Progressive Christians Strike Back By Using The Bible To Justify A Living Wage And Unions

J. Herbert Nelson, II, in an action alert titled “All Work Must Be Valued with a Minimum Wage” for the U.S. Presbyterian Church Office of Public Witness, quoted the Bible to make his case:

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Indeed, our biblical tradition reminds us that the livelihood of workers is a responsibility of the community. The prophet Malachi, echoing earlier laws and prophets, prophesies, “Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against… those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.” (3:5)

Citing the fact that “millions of workers in the United States are inadequately compensated for their work. Corporate profits are at their highest level in at least 85 years,” Nelson pointed to the Presbyterian Church’s “long history of supporting the rights of workers to earn fair wages and good benefits and have safe working conditions.” The church’s support includes advocating for:

• Employment for all, at a family-sustaining living wage, with equal pay for comparable work.
• The rights of workers to organize, and to share in workplace decisions and productivity growth.
• Protection from dangerous working conditions, with time and benefits to enable full family life.

Nelson urged members to “click here to contact your members of congress today and ask them to raise the minimum wage!” He further suggested, “… we must support social justice for all God’s children.”

Perusing through the Bible, there are plenty of references to support an active protection of labor, which is the vulnerable party in this economy:

Leviticus 19:13
“‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor. “‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.

James 5:4
Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.

In a Labor Day statement, stated clerk for the Office of the General Assembly Gradye Parsons explained that in the past churches were united in wanting a family-sustaining wage, “The phrase, ‘living wage,’ comes from the 1908 ‘Social Creed of the Churches,’ a statement that was updated on its centennial by our 218th General Assembly (2008) (Minutes, 2008, Part I, p. 924 of the electronic version) as well as other Orthodox and Protestant communions. Our churches were united in wanting each person to be able to work at a ‘family-sustaining’ wage, without discrimination on any pretext, and with the full social protections of a developed society.”

So it is that there are both moral and religious calls to treat labor well, to support a living wage and the right to organize.

Too often the only religious references we hear in politics are either ugly attempts to disenfranchise the rights of others in order to appease a warped sense of entitlement to impose a rigid set of religious beliefs onto the entire country or a politician is telling us that God has forgiven him his sins so we shouldn’t ask any questions.

There is another side to religion, a call to help and nurture our most vulnerable — to not take advantage of the weak and the poor. Many religions share these values. These shared values deserve to be heard and honored as part of our moral responsibility, no matter our personal belief system.

Sarah Jones

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