Christian theology has Jesus saying on Judgement Day "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me". (New King James Bible)
I think some Christians take these principles more seriously than the type that are more interested in who is smoking, drinking and what people are doing with who under their duvets.
For those of us who follow the teachings of Jesus, he made clear that whatever we do to the most vulnerable in our society, we are actually doing to him.
We apparently have a few followers of Jesus Christ in the current government, and I wonder how it would be judged if we looked at this year’s headlines:
I was hungry and you gave me bad food; I was thirsty and you gave me a boil notice; I was homeless and you didn’t care until the "cruise season" started; I was a refugee but you made it too difficult to immigrate; I was sick and you gave me a 24-hour wait to be seen in the emergency department; I was in prison and you cut my mental health services.
Now of course some of this is unfair. Some of these were one-off events that were rectified as soon as possible.
There is actually a lot more we could say here, but my main point is that many of the problems vulnerable New Zealanders face come from a deliberate underfunding of services, especially housing, hospitals, mental health services and education/training.
The response would be that budgets have been set, and government departments have been told they have to live within those budgets whether it causes pain or not. (Wealthy landlords must truly have been in great distress to get the billions of dollars in tax breaks that they received).
It appears to me that the poor and the vulnerable have to bear the brunt of government underfunding because it is too painful for the wealthier to have to pay a few cents in the dollar more tax.
I still remember, with a degree of bitterness, the late 1980s and early 1990s, where Māori bore the brunt of the economic restructuring that took place to the point where, in 1992, 26% of our adult Māori population were unemployed.
These were truly Depression era statistics; meanwhile, the non-Māori unemployment rate at the time was only 7%-8%. Yet how were the unemployed and those on sickness benefits comforted and supported by their fellow New Zealanders in government?
Everyone had their benefits cut by $20, except of course the national superannuitants, as there were far too many National party voters in that section of society.
And for what purpose were these benefit cuts made? To fund later tax cuts for the rich.
The heartlessness with which it was done was stunning. Such disregard for the struggles and lives of people who just didn’t seem to count.
I think I see people in this coalition government who would do it all again and worse if they could. The call for austerity usually means removing more of what the vulnerable need, rather than looking at those who could contribute more.
The government has tightened the screws on needed services to see what we can do without; however, health, social services and education all need further spending.
Jesus’ statements about those who are struggling is not just for his followers as these statements also reveal our own humanity.
In this modern world we cannot meet every need we see, because our televisions and phones bring all the world’s problems right to us. We can each do a little though.
Donate to aid agencies that provide food aid and drinkable water where it is needed. Support the Red Cross and its work with refugees. Support night shelters and advocate to our local and national politicians to spend more on emergency and social housing.
Remind our politicians that people we know are struggling to get doctors appointments, operations and mental health support.
This Christmas, even if you don’t believe in Jesus as a religious figure, his call to see the humanity of every person as well as their divinity is a timeless message.
— Dr Anaru Eketone is an associate professor in the University of Otago’s social and community work programme.
