Hanging off the fiscal cliff

I've had a few days to think about the fiscal cliff. If I were an economist, I'd probably be quoting Paul Krugman http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/ and be more concerned about the debt ceiling than the fiasco of the New Year's midnight votes in Congress. If I were a political scientist, I'd be concerned about the effect of the fiscal cliff negotiations on John Boehner and the tea party-led wing of the Republican Party in future legislation.

These things are important. But as a pastor, I'm concerned also about who we are letting ourselves become. What sort of character are we developing for ourselves as a people? Are we looking out for the people God calls us to look out for, or are we just looking out for ourselves?

You and I both know that our political system by design assumes collective self-interest will serve the common good. That's a base principle of representative democracy, and it's a philosophical underpinning of Adam Smith-style capitalism. I won't argue that there's a better system out there, because I don't think a better one has shown its head in the world of real politics. But that doesn't mean it's good enough.

If self interest is all we guide our ship of state by, then those who shout the loudest, shine the brightest, and pay the most will always be well-served. The rest, not. Our current system, good as it is, leaves out the very people the fiscal cliff negotiations failed to help in any meaningful way. Yes, unemployment benefits were temporarily extended, and yes, child tax credits were as well. But nothing was done to lift a single person out of poverty. Health care is still not available to everyone (although we're getting closer, it's still not universal). Just ask a soldier returning from combat about treatment for PTSD, or a homeless person who used to have mental health benefits but now does not have access.

In short, the people Jesus called us specifically to care most about - the poor, the sick, the disabled, the marginalized, the abused and powerless - are still hanging from a thin branch jutting out of the fiscal cliff of a culture that has pushed them over the edge. And some have already fallen, not just metaphorically, to their deaths. As a culture we have their blood on our hands.

All claims that we are a "Christian nation" are not just lies but downright blasphemy if we fail to pay attention first to the people Jesus cared most deeply about. Then we'll enact policy and law on behalf of those living in poverty or sickness or under the backbreaking load of marginalization and injustice. Pass legislation that does that and we can make some claim to be Christian, and Jewish, and Muslim, and all the other religions of this land that value compassion not only in word but in deed.

I'm no economist, but I participate in this economy. I'm no politician, but I participate in the political process and I vote. But I am a Christian who understands that the one I know as Savior reveals a God who cares first about love and justice for the ones who experience them least.

There's more to be said, and more importantly, much more to be done. I hope as people of faith we who say we follow Jesus will unite our voices and urge our representatives to act not out of collective self-interest but (and I know this is so much harder, but it's what Jesus called us to do and be) out of other-regard.

Seeking the common good, I wish you blessings and peace.