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In these days of wars – both military and cultural – poverty,
especially in distant lands such as Africa, tends not to be a key focus of our national public discourse.
But recently,
activists in the fight against hunger and disease have been using phrases like "a confessional moment," "a new civil rights
movement," and "new abolitionists" to describe an upsurge of interest in poverty, especially among a diverse array of faith
communities.
"There's a kind of crescendo of concern building around this issue," said Jim McDonald, vice president
of policy and programs at Bread for the World, a Christian anti-poverty organization.
That crescendo will build to
a roar next week, with all the energy and excitement of a rock concert.
Several concerts, actually.
Next Saturday,
in eight cities around the world, a dizzying array of pop and rock superstars will take the stage hoping to raise awareness
about poverty in Africa. (The only U.S. show is in Philadelphia.)
The event – dubbed Live 8 – comes just days before
a Group of Eight (G8) summit meeting in Scotland, at which representatives from the world's wealthiest nations are to discuss
African aid and debt relief.
Among the scheduled acts at Live 8 are U2, P. Diddy, Green Day, Stevie Wonder, Bon Jovi,
Coldplay, Madonna, Elton John, Paul McCartney and Sheryl Crow.
Live 8 is the brainchild of Bob Geldof, formerly of
the Boomtown Rats (and now Sir Bob Geldof). It comes almost exactly 20 years after the 1985 Live Aid concert, also spearheaded
by Mr. Geldof, which raised money for African famine relief.
Live 8 participants are calling on the G8 to double aid
to Africa and cancel all national debts for the poorest countries – positions echoed by many faith leaders. They may have
scored an early victory this month, when the wealthy nations agreed to erase more than $40 billion of the debt that 18 countries
owe to the World Bank and other international organizations.
Live 8 is only the most visible of the new efforts to
combat hunger in Africa.
In May, U2's Bono helped launch the ONE Campaign, which is calling on the U.S. government
to raise by 1 percent the amount of aid to Africa.
The effort – supported by a diverse array of faith groups – is the
U.S. arm of an England-based organization called Make Poverty History. That group similarly advocates for increased aid to
Africa and is asking supporters to wear white wristbands, after the yellow ones that Lance Armstrong popularized to promote
the fight against cancer.
Catholics for Faithful Citizenship, an Ohio-based advocacy group that lobbies for, among
other things, trade agreements favorable to poorer countries, quotes the late Pope John Paul II as saying the poverty of billions
of people worldwide is "the one issue that most challenges our human and Christian consciences."
Earlier this month,
more than 1,000 representatives of more than 40 religious groups – Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus – gathered
in the National Cathedral in Washington to pray for an end to global poverty.
"There's a moral convergence happening
among religious leaders on the issue of poverty," said the Rev. Jim Wallis, author and founder of the organization Sojourners,
a Christian group advocating peace and justice. Another of Mr. Wallis' faith-based groups, Call to Renewal, co-sponsored the
interfaith gathering at the National Cathedral.
Diversity is nothing new in anti-poverty work. Local efforts, such
as soup kitchens, often bring together people of different faiths. Mr. Wallis, a liberal evangelical, said he has long worked
side by side with conservatives on economic issues.
What's different now, according to many, is the strong passion
that many evangelicals are investing on issues like poverty, hunger, and AIDS – long considered priorities mainly for liberals.
In
recent weeks, several prominent evangelical leaders, including Billy Graham and Rick Warren, have been urging their followers
to enlist in the war on poverty.
"I deeply believe that if we as evangelicals remain silent and do not speak up in
defense of the poor, we lose our credibility and our right to witness about God's love for the world," Dr. Warren, author
of The Purpose-Driven Life, wrote in an open letter to President Bush, whom he described as his "co-worker in Christ."
Religious
liberals and conservatives have occasionally worked together over the past decade or so, for example, successfully pressing
for U.S. involvement in ending the Sudanese civil war, said Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center
of Reform Judaism.
He said he thought that on the subject of world poverty, the alliance would be deeper and longer-lasting.
"It
goes to such a core religious issue," he said. "All Abrahamic faiths and most religions have as a core value caring for the
poor.
"I suspect that we're seeing something that will have a lasting impact."
Add the star power of Live 8,
and poverty is suddenly getting the sort of attention it hasn't received in years.
"It's unfortunate that it takes
celebrity involvement for people to care. But if it brings attention to these issues, it benefits us and benefits the people
in need," said Arif Shaikh, a spokesman for Islamic Relief. The international charity was founded in England in response to
the African famine of the mid-1980s – the same famine that led to the original Live Aid.
Beyond star appeal, activists
cite several reasons for the renewed emphasis on poverty among people of faith and the American public at large.
The
Sept. 11 attacks led many people to contemplate the United States' relationship to the rest of the world. The outpouring of
support after last December's tsunami again drove people to think about global poverty. And coverage of the ethnic slaughter
in the Darfur region of Sudan focused sympathetic attention on Africa.
The issue has also been propelled by President
Bush's early pronouncements committing to helping fight AIDS and poverty in Africa – and what many see as the administration's
failure to make good on those commitments, said John McCullough, executive director of Church World Service, a Christian relief
group affiliated with the liberal National Council of Churches.
"The United States has historically underserved its
neighbors on that continent," Mr. McCullough said. "The capacity of the United States to use its resources to address hunger
and poverty throughout the world is enormous."
On the heels of the G8 summit, the United Nations will convene a gathering
in September to evaluate progress toward the so-called "millennium development goals," which were adopted in 2000 and seek
to end extreme poverty and improve health care and education around the globe. A December meeting in Hong Kong will focus
on trade issues.
"People are seeing that 2005 holds a lot of special moments," said Mr. McDonald of Bread for the World.
Hunger,
of course, has been an enduring scourge since biblical times and beyond. That doesn't deter anti-poverty activists from thinking
the moment is right for change.
"More and more people are beginning to realize that with technology and other advances,
this can be the generation that ends extreme poverty," said Scott Jackson of World Vision, a relief organization associated
with evangelical churches.
As just one example of the possibilities, said Mr. Shaikh of Islamic Relief, if all available
land in Sudan alone were cultivated, it could feed all of Africa.
"The biggest challenge is letting people know a lot
of these problems are fixable," he said. "There's no reason for people to be starving."
What's most needed, many say,
is the political will.
Politicians often say poverty doesn't resonate with the public as an important issue, Mr. Wallis
said. He disagrees.
He cites a November 2004 Zogby poll in which Americans were asked to identify the most urgent moral
crisis facing the country. More cited "greed and materialism" and "poverty and economic justice" than abortion or gay marriage.
"We
have to demonstrate that there's a movement afoot," he said. Politicians, he added, will "pay attention when they see that
movement."
Michael Kress, a freelance writer, can be reached at michaellkress@yahoo.com.
Another Version
of This Article:
Can Rockers and Religious Leaders End Poverty?
A coalition of the glamorous and the pious
see a golden opportunity. Published on Beliefnet,
July 2005
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