(Note: WWJD was a movement started in the 1990’s by Evangelical Christians to bring awareness of Christ’s message to their youth. Rubber or cloth WWJD bracelets can be purchased everywhere from Christian bookstores to Oriental Trading. It’s also become a snowclone for everyone from Hillary Clinton to Paris Hilton.)
If there's one thing I agree with Republicans about, it's that the United States has a lot of government. I recently perused the US Government Agency website and found literally hundreds of agencies and departments that represent the various needs of our citizens: everything from the Bureau of Public Debt (bet they’re busy), to the US Institute of Peace (wish they were busier), to fully nineteen different departments beginning with, containing or relating to the word ‘Defense’. Seems War outnumbers Peace in this country 19:1. No wonder the Pentagon is the largest office building in the world.
How sad.
So over this Thanksgiving weekend, which was the official start to the season of giving (which I’ve always thought was kind of weird—does it end like baseball?), I asked myself: WWJD—What Would Jesus Do?
For the record, I was raised Catholic, but do not practice any organized religion. I try to live by the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you; love your neighbor as yourself. I have a deep faith in the god of my understanding, and I embrace the good in all faiths. Some of my spiritual/ideological heroes are Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Buddha, and Jesus. Their message was and still is universal: social justice.
Why isn’t there a department for that? Seems we desperately need one because out of seventeen industrialized nations recently surveyed, the US ranks sixteenth—just above Turkey (no pun intended) in its social justice index.
For glaring examples of how the US is almost a Turkey, we need look no further than our political leaders—especially those on the right. Why are Republican presidential candidates who wear their religion on their sleeve, so clueless about social justice? Why are they so cocksure about the guilt of every death row inmate their state executes despite the fact that since 1989 there have been 280 post-conviction DNA exonerations in this country? There would be more, but there are not enough people to process all the DNA evidence. Hmmm… how about creating some jobs? Why do they try to “pray away the gay” when the only people Jesus healed through prayer were the sick or infirmed? Why do candidates wealthy enough to have 6-figure credit lines at Tiffany’s tell peaceful protesters to get a job after you take a bath when the unemployment rate stands at 9.1% and home foreclosures are at record levels? Why do they think everyone should just take care of themselves when catastrophic illness hits, rather than working to secure affordable health insurance for every American? Why do they accuse the military of engaging in social experimentation by allowing gays to serve, yet fail to mention that one-third of women in the military have reported being sexually harassed? Why would they be afraid to have a Muslim-American in their cabinet? And why aren’t any of them talking about the fact that at 21%, the United States has the highest child poverty rate of any industrialized nation, that 1 in 5 children are food insufficient, and that these two facts have a direct impact on a child’s ability to learn?
What would my heroes do? They would ride the Peace Train down to Washington and arrange a confab with President Obama and every member of Congress and implore them to serve the people because that is their job. Abraham Lincoln said ours is a government of, by and for the people—meaning all the people, not just the wealthiest 1%, not just lobbyists, not just banks or corporations. Remember, the only people Jesus ever blew his stack at were the money-lenders in the temple; Buddha walked away from a life of privilege and luxury in order to live a full life of service to others; both MLK and Gandhi led non-violent protests to bring about ideological change and independence. None of them were afraid to take the difficult, unpopular but morally decent road of helping those least able to help themselves. Some gave their life, all are revered for their courage.
They would remind those who serve that there’s nothing wrong with being fabulously wealthy and successful, but not to become a slave to it, nor turn a blind eye to those in need. They would remind them that the quote on the Statue of Liberty says, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”, and that there are far too many of those huddled masses in this country today, and the numbers are growing. They would implore Congress to lay down their verbal weapons and work together to put this country back to work because as Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” They would point out the fact that maybe our country’s lopsided direction has something to do with that 19:1 disparity I mentioned earlier. And they would ask, “What’s the worst thing that could happen if you all worked together to fix our country’s problems?”
If our leaders don’t come up with a reasonable answer, there will be consequences: people will die, and it will probably be Occupy protestors. It’s only a matter of time. Does anyone doubt this? Does this country really need another Kent State?
Make no mistake: I support an individual’s right to earn as much money as they can and spend it however they want within the limits of the law. In no way do I think the government should limit anyone’s legal right to be a millionaire or billionaire. But our system of government is such that those who earn less pay more, and those who earn more, pay less and can buy a seat at the table. Yes, there are some people—rich and poor—who game the system, but the majority of people who are out of work right now want to work, there just aren't any jobs. They need help. That’s where our government has to step in. If Congress sticks to its agenda of making Obama a one-term president, they may win that battle, but they will certainly lose the war because the people won’t stand for it.
To paraphrase Barak Obama, if being a liberal means caring about my fellow human beings, then sign me up. Because really, ‘what’s so funny ‘bout peace, love and understanding?’