By Gregory E. Sterling, dean, Yale Divinity School
(Excerpts)
- Evangelicals and Christians who voted for Trump should be outraged that administration funding cuts will hurt charitable groups, including Christian organizations.
- …what is particularly alarming is that (the gutting of USAID) is destroying this humanitarian work with the tacit (if not explicit) support of too many people who cite the Gospels as their guide.
- Two of the largest Christian charitable groups that receive financial assistance from the U.S. government—Catholic Relief Services and World Vision—are heavily dependent on government funding to perform their lifesaving work. Both are now facing massive layoffs.
- Also disturbing to me are radical cuts to efforts by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide relief for areas hit by major disasters in the U.S., and layoffs at the Federal Housing Administration that threaten to disrupt its ability to provide the mortgage insurance on which millions of Americans depend.
FULL STORY
FULL STORY From the Washington Post, by Shadi Hamid
(Excerpts)
- Democrats, says Hamid, who who have condemned him for criticizing Democrats when President Donald Trump poses an existential threat to democracy "reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of both Trump’s presidency and the role of political commentary in our deeply polarized era."
- "Here’s the counterintuitive truth: I’m more critical of Democrats precisely because I expect more from them."
- Democrats consistently fall short of the very ideals they profess to champion. Under the Biden administration, Democratic leaders spoke of the “indiscriminate” bombing of Gaza while refusing to do anything to stop it.
- The Democratic Party has long preached tolerance and inclusion while marginalizing pro-life Democrats, talking down to Black and brown voters, ignoring religious conservatives and dismissing the growing ranks of Americans who felt the party had become too radical on issues such as gender identity.
- On policy, what was once the working-class party chose to prioritize things such as college debt relief, which disproportionately benefits the wealthy.
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