The Debt Crisis - What Would Jesus Do?

It is interesting to me that, with many of the folks who are demanding that the debt ceiling not be raised until we have a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget, little to nothing has come forth regarding their religious reasons for wanting such. Any other time, the religious fervor is worn on the sleeves, and many speak forth on behalf of the Almighty. Those voices have been strangely silent in the midst of the mess that is Washington. Could it be that there is a sense of embarrassment regarding cuts in social program that many in the Tea Party and the Republican party are calling for. Is there is sense of dis-ease in trying to defend not demanding an end to tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans and corporations? After all, sacrifices are being called for by.....well, by the middle class and poor. With all of the political blather aside, it becomes very difficult to justify such a philosophy in the name of Jesus when he was squarely on the side of the poor. And why have not the mainline religious folk been calling the political/pseudo-prophets on the carpet about this hypocrisy? Well, actually, they have been doing just that. Members of The Interfaith Alliance were arrested for peacefully protesting in the capitol. Walter Wink wrote about the power of domination systems to control the discussion and squelch dissent. We are seeing it on full display. Those of us who claim to be followers of Christ had best not be silent in all of this. When the immediate crisis has passed and the election cycle revs up and candidates and incumbents begin speaking self-righteously about the kind of country that God wants and Jesus demands, we had best not be silent. Lives are on the line here. The poor have been punished and pushed to the fringes in the richest country in the world, because their presence among us in an inconvenient reminder of our calling. It's time for religious people to take up the oft' quoted phrase, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"