Faithful Budget Updated for FY 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 15, 2013 CONTACT: Casey Schoeneberger, 202-569-4254, casey@faithinpubliclife.org

Prominent Faith Leaders Urge Congress & President Obama to Stand by Commitment to Fellow Americans Faithful Budget for FY 2014 demonstrates how federal budget choices can and must reflect America’s shared values (Click here to see the Faithful Budget (.pdf)) (Washington, DC) – A prominent coalition of America’s major national religious organization and leaders today unveiled the “Faithful Budget for FY 2014” an expression of the faith community’s budget priorities that stands in stark contrast to the partisan budget proposals currently under consideration. The document is a set of comprehensive and compassionate budget principles that promotes values shared by diverse faiths: protection of the common good, the value of each individual and lifting the burden on those living at the economic margins of society. “The Faithful Budget reflects our vision of a responsible fiscal plan that focuses on justice and economic opportunity for all,” said Sr. Simone Campbell, SSS, Executive Director, Network, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby. “While ensuring adequate resources through a fair tax system, it prioritizes human security and care for Creation while it supports measures to address the moral scandal of rising inequality. We call on Congress to adopt its core principles, which exemplify the values and compassion of our faith traditions and nation as a whole.” Joining with the release of Faithful Budget for FY2014, Sister Simone and Rev. Chuck Currie of the United Church of Christ in Portland, Oregon, published an op-ed in The Hill’s Congress Blog today, detailing why President Obama’s latest budget “…falls short of the moral vision many faith leaders have for this country and the president’s own ideals as he embodied in his second Inaugural Address.”  With the latest release, the faith community calls on Congress and President Obama to atone for their budgets’ more shortfalls by restoring economic opportunity, ensuring adequate resources for shared priorities, meeting critical human needs at home and abroad, accepting intergenerational responsibility, using the gifts of creation sustainably and responsibly, providing access to health care for all, and recognizing a robust role for government. “The Faithful Budget recognizes that our lives here in America are inextricably bound together with the lives of all others around the world,” said Rev. John L. McCullough, President and CEO, Church World Service. “God’s abundant provision means that there is enough for all, if we act with justice and compassion. As a people, we can be compassionate neighbors creating security and prosperity for ourselves and for all by helping to end hunger and extreme poverty throughout the world.” The Faithful Budget for FY 2014 Preamble, which has been endorsed by 44 religious denominations and organizations, calls on Congress and President Obama “to craft a federal budget that fulfills our shared duty to each other in all segments of society, to those who are struggling to overcome poverty or are especially vulnerable, and to future generations through our collective responsibility as stewards of Creation.” “As the prophets have taught us, our community is like one body, and when one part of it aches, the entire community awakens in a fever,” said Dr. Sayyid Syeed, National Director, Islamic Society of North America. “Now is the time to awaken to the pain of those who are poor and vulnerable among us, both here in America and around the world.  As people of faith, we are committed to ensuring that our nation’s federal budget reflects the moral conscience of the American people by providing protection to those in our community that need it most.” Faithful Budget for FY 2014 builds on the Faithful Budget for FY 2013 released in March 0f 2012 and the Faithful Budget Campaign, an effort launched by the religious community in May 2011 to lift up faithful voices on behalf of the nation’s most vulnerable in order to encourage the administration and Congress to maintain a robust commitment to domestic and international poverty assistance programs. “Our Jewish tradition commands us to ‘do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God’ (Micah 6:8),” said Rabbi David Saperstein, Director and Counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. “Is justice a father working full-time who still cannot support his family on a minimum wage salary? Is mercy a mother who is forced to choose between feeding her children and paying for their medicine? Are we walking humbly as we pass thousands sleeping outdoors each night? We can do better. We must do better. This Faithful Budget is a call to recognize the inherent dignity of each and every human being, a call to honor the spark of the divine that is present in every one of us, a call to action.” Additional details about the Faithful Budget Campaign can be found at www.faithfulbudget.org. The Faithful Budget for FY2014 was spearheaded by some of the nation’s most recognizable Christian, Jewish, Muslim and other faith-based organizations united by shared beliefs to lift up the nation’s most vulnerable and demonstrate that America is a better nation when we follow our faiths’ imperatives to promote the general welfare of all individuals. A full list of the faith-based organizations that endorsed the preamble-principles of the Faithful Budget are included below. xxx American Friends Service Committee Arkansas Interfaith Alliance Bread for the World  Center of Concern  Center on Conscience and War Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada Christian Connections for International Health Christian Reformed Church Office of Social Justice Church of the Brethren  Church World Service Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism Conference of Major Superiors of Men Council of Churches of Rhode Island Delaware Ecumenical Council of Children Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Faithful Reform in Health Care  Florida Council of Churches Franciscan Action Network Friends Committee on National Legislation Institute Leadership Team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Interfaith Worker Justice – New Mexico Islamic Society of North America Jesuit Conference  Jubilee USA Network     Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Office, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, United States Province Leadership Conference of Women Religious Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns Mennonite Central Committee US Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network Minnesota Council of Churches Muslim Public Affairs Council National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund National Council of Churches of Christ, USA NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby North Carolina Council of Churches Pax Christi USA Pennsylvania Council of Churches Presbyterian Church (USA), Office of Public Witness Progressive National Baptist Convention Unitarian Universalist Association United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society

