Holland Bread Team—Bread for the World
  • Home
  • Join
  • Connect
  • Offering of Letters

Consider our struggling neighbors in making government budget decisions

3/28/2011

0 Comments

 
LETTER TO THE HOLLAND SENTINEL: Holland, MI — As a Sister of Mercy, I urge our members of Congress to find the political will to invest in job creation and to protect persons who are poor and vulnerable.
 
Members of our congregation of women religious minister every day to persons who seek emergency shelter, who turn to food pantries and soup kitchens, and who need job training to find work that pays a living wage. It is such programs that many legislators are talking about in their proposals to reduce the federal deficit and debt. Yet non-defense discretionary spending, which includes these vital human services, represents just 19 percent of the budget.

Read More
0 Comments

Caring for poor is government’s responsibility, too

3/9/2011

1 Comment

 
LETTER TO THE HOLLAND SENTINEL: Holland, MI — Recent letters on the Sentinel’s opinion page highlight the question of whether or not the government has a responsi­bility to address the needs of the poor.

Bill Freeman (Sentinel, Feb. 26) invokes Scripture to call for changes in Michigan’s tax code to reduce the burden on the poor. This proposal is objectionable to Alan Helvig (March 2), who declares that, according to Jesus, caring for the poor is strictly the responsibility of the church, not the government. Helvig’s position is both non-biblical and nonsensical.

Read More
1 Comment

Church can’t do it all when it comes to helping the needy

3/8/2011

0 Comments

 
LETTER TO THE HOLLAND SENTINEL: Grandville — Alan Helvig (Sentinel, March 2) argues that God’s teaching in Scripture is that it is the responsibility of the church and not the government “to take care of the  poor, the widow and the orphan.” He further states: “I believe the government needs to get out of the church’s work and that the church needs to take back its responsibility from the government.”

Now, I firmly believe the family and then the church come first in caring for the needy. This does not mean, however, that the government is absolved of all responsibility. Psalm 72 gives the responsibility to government leadership for justice and charity when it states:  “... defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.” Later God describes a good government leader: “For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.”

Read More
0 Comments

    THE Bread Blog!

    Most of these are written by Mary Johnson, our Chair. But we'd love to add new voices! Feel free to contact us for suggestions, sources,  or editing, or visit Bread's national site. If you email your piece to be printed on the Holland Sentinel's opinion page, stay under 400 words (shorter is better).

    Archives

    March 2015
    August 2014
    May 2014
    August 2013
    March 2013
    November 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    March 2012
    November 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    December 2008
    September 2008

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed





    Picture
    Bread for the World is a collective Christian voice urging our nation’s decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad. By changing policies, programs and conditions that allow hunger and poverty to persist, we provide help and opportunity far beyond the communities where we live. Bread for the World is a 501(c)4 organization.  This site is set up by Holland Bread Team "Chief Communications Architect" Dominic Surya and is not an official Bread site. 
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.