wfn.org | Faith Leaders to Bush - Meet Earth's Needs First (Quote/Column)

["Carol Fouke" <cfouke@ncccusa.org>]

For Immediate Release
ADDRESS NEEDS ON EARTH BEFORE HEADING TO MARS, ECUMENICAL AND INTERFAITH
LEADERS WRITE BUSH
January 19, 2004 -- Address needs on Earth before heading to the Moon or to
Mars, leaders of the United States' largest ecumenical and interfaith
organizations wrote to President George W. Bush in an "open letter" released
publicly today.
Writing to President Bush on the eve of his 2004 State of the Union Address
were the Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council
of Churches, with headquarters in New YOrk City, and Dr. C. Welton Gaddy,
President of The Interfaith Alliance, based in Washington, D.C.
The full text of the letter follows.
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An open letter to President George W. Bush. January 15, 2004
Dear Mr. President,
We applaud your vision of renewing and expanding our nations exploration of
outer space.
As leaders of the largest ecumenical and interfaith organizations in
America, we volunteer to fly with you on your journeys to the worlds beyond
our own-to explore the moon, Mars, or any part of Gods magnificent
universe.
Before we embark on this great adventure, we urge you to join us in
refocusing on the unfulfilled promises weve already made here on Earth.
Certainly, let us venture into the heavens, but first let us unite in a
loftier commitment-building a nation a little closer to heaven on earth.
Before we get on our rocket to Mars, let us seek renewal together, working
to solve critical, worsening problems in our American community.
While you turn your vision to the cosmos, we urge you to take a look with us
at American cities, suburbs, and rural communities. Everywhere we look we
see children being left behind-without adequate nutrition and without
promised books, schools, and educational programs. We see seniors living in
poverty on fixed incomes-many having to choose between prescriptions and
groceries. We see farm families losing their farms. We see struggling
mothers and fathers losing their jobs. We see millions of Americans working
hard for less than a reasonable living wage. We see 43 million Americans
without health insurance. We see American jobs going overseas while those
left behind fall into poverty, and even those with middle class jobs falling
further behind in their earning power year by year.
Solving these challenges here will cost a lot of money. Former Senator John
Glenn, the first American to orbit our planet, and others familiar with
space science estimate that it will cost in excess of $1 trillion to
implement your space plan. Before we spend billions for housing on the moon
and a trillion dollars to take humans to Mars, why not spend necessary funds
to build adequate housing for our brothers and sisters on Earth, to take
care of those in desperate need, and to fund other unfulfilled promises.
Imagine what we could do to solve our challenges here for far less than a
trillion dollars.
You said that exploring and understanding is part of our character. We
wholeheartedly agree. We trust you also will agree with us that any
definition of a nations character involves acting with fairness and
justice-and that means taking care of those who need our help and protecting
those who are mistreated.
We know that you proclaim the power of religion in your personal life and
its influence on your public life. The core teachings of all great religions
mandate that we feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the needy,
provide health care for everyone, heal and rehabilitate those in prison.
We agree with you, Mr. President, that a renewed space program can create
unimaginable benefits and will inspire our young people to study math and
science and engineering and create a new generation of innovators and
pioneers. In fact, we had great hopes when you told the nation upon your
inauguration that education would be one of your highest priorities.
But according to estimates we've seen, your current budget falls nearly $10
billion short of funding your No Child Left Behind Act. Because of this
shortfall, a reliable study has projected that 4.6 million children won't
benefit from the programs in that bill-and will be left behind.
According to your own Agriculture Department, 13.1 million children live in
poverty and are inadequately fed, living in "food insecure households"-code
words for hunger-even though we have the most productive agricultural system
the world has ever known. Five million children live in "extreme poverty" in
the richest economy in history, according to statistics compiled by Columbia
University's School of Public Health.
Even as you focus future research on the long-term effects of space travel
on human biology, medical care is in critical condition in the US. We hoped
your Medicare reform proposals would help solve prescription drug problems.
Under your plan as approved by Congress, the Congressional Budget Office
estimates 2.7 million seniors could lose the benefits they currently have
and will end up with worse drug coverage than they had before, which was
already inadequate for most.
Like you, we also envision worlds beyond our own. And like Robert F.
Kennedy, we choose to dream of things that never were, and ask, why not?
We envision a world where those who are blessed with the greatest advantages
contribute their fair share to help others.
Before our joint venture into space, we encourage you to renew your
understanding of what it means to follow the teachings of your favorite
philosopher, Jesus of Nazareth, who devoted his life to helping those most
in need. Obeying his commands and following what Jesus would do clearly
means feeding the hungry, taking in the homeless, clothing the naked,
ministering to those who are sick or in prison.
How exhilarating it will be to fly into the cosmos with you. We are ready to
go. Let us book the first flight for the day after this nation faithfully
fulfills these moral mandates. Then we can soar together, confident that we
have taken care of God's work here on Earth first.
Sincerely,
Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy
President, The Interfaith Alliance
Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar
General Secretary, National Council of Churches

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MEDIA CONTACTS
John Lynner Peterson, Communication Director
The Interfaith Alliance
1331 H Street, NW, 11th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202.639.6370 ext 102
Cell 202.607.8508
Fax: 202.639.6375
www.interfaithalliance.org

Wesley M. "Pat" Pattillo
Associate General Secretary for Communication
National Council of Churches
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 880, New York, NY 10115
212-870-2048, fax 212-870-2030, 917-690-6075 cell wpattillo@ncccusa.org
www.ncccusa.org

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