The Reverend John Franklin Hay, who I have never met, inspires me in many ways. I share his reflections from a common source of encouragement and motivation, Nicholas Wolterstorff. Directly from his blog - his words, shared here: Nicholas Wolterstorff's biblical perspective shapes the underpinnings of my activism and politics more than any other.
"It is against God's will that there be a kingdom in which some are poor; in God's perfected Kingdom there will be none at all. It is even more against God's will that there be a society in which some are poor while others are rich. When this happens, God is on the side of the poor..."
"We must work patiently and persistently to show people the causes of mass poverty, and we must do what we can to convince them that the fundamental criteria by which all political and economic institutions and practices must be tested is just this: 'What do they do to the poor?' If they perpetuate poverty, they fail the most important test of legitimacy, and in that case we must struggle to alter them. We must work for the day when practices which perpetuate poverty have lost their legitimacy in the eyes of people."
Nicholas Wolterstorff in Until Justice and Peace Embrace
"We must work patiently and persistently to show people the causes of mass poverty, and we must do what we can to convince them that the fundamental criteria by which all political and economic institutions and practices must be tested is just this: 'What do they do to the poor?' If they perpetuate poverty, they fail the most important test of legitimacy, and in that case we must struggle to alter them. We must work for the day when practices which perpetuate poverty have lost their legitimacy in the eyes of people."
Nicholas Wolterstorff in Until Justice and Peace Embrace
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