from SojoMail letters section: Words from an expert

The following comes from my weekly e-mail from Sojourners. Part of the weekly e-mail is a section called Boomerang, in which readers write in to respond, like in a newspaper editorial section. This is what one person wrote to Sojourners, and NOT from me. The letter's author, Ritagail Burleson, refers to the Katrina Pledge that is being sponsored by Sojourners, in which signers are asked to press elected officials to focus government priorities on poverty, inspired by the poverty that was both displayed and worsened by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath -- JH:

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Readers write----------

Ritagail Burleson writes from Bartlesville, Oklahoma

I live in poverty in the state of Oklahoma. I will not be signing your Katrina Pledge for the following reasons:

1. The pledge states: "As a person of faith, I believe that the poverty we have witnessed on the rooftops of New Orleans and the devastated communities of the Gulf Coast is morally unacceptable." If I am only moved by the sight of poverty when I see the people on their rooftops on the news, then I have had a very hardened heart - especially if I am "a person of faith."

2. I am already doing #1 in the Katrina Pledge, and did even before the hurricane hit, as soon as I saw that the hurricane was aimed at the Gulf Coast. And I wasn't praying merely for "the poor," but for everyone. (And I have given money, not much because I have little, but I still have done it. But then, I have given money to others before the hurricane.) I also do what I can, with my extremely limited resources, to help people God may send my way, regardless of their socio-economic class. Have the rest of you been doing the same, especially those of you who have more resources than I have?

3. I might support #2 in the Katrina Pledge, except for the way the first part is worded: " I pledge to work for sweeping change of our nation's priorities. I will press my elected representatives...." If we leave the "sweeping change" to our "elected representatives" we are merely passing on the responsibility. I wish something like the following would have been included: "As a person of faith, I will do what I can to personally help the people who God brings into my life, no matter who they are. I will strive to be an example in my own faith-based group (church) so that we are welcoming to people other than those of our own socio-economic level.