How Wealth Inequality Hurts Churches

Have you seen the video on wealth inequality that went viral this week? The video is based on a study by Harvard Business professor Michael Norton. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out here.

Millions have been passing it around and dropping their jaws when they see the dramatic difference between the average person’s perception vs. the reality of wealth distribution in the United States. The dramatic spike in inequality and decrease in social mobility in the United States runs contrary to everything we are told to be proud of in a country that is supposed to hold opportunity for those who work hard — the American Dream. Our country also has a unique tradition of charitable giving and volunteerism, something we cultivate and take pride in. Yet, as income inequality dramatically grows, all these great traditions that built opportunity in the United States are being undermined.

Neighborhoods in the United States are rarely integrated across income levels, and churches typically draw their base of support from the nearby area. When wealth inequality was not so dramatic, churches and church organizations could circulate a larger percentage of the nation’s wealth. Church funds have traditionally helped bridge gaps for families in need so they would not slip into poverty, and churches were the first in the United States to create anti-poverty ministries such as food pantries and homeless shelters. Today, the bottom 80 percent of income earners bringing in their envelopes and putting money in collection plates circulate a total of LESS THAN 50 percent of the nation’s entire wealth. This means that unless they have members in the top 20% of the wealth bracket or they win generous foundation grants, most churches have a severely limited amount of wealth to work with.

Sometimes people argue that if we cut federal government spending on the social safety net programs that alleviate hunger or offer shelter, churches will pick up the slack. This kind of thinking comes from an era when wealth inequality was not so dramatic. The way our country is structured now, a government made by and for the people is an essential partner to fill that role. A Bread for the World study found that if the federal government cut nutrition aid as dramatically as the 2011 Budget passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, each congregation in the United States would have to raise an additional $50,000 to meet the hunger needs in the community. In fact one in every 24 bags of food aid comes from charity. The rest comes from government.

We do have a someone we can look to who has considered questions of scarcity and abundance, poverty and inequality in his ministry: Our God incarnate. Jesus’ miracle of loaves and fishes is interpreted by some to not have been made possible by a magic zap from heaven, but rather by a compelling appeal from Jesus to his followers about the importance of sharing for the good of the greater community. When the miracle of the loaves and fishes happened, food that was once hidden and inaccessible was shared. The hidden abundance was discovered. This is an important story. It appears in all four gospels (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15). In the story, as in many modern Christians’ lives, Jesus draws out each person’s best self by orienting them toward loving and serving one another. He supports a sense of community and concern for the common good. Today, such sharing would indeed take a miracle. In our budget and deficit negotiations in the United States, God can use us to make this kind of sharing of wealth happen again. We need a balanced approach to deficit reduction, and from those to whom much has been given, much will be required (Luke 12:48). Those in our nation who have most benefited from our economy can share the hidden wealth so all can realize abundance.

Weigh in: What role do you think the Church should play in ensuring there is enough for all? Comment below or post to our Facebook page.

