegally, and so if Congress chooses to cut SNAP even from the eligible recipients, my<\/em><\/strong> obligation to my neighbors\u2013all of them\u2013remains the same. My primary allegiance is to Jesus\u2019 values, not Uncle Sam\u2019s.<\/strong> But that doesn\u2019t mean I can\u2019t support my government in measures that I believe are right and just, and protecting the safety net that keeps our most vulnerable members from falling seems to me<\/em> to be right and just and in harmony with the values of Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know that negotiating the relationship between faith and politics is sometimes less than clear. I\u2019ve found that while Christians are often anxious that government doesn\u2019t make legal things we find immoral,<\/strong> we are sometimes less concerned with doing our civic bit to protect those whose rights Jesus would have us defend but whose rights the government does not recognize.<\/em><\/p>\n

But 20%+ of all children, and 30%+ of Latino children, going hungry, here, <\/em>in the USA, where we spend almost as much money on weight loss<\/a> as on SNAP<\/a>? Where we routinely throw away THIS MUCH food<\/a> per month?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>(Meanwhile, the Justice Department spent $4,700<\/a>on 250 muffins for ONE event\u2013that\u2019s almost 7 times the amount given by SNAP to a family of four for a MONTH\u2019s worth of food.)<\/p>\n

So I can\u2019t help but wonder: whose benefits would Jesus cut?<\/p>\n

repost from the archives<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent study from the US Department of Agriculture noted that more than one in five children in the United States lives in a household that struggles to put enough food on the table. Among Latino children, says the organization Bread for the World, it\u2019s more than one child in three that\u2019s at risk for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2070,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhose Benefits Would Jesus Cut?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A recent study from the US Department of Agriculture noted that more than one in five children in the United States lives in a household that struggles to\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/07\/23\/whose-benefits-would-jesus-cut\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Whose Benefits Would Jesus Cut?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A recent study from the US Department of Agriculture noted that more than one in five children in the United States lives in a household that struggles to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/07\/23\/whose-benefits-would-jesus-cut\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rachel Marie Stone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-07-23T10:00:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/files\/2011\/09\/33.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rachel Marie Stone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rachel Marie Stone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/07\/23\/whose-benefits-would-jesus-cut\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/07\/23\/whose-benefits-would-jesus-cut\/\",\"name\":\"Whose Benefits Would Jesus Cut?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-07-23T10:00:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-07-23T10:00:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#\/schema\/person\/c46cec1db7f3461f4f3d5289c79a2a8c\"},\"description\":\"A recent study from the US Department of Agriculture noted that more than one in five children in the United States lives in a household that struggles to\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/07\/23\/whose-benefits-would-jesus-cut\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/07\/23\/whose-benefits-would-jesus-cut\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/07\/23\/whose-benefits-would-jesus-cut\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Whose Benefits Would Jesus Cut?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/\",\"name\":\"Rachel Marie Stone\",\"description\":\"Faith, Family, Food; 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