Dorothy Day and the Gospel to the Poor

“The Gospel takes away our right forever, to discriminate between the deserving and the undeserving poor.”

― Dorothy Day

There are many who disagree with this. We see it most recently in Wisconsin's attempts to brand the poor as lazy drug addicts. We see it in Ben Carson's view of poverty as on "a state of mind". We see it prominently in the raging comments of the alt-right on Twitter and Facebook. The contempt toward the poor even appears to have been a contributing factor among working-class white Christian voters in the 2016 Presidential election.

Those who disagree with Dorothy Day seem to believe that, not only is it likely that some of the poor are "undeserving", but that these observers of poverty are uniquely gifted. They have supreme confidence in their ability to judge the true level of poverty of others as well as the worthiness of those in poverty. These observers (call them "Judges") have decided that the error in giving assistance to an undeserving person is equivalent to the crime of theft against the honest, hardworking taxpayer.

The Gospel provides one clear warning against this rationalization of Scrooge-like miserliness: Matthew 25: 31-46.

Suppose that "Judges" of undeserving poverty are faced with a line of 1,000 people who appear to be in need of mercy (or government assistance - call it whatever you want). As the "Judge" proceeds through life granting mercy to some and denying it to others, the odds are that there will be at least one mistaken judgment along the way. And what does the Gospel tell us about the consequences of a mistake? First, a mistaken grant of mercy to an undeserving poor person will be seen by the Gospel as an act of sacrificial love, indicating a heart that is prepared for the Kingdome of Heaven.

On the other hand, even a single denial of mercy to a deserving poor person will be seen by the Gospel as the sign of a heart that is not prepared for the Kingdom of Heaven (See verse 45).

If the person attempting to judge between the deserving and the undeserving poor is absolutely confident in the infallibility of his judgment, then he can take his seat next to God on the Throne and carry on. Anyone else needs to pay attention to Dorothy Day's warning.

Real Presence, Really?

An Episcopal bishop once told me that any discussion of "The Real Presence" that lasted longer than three minutes was probably heretical. I tend to agree with him. A recent chain of commenting on Facebook seemed to bear this out when it stretched out to 80 comments and replies over the course of 10 hours.

One serious defect among the 80 remarks was the subtle hint that one denomination had a "better" opinion on this than another denomination. That is an unfortunate use of a low priority theological issue to fortify the walls between us.

In considering our Gospel priorities, I would rank this "Theology of The Real Presence" far below the theologies of Creation/Incarnation, Atonement, and the care of the poor.

It might help to look at this from another direction. Since the Holy Spirit is not constrained by time or space, and since we are all caught up by the Holy Spirit in our celebration of Eucharist, WE are REALLY PRESENT in the upper room as Jesus really breaks the bread and shares the cup with us. 

I have shared this idea with a couple of bishops and several priests, and none of them have found a logical or theological problem in it.

Response to Congressman Gallagher on the AHCA vote.

In his press release defending the Republican actions in the repeal of the ACA Health Care Law, Congressman Gallagher uses the “justification” that the federal government is not competent to run a health care financing system. He needs then to explain the success of Medicare. This system provides for care for over 55 million Americans. Those who depend on it are extremely satisfied with the service they receive. Medicare's approval rate is 77% (compared to 69% for employer-provided plans). When Mr. Gallagher claims that the ACA is failing, he is asking us to look only at some of the states. A broader view shows that some states are doing quite well. The states in trouble seem to be those where Republican lawmakers have actively sabotaged the state’s use of ACA. The only dark cloud on the horizon for Medicare is its long-term financing. That danger comes only from the unwillingness of Congress to fund the future. Mr. Gallagher: I’m sure you have heard the saying, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way”. Your AHCA rationalization is a sample of your “following” your party and leaving many of your people in Wisconsin behind.