April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
PERSPECTIVE
What did Jesus do about hunger?
In 2014, we are compelled to face a moral, ethical and public policy failure of biblical proportions concerning hunger in New York State and the nation.
In the early 1970s, after hunger in America had declined so much that its elimination was within reach, we prayed at Christmas for those in the Third World who suffered from hunger. We would never have imagined that our own government policies would reduce SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) by $5 billion in 2013 - equivalent to wiping-out all annual non-governmental food aid - and that the U.S. House of Representatives would approve a bill to eliminate $40 billion in vital SNAP assistance.
The justifications proclaimed for wanting to drastically cut life-sustaining food aid could have been lifted from the proceedings of the British Parliament during the Irish potato famine in the 1840s, speeches about the lazy and shiftless masses from the robber barons of the Gilded Age or the reluctance of the Hoover administration to do more for the destitute. These sentiments make it anathema to give any sort of direct aid to the hungry, and generate destructive public policy that assumes poverty
is equivalent to being immoral and undisciplined, if not outright criminal. Drafters of the bill said it would incentivize males to seek work, job training or community service while reducing fraud. Our economy and the efficiency of the SNAP program show little validity to justify cuts. The official unemployment rate is more than seven percent; when underemployed people (those working part-time who want work full-time) and those who have given up looking for work are added to that, the unemployment rate is near 20 percent.
Where will the jobs for these hungry people come from? Funds for training and service programs don't meet a fraction of existing needs. With a fraud rate of less than three percent, SNAP is one of the most efficient federal programs in history.
For people of faith, the question is not "What would Jesus do?" but, "What did Jesus do when faced with the hunger of the crowds who often waited days to hear Him speak; with the sick, the marginalized and even His own disciples?"
Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes to feed thousands. The Holy Spirit instructed that 72 disciples would be appointed to feed and care for the least of these. Jesus told His disciples to eat directly from the stalks and ask the welcoming for food when they got hungry during their apostolic travels. When He cured the sick or brought the dead back to life, He would tell them to eat. When His disciples saw Him for the last time, He greeted them with food!
The 1963 encyclical of Pope John XXIII on peace ("Pacem in Terris") said: "Man has a right to live. He has a right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter." The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "Being in the image of God, the human individual possesses the dignity of a person who is not just something, but someone."
Pope Benedict XVI called for action against the "scandal of hunger." Pope Francis proclaims we are, above all, a Church of the poor and for the poor.
Current SNAP assistance is still leaving many hungry and more reliant on overburdened food pantries. Even before the November 2013 termination of stimulus funds, 90 percent of SNAP benefits were used up by the third week of the month.
The 2007 report, "Poverty in the Diocese of Albany: A Threat to the Common Good," said: "Images of hunger often feature a scrawny child with an empty bowl in her outstretched hands, or a woman opening up an empty cupboard to try to...prepare a meal for her family. Yet in the United States today, malnourishment may just as readily be found amidst the highly-publicized reports of...childhood obesity. While some individuals and families have trouble getting enough food at all, others have limited access to truly nutritious foods."
More than 50 million Americans are facing "food insecurity," a sanitized term for hunger. Sadly, more than 17 million, or approximately one in four, are children, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The diocesan report notes that "families often cope by visiting food banks and pantries, relying on less expensive processed food and eating fewer fruits, vegetables and dairy products. The impact on children's health...is alarming. Infants and toddlers in food-insecure families are 90 percent more likely to be in fair or poor health and 30 percent more likely to require hospitalizations than other children."
Cutting SNAP for children and families is also totally inconsistent with attempts to support a "culture of life." The late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin said, "Those who defend the right to life of the weakest among us must be equally visible in support of the quality of life of the powerless...the hungry. We cannot urge a compassionate society and vigorous public policy to protect the rights of the unborn and then argue that compassion and significant public programs on behalf of the needy undermine the moral fiber of the society or are beyond the proper scope of government responsibility."
Tell the White House and congressional representatives that basic Judeo-Christian decency will never permit policy-driven starvation in America.[[In-content Ad]]
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