Some quotes on poverty and justice.
"Sometime in your life, hope that you might see one starved man, the look on his face when the bread finally arrives. Hope that you might have baked it or bought it or even needed it for yourself. For that look on his face, for your hands meeting his across a piece of bread, you might be willing to lose a lot, or suffer a lot, or die a little, even." Daniel Berrigan
"The biblical definition of justice is finding out who it belongs to, and returning it to them." Walter Brueggermann
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi
"If I were a parent in a poor, debt-riddled nation, cradling my dying child in my arms, my heart would be broken and I would cry out for a solution. My prayer is that the leaders of the world will heed these cries and will work together to solve this critical problem. As a follower of Jesus, however, I believe this is not just a political or economic issue, it's a moral and spiritual issue as well." The Rev. Billy Graham
"Be realistic, do the impossible." Che Guevara
"Its [Africa's] debt burden is the new economy's chains of slavery. Servicing the debt takes from the most impoverished to give to the most affluent." Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.
"To accept passively an unjust system is to cooperate with that system; thereby the oppressed become as evil as the oppressor." Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Must we starve our children to pay our debts?" Julius Nyerere, former President of Tanzania
"From now on, you are no longer alone. In all things you must take your brothers and sisters into account." The Rule of the Taize Community
"The issue is not what we will give to the poor. It is when will we stop taking from the poor?" Jim Wallis, Editor, Sojourners; Convener, Call to Renewal
A Native American elder tried to explain the attacks of September 11 to his grandson. The boy asked how he felt about this tragedy. " I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is the vengeful, angry, violent one. The other wolf is the loving, healing, compassionate one."
"But grandfather, which wolf will win the fight for your heart?"
The old man replied, "The one that I feed."
Poverty is a sin against God.
In the spirit of praying for justice for all people.
Eric
