“Churches and charities can take up the slack,” harrumphed Robert Royal on an episode of Moyers & Company not long ago. Royal runs The Faith and Reason Institute, a right-wing group loosely affiliated with conservative elements in the Catholic Church.
But Royal, an avowed supporter of the Gekko-Galt Romney-Ryan ticket, was shocked into dumbfounded silence when Sister Simone Campbell, organizer of the “Nuns on the Bus” anti-poverty tour, pointed out that Bread for the World did a study and found that every last cathedral, church, synagogue, mosque, temple and meeting hall in America would have to raise an additional $50,000 every year for 10 years to compensate for the GOP plan to eliminate food stamps.
All he could muster was a half-hearted, sort-of but not really embarrassed, “Of course we need to take care of the needy” but never explained how “we” will do that if food stamps go away.
I know my little neighborhood church has trouble meeting its current expenses. We cannot take on more than some occasional food collection drives -- which fill today's food stamp gaps, not those scheduled for October and into the future. Not fair to the poor. What will be the consequences?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment