"Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), released a statement in which he challenged the values reflected in the federal budget that U.S. President George W. Bush proposed for 2006.
"We are here today, in concerted action, because we believe that the Administration's proposed federal budget priorities stand in contradiction to biblical tradition," Hanson said in a March 8 meeting with reporters in Washington, DC.
Hanson was joined by four other liberal denominational leaders: Frank T. Griswold, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church; Elenora Giddings Ivory, director, Washington Office, National Ministries Division, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), representing the church's stated clerk, Clifton Kirkpatrick; Ron Stief, leader of the public life and social policy ministry team, Justice and Witness Ministries, United Church of Christ; and James Winkler, general secretary, General Board of Church and Society, of United Methodist Church.
Their statements bemoaned possible reductions in money for their social programs, which are funded "through federal and state programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, low-income housing, child care, child welfare services, Social Services Block Grants, WIC, Head Start and many other similar programs."
(The operating budgets of member organizations exceeded $8 billion in 2004.) emphasis added
Most of the "values voters" in America would not make the mistake of calling these denominational leaders biblical scholars or moral experts, because they have consistently condoned some of the most deviant behavior in our society.
But now, all of a sudden, when their budgets may be cut, they get it -- they have a renewed depth of religious understanding and thorough insight into the proverb: "I'm ok, you're ok, but it's a sin to cut my budget."
Frank Griswold actually had the audacity to say, "If passed in its current form, it would take Jesus'[b[b teaching on economic justice and stand it on its head."(snip)
It would appear that certain religious organizations have been indirectly feeding from the 'public trough' for some time ... and curiously, they are NOT the ones who typically supported GWB.






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