By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. - 1John 3:16-18 (ESV)
https://pepfar.impactcounter.com/
Sometimes we are so insulated in our biased media bubbles so we cannot see the truth of what we support. We do not want to see what has happened to other human beings in our name. I beg you as a Christian, as a human being, ask if this is what we all should be supporting or turning a blind eye to. I know the plan sounded good. It sounded maybe even righteous. Just trying to thin out the government. Just trying to save our own money. Behind the cuts however are actual people. These are people you will never meet. They have families. They have friends. Just like you and just like me. They are loved and love other people. Many of them by the way, share our faith as well. While the damage in this country is very real, the damage abroad is cataclysmic. While someone here who never did a wrong thing in their career might lose their job for no good reason, maybe that only costs them their house. In other countries it costs them their lives. We live on digesting sound bites to justify our choices. Click the above link and see the cost in human life on just one program cut by DOGE, the PEPFAR program which supports 20 million people living with HIV across 55 countries. 25,000 adults and 2500 children are estimated to die. One adult will die every three minutes and one child every 31 minutes.
Do they matter? I know we never have to see them and out of sight out of mind and we got precious dollars to save so we can give another round of tax cuts. Let me propose the radical notion that just maybe the richest country in the world can find it in its heart to not cut programs that make up less than one percent of what we spend annually. Maybe we shouldn't allow the most obscenely richest man in the world take a chain saw to programs he does not care about, nor care to understand.
I honestly loathe writing like this because of the hatred so many people have these days and the biblical admonition against engaging in foolish arguments. This is not however a political post. That is where we have all gone wrong. Standing up for the weakest, poorest, and sickest people in this world is not political. It is simply decent. It is simply Christian. It is what Jesus preached about ALL THE TIME. I can hear the whataboutisms getting revved up. You want to make the inane point that why don't I just give my own money? I already do! It is called taxes and I expect my government to use my money not only wisely, but humanitarianly. Dear Lord, how can any self-professing Christian stand with this? The answer to the question is yes, they matter! They certainly matter to God. Of that I can assure you. Carry each other's burdens. As you have done for the least of these. Do unto others as you would have done to you. Show proper respect to everyone. Consider the key verses above because it seems God provided it for these times specifically. If anyone has the word's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Let us not love in mere talk but rather, in deed and truth. Would I like a lower tax bracket? Absolutely. Do I desire it over the lives of 25,000 other people. Absolutely not. I was blessed to be born into this country. I did absolutely nothing to deserve it. I did absolutely nothing to earn it. I just won the "where are you born" lottery. Other people were not as blessed. I may not be able to fly to their countries and be the hands and feet that help them but other people do serve in those roles. Only if there is funding however. Only if there are generous hearts that do not want one child to die every 31 minutes. Only if there are people who say, it is ok to spend less than one percent of my tax dollars to make sure those people do not die and I can be one of those people. I can do that.
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