About twenty members of Alabamians for a Moral Budget gathered at the Vance Federal Building in downtown Birmingham on Wednesday to protest budget cuts that hurt the poor. Trying to convince our Republican senators to go against the party line is an uphill battle along the lines of climbing Mt. Everest, but I applaud the protesters for focusing attention on the inequities inherent in the budget. Robert Montgomery of Greater Birmingham Ministries got in some particularly good shots:
Robert Montgomery, associate director of Greater Birmingham Ministries, an interfaith nonprofit that helps poor people, assembled Christmas gifts for the senators.
Among the gifts was a copy of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” the children’s classic featuring a nasty character with a “heart two sizes too small.” He suggested that might be the problem with some members of Congress, then added that, while he was having fun at their expense, “None of them will go home hungry. … None of them will sleep in cold houses or take cold baths or have their water or power shut off. None of them will have to worry over their children’s access to health care.”
Max Blalock and Lawton Higgs Sr. , local United Methodist pastors, spoke at the gathering as well, pointing out the immorality of cutting aid to the poor while passing more and more tax cut for the wealthy. The protest was part of an effort around the country to convince Congressional leaders to reconsider the cuts.
It’s good to see progressive people of faith speaking out about real moral issues and actually following the countless Biblical admonitions to care for the poor.
It would be even nicer to see some of that conservative compassion in action. What worries me is that I’m afraid we already have.
We certainly have seen it. The difference is their only concerns are unborn babies and gays. Their compassion for children ends once the babies are born, then the conservative part kicks in to make sure that there is a shortage of affordable food, housing, day care, and jobs that pay living wages. They think it’s compassionate to try to “cure” gays, but if they can’t, then their conservative side says execute them.
But I’m not cynical or anything.