Ask Congress to Consider Matthew 6:21: Put Our Treasure Where Our Hearts Lie.

Click here to send a message letting your U.S. Senators and Representatives know you treasure God’s children and struggling families, and so should our Federal Budget.

In the past two years’ budget and deficit struggles, we have repeated the wisdom of Matthew 6:21: “where your treasure lies, there your heart will be also.” If we treasure God’s shalom - the biblical vision of wholeness for communities - we need a Faithful Budget that creates a Circle of Protection around programs that serve the most vulnerable. Prayers, letters, phone calls, and vigils make a difference. One Senate staffer told me half all the letters his office received about budget issues came from faithful constituents concerned about poverty.

But, with a Sequester eight days away, we’re not done yet. Send a message to your U.S. Senators and Representatives here.

The Sequester will undermine much of what our nation should treasure. For example, 600,000 babies and young children will lose the nutrition aid afforded by the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, and 70,000 young children will lose access to Head Start. We want to treasure our nation’s children, yet one in four kids under age five live in poverty. Please keep the faith and send a message to your members of Congress TODAY.

Lenten Blessings,

Shantha

Response to Congressman Paul Ryan & All Who Say Faith Plays a Role in Budget Decisions

For Immediate Release:
April 10, 2012
Statement from the Faithful Budget Campaign in response to
Congressman Paul Ryan and others who have framed the ongoing budget/deficit debate as a faithful/moral issue

WASHINGTON – In an interview released Tuesday by the Christian Broadcasting Network, U.S. Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) told CBN’s David Brody that his Catholic faith played a large role in the drafting of his budget proposal that passed the House by a party line vote last month. Congressman Ryan is the latest member of Congress, including Democratic Reps. James Clyburn and Jan Schakowsky, to claim a faith-based/moral responsibility or lack thereof in supporting or opposing the budget.

As members of Congress from both parties are drawing a connection between the House-passed budget and faith, the Faithful Budget Campaign, a coalition comprising the nation’s largest and most prominent Jewish, Christian and Muslim denominations as well as other faith-based institutions are continuing its efforts to encourage the adoption of the “Faithful Budget,” a set of comprehensive and compassionate budget priorities that makes balanced investments into the country’s needs and priorities. The Faithful Budget
can be read in its entirety at,
http://faithfulbudget.org/files/2012/03/Priorities-for-a-Faithful-Budget.pdf
.

In response to the increase in religious comments surrounding the budget/deficit debate, the Faithful Budget campaign released the following statement: “As communities of faith we have long believed that the budget is a moral document and we judge each proposal not by the arbitrary fiscal support it provides, but rather by the
human impact it holds. A Faithful Budget protects the common good, values every individual and lifts the burden on the poor. In light of all the religious comments around the budget debate, we hope members of Congress will look at the Faithful Budget and make an honest effort to build a more just society and a healthier world.”

Additional details about the Faithful Budget Campaign can be found at www.faithfulbudget.org.

Christian, Jewish and Muslim institutions and other faith-based organizations united by shared beliefs to lift up the nation’s most vulnerable are mobilizing across the country to impact the national budget dialogue by demonstrating that America is a better nation when we follow our faiths’ imperatives to promote the general welfare of all individuals.
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Media Contact: Adam Muhlendorf, Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications
adam@rabinowitz-dorf.com; (202) 265-3000 (o); (202) 641-6216 (c)

Work and Pray for a Faithful Budget

An interfaith coalition has been holding daily prayer vigils since July 11th to protect federal programs that serve people living in poverty. This coalition has formed the “Faithful Budget” campaign. Click here for worship, action, and news clip resources from the campaign.

Faith leaders met with President Obama to ask him to protect “the least of these” (Mt 25) in the budget and deficit debates leading up to the debt ceiling deal. The coalition brought religious leaders to Capitol Hill on July 26 to meet with the offices of Congressional leadership.

On July 28, it became clear we had to bring our prayers to the heart of the Capitol. Eleven faith leaders prayed there until they were forcefully removed and arrested.

Watch a video about our campaign here:

Sign our petition here.