Welcome to Brothers and Sisters, the weekly meetup for prayer* and community at Daily Kos. We put an asterisk on pray* to acknowledge that not everyone uses conventional religious language, but may want to share joys and concerns, or simply take solace in a meditative atmosphere. Anyone who comes in the spirit of mutual respect, warmth and healing is welcome.
In the New Testament, Jesus talks about the "least of these." In the Sheep and Goats parable in Matthew 25:33-46, Jesus says:
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Clearly, Jesus has an enormous amount of love and empathy for the "least of these" or those who are hurting deeply for whatever reason. What hurts each of us, hurts Him.
In fact, all the world's religions teach that we are somehow interconnected, that what hurts one of us hurts all of us, and teach the value of love and compassion.
We hear a lot about the top 1%. Some say world governments have been run by and for the top 1% for three decades now. This has manifested itself in tax cuts for the rich, lax regulations, and program cuts for the poor and shrinking middle class. It is almost impossible to pass any legislation unfriendly to powerful corporate interests.
I've often wondered what the world would be like if we had a government of, by, and for the bottom 1%? The people who are hurting the most? The people who few listen to, few truly consider, or understand when developing policy because it isn't "popular?" Well, it is easy to defend Social Security and Medicare, but hard to help victims of the prison industrial complex, the homeless, or the long term unemployed.
I suspect the country would be much better off. We wouldn't have a million homeless Americans. We wouldn't have Americans who die or have their lives shortened because they couldn't afford health care. We wouldn't have several million people in our prisons many of whom need help, not incarceration. We wouldn't have the 99ers or long term unemployed. We wouldn't have a lot of other problems!
Jesus was always there for hurting, desperate people. He didn't care what the political or religious leaders thought. He knew people were far more important than beliefs. In the New Testament, the only people who ever pissed Him off were those who placed religious dogma before people. We see that over and over again in His rhetoric toward the religious leaders of the day. He never displayed anger toward anyone who made any other mistake.
I have always been a strong believer in the Social Gospel. I remember when I came to church 20 years ago. This was during a very rough time. I became very depressed and anxious and wound up in outpatient hospitalization for 3-4 months. I didn't have any friends. But somebody invited me to church - an Assembly of God church. In a week, I had people calling to ask how I was, if I needed anything. That's something they do well.
But over time, this didn't work out for me. I just wasn't one of them. I could never be one of them. Faith seems to turn people into Republicans. I know about a very strong former Democrat who is now Chairman of his local county Republican Party. I was very confused at first - how could this happen? Well, he became a Christian. I guess faith has made me an even stronger Democrat, despite being initially around Republicans. I am not sure why I didn't follow suit except I couldn't. I was a lot less political then. I voted on and cared about two political issues at that time - health care and poverty. There was also something deep down. I could never accept that church's beliefs about homosexuality. Why? I never felt accepted for who I was. I knew how much that hurt. How could I accept doing that to someone else? I also couldn't accept an exclusionary Christianity and I define that as a belief that non-Christians will not go to heaven.
There were a lot of other things that just made me feel bad about myself. For example, if you had depression, anxiety, or self-esteem problems it seemed your fault. You did not "take your thoughts captive" you didn't have faith, you did or didn't do this or that. It made me feel like I could never measure up. I was some kind of spiritual failure who just couldn't get himself together.
In time, I quit going to church. I wouldn't go to church again for over 10 years. I still considered myself a Christian, but I felt all or almost all churches were like that. That was the face of Christianity I saw.
I would eventually learn that wasn't true. A few years ago, I decided it was time for me to return to church. I wasn't in the mood to take a lot of risk, given what happened the last time. I decided to try the United Church of Christ (UCC) because it seemed to be a very progressive denomination.
I've been there a few years now and it has worked out well for me. I've learned. For example, I've always been an anxious person. I worry about things. But this is just part of who I am and doesn't mean anything spiritually.
In my faith, I try to understand that people are more important than beliefs. I've seen how the inability to understand this can hurt people.
The floor is yours. Please feel share to share whatever is on your heart and mind, ask for prayers, etc. Everyone is welcome!