You have called for August 6 to
be a day of gathering "in humility and repentance." The
Dallas Area Christian Progressive Alliance joins this call for repentance,
a word which means to "go a new way." We
call for repentance when we consider the condition of our state, the
mandate from God to love our neighbors, and the vision of the future
that is the answer to our prayers. We embrace government as one way to
fulfill God's will on earth as it is in heaven*. Jesus called the
NATIONS to judgment. The prophets he came to fulfill—Amos, Jeremiah,
Isaiah in particular--condemned the governments of their day, the
kings, for not serving the poor and the oppressed.
· Jesus
says that the nations who care for the sick are "blessed," while
those who do not he says are "accursed" (Matthew 25:31-45) Texas
is first among all states in the percentage of citizens who are
uninsured, and ranks number 41 in health services. Let
us go a new way toward health care and health security and turn from
the road that leads to the fate of the accursed.
· Jesus
said in Mark 10:14 "Let the little children come to me; do not stop
them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs." Currently,
one of every four Texas children lives in poverty. Funding to
education has been severely cut for all children attending public
schools even while our state ranks last among all states in issuing
high school diplomas. Let
us go a new way toward a time when no child in Texas lives in poverty
and educational opportunity is available equally and for all.
· Jesus
blessed the poor, told the rich that "you have had your fill,"(Luke 6:20-21, 24) and said in Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:12, "No one
can serve two masters...You cannot serve God and wealth." The
state of Texas is first among states in the gap between the wealthy
and those living in poverty. Let
us go a new way, a way in which not wealth but the common good is
served. And let us not be as Judas, the keeper of the purse, who did
not really care about the poor. (John 12:6)
· In
Luke 4:19, Jesus declared "Good News to the Poor" and "the
Year of Our Lord's Favor," the year of Jubilee when goods were
redistributed and debts forgiven. Progressive
taxation best captures the spirit of the Jubilee in our times. The
bottom fifth of Texas earners pay over 12 percent of their income to
state and local governments - more than three times the share of
income that the state's richest taxpayers pay. Let
the contributions to the common good not disproportionally fall on the
backs of "the least of these."
· The
prophet Jeremiah condemned a king, the leader of his day, for "mak[ing] his neighbors work for nothing and does not give them
their wages." James the brother of Jesus [5:4] and Malachi [3:5]
decry those who do defraud laborers of their wages. And Jesus himself
in the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, taken literally,
reminds us that the basic needs of workers must be met. Texas
leads the nation in the percentage and number of people working at
minimum wage. One in three Texas workers don't bring home enough pay
to keep a family of four out of poverty. Let
us go a new way toward a day when all wages are living wages.
· Jesus
also considered nations accursed when they do not welcome the
stranger, alien, outsider, immigrant. (Matthew 25:31-45) Immigrant
children who have only known life in the United States have been
denied the opportunity to have legal status here and instead they and
their families are often targeted for hatred and abuse by those who
wear the name "Christian." Let
us go a new path toward a blessed country that creates just laws that
represent that we truly "love our neighbor."
· The
earth and all that is in it belongs to God (Psalm 24:1). We
are called to be stewards of God's creation, not its destroyer. Texas
is the biggest polluter in the country, leading the nation in carbon
dioxide and cancer-causing emissions. Let
us go a new way by protecting the creation with which we have been
entrusted.
We urge you to
consider that August 6 as every day be one in which we strive to be
more like Christ, who called us in the Great Commission to teach all
that he commanded. Let
us "be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive
themselves." (James 1:22)
* We share these values with other faiths and
with all who care about humanity.
Spread
the word!
For
more information,
email: Matthew-25@earthlink.net
or
call 214/333-7577
