Progressive Talking Points 12/15/05

The Real Christmas War

Yesterday, in an act of civil disobedience, 114 religious leaders were arrested when they refused to leave the steps of the Cannon House Office Building. They were protesting the House budget, which cuts billions of dollars in assistance to the poor while giving a $90 billion tax cut mostly to the wealthy. Instead of looking out for the least of us, the religious right and people like Jerry Falwell are more concerned with ensuring the greeters at stores like Target and Lands’ End say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays." Their time would be better spent fighting the real war this Christmas – the right’s assault on programs that help the nation’s neediest citizens.

• The budget is a moral document. As Rev. Jim Wallace, founder of Sojourners, points out, "poverty is a moral issue, it's a faith issue, it's a religious issue." Religious groups across the country have rallied in recent months to get Congress to drop the budget cuts to programs that help the poor. These groups include the Catholic Church, the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Episcopal Church, and the United Church of Christ and they represent more than 86 million Americans. They understand that the true spirit of Christmas does not include $50 billion in cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and student loans.
  
  
• One way to celebrate the spirit of Christmas is to not cut billions of dollars, but to raise the minimum wage. For millions of Americans making minimum wage, Christmas is a difficult time of year. If Congress takes no action on the minimum wage, it will be the eighth year in a row that Congress has failed to enact even a small increase in the minimum wage. By not raising the minimum wage while inflation rises, Congress is in effect giving these Americans a pay cut. Religious progressives are fighting for a living wage for all working Americans.
  
  
• Instead of fighting real problems, the right is inventing problems. While progressives are fighting to end poverty and struggling with real issues, the right is inventing battles. In addition to the Target battle, Jerry Falwell’s Liberty Counsel threatened to sue an elementary school because they changed the words to “Silent Night” in a Christmas play, claiming they tried to secularize Christmas. In fact, the school was just performing a copyrighted play that contains numerous songs about Christmas, including the grand finale, an audience-led group singing of “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.”