Where are we going?

by Andrew J. Evenson

    This op-ed piece appeared in the Patriot-News on May 12, 2005.  Andrew Evenson was an intern with Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania during his second year student at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 2004-2005.

  When people still walked or traveled by horse from place to place, milestones sat along the road.  They contained two pieces of information: the upcoming landmark and the distance to that landmark.  But always there was something in the future.  Today signs do this for us, telling us where we are going and how many miles until we arrive.

   People of faith often worry about which direction our churches are headed.  Are we sticking to the Gospel?  Are we changing too much?  Are we welcoming enough?  I wonder if people of faith ever worry about the direction in which the country is headed and how long it will take us to arrive.  Do we practice civic engagement?   I would argue that we do not, at least not enough. 

   Recently there has been intense involvement by some, protesting outside the hospice of the dying Terri Schiavo in Florida.  People point to this and say: you see, people of faith are extremely engaged!

   I have heard the message of charity preached in some pulpits.  Religious leaders talk about the need to care for the poor and to serve in soup kitchens.  People come through wonderfully, working many hours serving food and volunteering in homeless shelters.  One could point to this and say: you see, people of faith are extremely engaged!

   However, neither of these instances counts as good civic engagement.  Protesting the removal of a feeding tube does nothing to bring justice for all who are starving and are not the top story in the news.  Neither does it help those who have no health insurance and cannot afford medical treatment.  Serving in soup kitchens helps those who are hungry today but leaves them wondering where to find soup tomorrow. 

   People of faith have yet to realize the great power of government.  While charity work is always important, working for justice is just as important.  Charity helps people who fall through the cracks today; justice means they will not fall through the cracks tomorrow.  Justice is long-term and far-reaching.  Justice finds opportunity for all who want it.  Working for justice requires civic engagement.  It requires registering to vote and participating actively in elections.  And it means more

   Civic engagement is following the news and learning what elected leaders are doing.  It requires knowing when lawmakers want to gamble with the future of our education system or to cut human services in order to sustain tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.  It then demands letters or phone calls to state legislators or U.S. Congresspersons, asking them to think about their responsibility to serve all their constituents.  Civic engagement requires contact with Governor Rendell when he decides to listen to gambling interests more than citizens.  It demands that President Bush follow through with hollow pledges of millions of dollars to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa.

   In a word, civic engagement is Democracy.  To work, Democracy requires steadfast participation.  People of faith must cry out for justice.  And it will not be easy. 

   Susan Pace Hamill, author of The Least of These: Fair Taxes and the Moral Duty of Christians, talks about the sacrifice necessary on the part of people of faith to bring about justice.  Supporting or opposing abortion rights or the rights of homosexuals to marry takes little personal sacrifice, but the tasks of being civically engaged take much personal sacrifice.  And they can have far-reaching benefits.  They can mean the difference between someone having daily bread or not.

   While churches can do charity work, imagine the justice governments could bring about with their power and dollars!  This is why state and federal budgets are moral documents.  As the purse size increases, the ability to do justice increases. People of faith know that to whom much is given, much is also required.  We must require that tax dollars be used to benefit the poorest in our country.  We must require that government do all it can to pursue justice for all under its authority.  Both of these may require that we pay more taxes.

   One can begin to read what the milestone along the road now says: Poverty for most: Soon; Divided Nation: Currently entering; Mediocre Schools: Already there; Justice: Passed by years ago.  We can stop this trend.  Civic engagement, demanding our elected officials respond to constituents more than lobbyists, can change what the milestone says.  It could say: Justice: Nearly there; Better Schools: Just ahead; United Nation: Currently entering; Opportunity for All: Here’s the place.