Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, June 17, 2011

What Would Jesus Cut from Canada's Budget?

Reports are rife that the Harper government will initiate cuts in the coming years in a manner that will create winners and losers. The public service and other sectors are about to feel the pain.

All of this leaves Conservatives members in an awkward place. A large cohort of the governing party lays claim to being Christian, devoutly so. Many of them have told me that faith now finally has a place back in government. They hold to their religious tenets sincerely and can frequently be seen around the Hill feting various religious personalities. But with the failure to deal seriously with poverty, those of Christian persuasion in the Harper government are in a bind between honouring their faith and enjoying the perks of power.

Presumably those of the Christian faith would seek to undertake the upcoming cuts in the spirit of their Founder. And so, with a play on the famous religious phrase, "What Would Jesus Do?" let's ask ourselves "What Would Jesus Cut?"

It seems apparent that deficit reduction will hardly come from the wealthiest people in the land. And the reality that the $6 billion in corporate tax cuts will only profit the top 10 per cent of firms seems to constitute a kind of ethical slap in the face to Christ's own mandate that the poor and dispossessed should be the most direct beneficiaries of our spiritual and moral compassion.

In fact, in Canada, the poorer you are the more vulnerable you are becoming.

A new Statistics Canada report has just highlighted the growing challenge of poverty in Canada.

In looking over the religious and political establishments of his time, Jesus put forward a challenge for the ages, just as Muhammad, Buddha, Moses, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, and Mandela championed in their own time: the clear test of any good society is how it treats it most defenceless of citizens.

The issue for the Conservatives isn't so much where they will cut, but who they will support in tough times. There really is no large amount of room to debate this, in Christian terms at least, for the Bible affirms repeatedly that Christ placed the preference in sincere faith towards those who are struggling in poverty.

Full Article
Source: Huffington 

No comments:

Post a Comment