Light Should Shine in Darkness

Don't Be Cruel

This is nothing but abject cruelty, fueled by greed, arrogance and the perverse aim of unravelling more than one hundred years of American progress.

Today’s Abject Cruelty: Beginning November 1, more than 42 million Americans will lose SNAP benefits, unleashing a purposeful campaign of hunger against the most vulnerable citizens of our nation. A cruel trick rendered beneath the sinister cape of dark magic known as “shrinking government” but really a tax cut meant to benefit the wealthiest Americans, tens of millions of Americans will feel the pain of hunger. This is not a pain felt by the well-fed sycophants at Mar-a-Lago or the finer restaurants of Washington where the supposed members of the Grand Old Party bend their knee in obeisance to their royal master. This is punishment for the moral outrage of being poor, carried out by MAGA Zombies. Happy Halloween.

Each year on our Day of Atonement, we Jews publicly read the prophet Isaiah as a check on the dangers of bloated righteousness that comes with public displays of religiosity. We fast, deny ourselves food and pleasure for one day, in order to focus on our sins so that we might correct our behavior. But while we pray, we must acknowledge, someone, somewhere suffers. Therefore Isaiah rails against us:

“Because on your fast day You see to your business And oppress all your laborers! Because you fast in strife and contention, And you strike with a wicked fist! Your fasting today is not such As to make your voice heard on high. Is such the fast I desire, A day for people to starve their bodies? Is it bowing the head like a bulrush And lying in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call that a fast, A day when the Lord is favorable? No, this is the fast I desire: To unlock fetters of wickedness, And untie the cords of the yoke. To let the oppressed go free; To break off every yoke. It is to share your bread with the hungry, And to take the wretched poor into your home; When you see the naked, to clothe him, And not to ignore your own kin. Then shall your light burst through like the dawn And your healing spring up quickly; Your Vindicator shall march before you, The Presence of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then, when you call, the Lord will answer; When you cry, God will say: Here I am. If you banish the yoke from your midst, The menacing hand, and evil speech, And you offer your compassion to the hungry And satisfy the famished creature— Then shall your light shine in darkness, And your gloom shall be like noonday.”

Strong words of moral correction, delivered by God through the prophet to the people. Who will hear them?

It would be one thing, I suppose, for Trump’s sniveling cult of the wealthy to reach into their own pockets and generate millions in charitable contributions to stem the flow of suffering that will result from this kind of mean-spirited slashing of government assistance. But we have yet to see that story written. Correct me if I’m wrong, please.

According to Luisa Deprez, professor of sociology and social policy at the University of Southern Maine, 170,000 of my fellow Maine citizens will not receive food support beginning November 1. Dating back to last spring, she reminds us, Trump slashed more than 94 million pounds of food to food banks while Mar-a-Lago’s kitchen, the White House, and Congress (including the kitchens of each member’s private homes) remained well-stocked. This is an abomination.

Until such a time that we throw these cruel politicians out of office, it falls upon us to be generous.

Here is where you can help.

Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine

Mid-Coast Hunger Prevention Program

Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine

Portland Public Schools Food Fund

Portland is a small city which punches far above its weight in the care and protection of immigrant and refugee families from all over the world. On any given day, one can encounter dozens of languages, customs, cultures and faiths from all over the world who have made their way to Maine in order to live a better, safer life from some of the most dangerous and intractable conflicts on the globe. Underpaid professionals and big-hearted volunteers are doing whatever they can do in order to provide the safety net for these children and their families during this particularly cruel moment in our nation’s history.

Look at it this way: Donald Trump was once a baby. He once felt the pang of hunger and, like all infants, was utterly helpless to do something about it. But someone, way back when, showed him kindness, fed him, and sated his need for food and nutrition.

Light would shine in darkness, to paraphrase Isaiah, should Trump and his babbling arrogant mob, remember such moments in their own lives and stop inflicting this hell on innocent children and families.