In Theory: Texas mayor criticized for linking poverty to ‘broken people’ living without God

San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor was criticized for saying the root cause of poverty in her city is people who don’t have a strong relationship with God, the San Antonio Current reports.

Speaking at a mayoral forum with fellow candidate and Councilman Ron Nirenberg on April 3, they were asked: “What do you see as the deepest, systemic causes of generational poverty in San Antonio?”

Taylor responded:

“To me, it’s broken people. People not being in relationships with their creator and therefore not being in good relationship with their families and their communities and not being productive members of society. So I mean, I think that’s the ultimate answer.”

Taylor took to Facebook to defend herself, saying a video clip of the forum had been selectively edited to misrepresent her views, the Washington Post reports. In an interview with the Post, she said she believes society would benefit from people developing a stronger relationship with God, but that her city is not a theocracy and that leaders should not govern from scripture.

Q. What do you think of Taylor’s response to the question?

San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor made a mistake when she injected her personal religious viewpoint into an analysis of policy. Attributing poverty to original sin is an easy out for those who do not want to address injustice. Mayor Taylor, an accomplished woman, has pursued justice throughout her career. Taylor went off track when she offered her own theological perspective as part of her answer to a question from someone representing the Christian Coalition, which obscured her own record and the rest of her answer.

In the public sphere there are many bases for approaching policy solutions to economic inequality. While there is no pat answer for solving poverty, there are plenty of examples of how to do things more effectively than we do in the U.S., the most economically unequal nation on earth. Author George Lakey has recently published “Viking Economics: How the Scandinavians Got It Right — and How We Can, Too,” which distills lessons from the Nordic nations on how they have achieved the level of social equality and inclusion they enjoy today.

According to Lakey, the decades of mostly nonviolent struggle involved in creating these successful social democracies, where universal healthcare and education are part of the social contract, shaped the basis for political evolution. George Lakey is a member of the Society of Friends and has been sharing his vision of nonviolent social change for over 50 years. While his inspiration to pursue social justice comes from his faith, he does not imagine that everyone must be a Quaker in order to achieve a just society.

As community organizer Saul Alinsky observed, “With very rare exceptions, the right things are done for the wrong reasons.” For those like Mayor Taylor who, inspired by her faith to pursue policy solutions to poverty, it is not the personal reasons why she seeks to make a better world that matter as much as the outcomes for those in need.

Inspiration can arise from many sources, but antipoverty programs must be applied without religious test or judgment.

David L. Hostetter, Ph.D.Vice President,

Unitarian Universalist Church of the Verdugo Hills

La Crescenta

..

I believe that Mayor Taylor’s response was appropriate. It was honest, well-reasoned and logical. It was based not only on her personal beliefs (which she has the right to publicly express as much as any other American) but also on her first-hand knowledge of the problems within her city. She made an objective statement. Those who disagree should attempt to disprove her with facts, not criticize her simply because their personal beliefs conflict with hers. Among those who are publicly critical of Mayor Taylor is one of the co-presidents of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. In this case, knee-jerk criticism is not a surprising reaction from those who have publicly demonstrated a hardened heart against God and any public mention of him.

Isaiah 48:17 says, “Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.’” The fact is, there is a God. He is the source of all blessing and goodness. “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” (James 1:17). God created all life and his ways are always the best for a prosperous life in both practical and spiritual matters. To affirm this is not an attempt to establish a theocracy or violate anyone else’s rights. In Mayor Taylor’s case, it was simply an honest response to an important question.

Pastor Jon Barta

Burbank

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A person needs to have something in their lives to believe in that goes beyond their individual selves.

Faith must have as its partner a deeper entity than oneself. Family is as equal a power as divinity.

Many are the testimonies of families who by our standards today were not just poor, they were very, very poor. Have any of our readers eaten, “vegetable peel soup” with a slice of bread for their luncheon meal? I think not. The people of the Great Depression found wealth in the love and support they had for each other and a vision for the future.

To Mayor Taylor, if you want to end the scourge of poverty in San Antonio, begin by attacking the spiritual side of it, not just by having more people attend the houses of worship of their desires. Have these houses of worship receive funds from the city, state and federal government to supply the physical, educational and psychological needs of the poor and train people to serve the emotional needs that will end the loneliness of the poor individual.

We pray to the one God. Our tradition teaches us that the one God did not want to be alone so we were created. We are part of the divine family. Can we do less for our family members?

Rabbi Mark Sobel

Temple Beth Emet

Burbank

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The cause of poverty is not having enough money, which I say in all seriousness. Not having enough money is caused by lacking access to a job that pays above-poverty wages, or by not having the education or training to be qualified for such a job. Remember also that many of our poor are children, elderly, sick or disabled.

Mayor Taylor is factually wrong, cruel and ignorant to blame the poor themselves for their plight. Prosperous people make bad choices and have poor family relationships too, but their resources insulate them from negative consequences. Taylor also posts racist content about former President Obama on social media, and she is quoted as saying that it is OK to discriminate against gay people.

Her view that the needy are undeserving of help is being aired with depressing regularity during the current GOP effort to destroy what little basic health protection we have managed to obtain with the Affordable Care Act. Mo Brooks, representing Alabama’s 5th district, pontificated in Congress that healthy people “lead good lives” so shouldn’t have to subsidize the sick, who presumably don’t.

This fallacy is part of the “prosperity gospel” popular with religious reactionaries. I recommend reading “On Health and Welfare, Moral Arguments Can Outweigh Economics,” a recent news analysis in the New York Times for an excellent evidence-based refutation of Mayor Taylor’s baloney.

Roberta Medford

Atheist

Montrose

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The mayor wasn’t asked about surface-level causes of ongoing poverty. The question was, “What do you see as the ‘deepest,’ systemic causes...?” If you want to get to the foundation, most Christians would name the human sin nature and consequent negative relationship to God as the “deepest” cause of poverty in general. It’s the “deepest” cause of all worldly ills, but that doesn’t mean Taylor blames destitute grandmothers for their predicament. She may be witness to generations of broken families raising kids that don’t work nor have the inclination so long as the government cheese is regularly forthcoming. But awhile back, the mayor put the onus on the faith community, saying that “pastors can do a better job than city hall, or a case worker or social worker or government worker. We have to work in partnership.” She actually wrote in 2015: “To better address and eradicate the legacy of generational poverty in San Antonio, we must ensure that our young men and women have access to quality opportunities and education which their parents may or may not have had.” She then said that “the communities of faith” should “establish themselves as strong advocates” and focus their ministries on “offering these opportunities.”

Now the naysayers will jump on this and not kindly give the benefit of the doubt with regard to her biblical diagnosis and Christian prescription, but then, they aren’t part of any faith communities that will collectively act to address the very problem that is both surfacy and deep. I’ll tell you, if there were no communities of faith, there would be little or no community involvement for such things. And motivation for Christians derives from relationship with our creator; without that, we’d all Scroogily agree to let the poor die and so “reduce the surplus population.” Why should we care to move a finger to help if it doesn’t first serve our own self interests? Jesus tells us, that’s why. Without our deepest problem being answered in him, there is only poverty of soul which translates to poverty at hand. When people of faith engage to help, helped people glorify God, and generations change. Taylor is right; shore up relationship with God.

“If you mistreat the poor, you insult your creator; if you are kind to them, you show him respect” (Proverbs 14:31).

Rev. Bryan A. Griem

Tujunga