Aleta Payne: Not a budget Jesus would approve

The budget blueprint for 2018 released by President Trump cuts a wide swath through programs that serve women, people of color, those of low income (for poor women of color, that would mean the same old same old), the arts, the environment, education, job creation and science.

Couple it with the proposed health plan released by Congress, and it feels like some elected leaders at the federal level want to freeze, starve, poison, under-employ and un-inspire a significant portion of the country’s population.

If a budget is a moral document, this one sends a clear message. The most vulnerable among us will be even more endangered. Our planet’s path to irreversible damage will accelerate. Public education and well-funded science aren’t really important because thoughtful inquiry and evidence-based decisions aren’t a priority.

For those of us who are Christians, Jesus called us time and again to love one another. This is not a budget based in love. So much in this proposal would impact most those who have the least that it is difficult to even absorb. This is not the budget Jesus would propose. We need to let Congress know that.

This story was originally published March 24, 2017 at 9:23 PM with the headline "Aleta Payne: Not a budget Jesus would approve."