By L.A. Williams
Christian Action League
March 8, 2024
Universal health care, a $15 minimum wage, gun control, and an end to poverty were among the many demands of a crowd of some 5,000 that gathered on the grounds of the North Carolina Capitol March 2 with the goal of getting out the progressive vote in advance of Tuesday’s primaries.
According to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2022 more than 1.3 million North Carolina residents are living in poverty. Rally leaders said 34 million eligible low-income voters across the United States did not vote in 2016, and if at least 20 percent of them in swing states coalesced around an agenda, they could advance it at the polls.
With a voter turnout rate of 24 percent in North Carolina, down 7 points from 2020’s Super Tuesday, the Mass Poor People’s and Low Wage Workers’ State House Assembly and Moral March on Raleigh and to the Polls may have missed its mark. Its message, which centered on claims that virtually any public policy that does not address poverty should be considered “violence,” definitely missed the mark when it comes to theology, says the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League.
He says the way rally leader Rev. William Barber consistently mischaracterizes many Christians’ approach to helping the poor is inaccurate and unfair.
“A biblical worldview on dealing with poverty is multifaceted, drawing from Christian principles and practical considerations. It’s unfair to argue, as Barber has in the past, that white evangelicalism doesn’t care for the poor and the marginalized or that our views are heresy,” Creech said. “The Bible is clear: we are to care for the less fortunate. This involves providing material assistance, food, shelter, and clothing, as well as emotional support and encouragement.”
He said conservative evangelicals advocate for initiatives that empower individuals to overcome poverty through education, job training and entrepreneurship, and that the Bible typically emphasizes personal responsibility and self-reliance, not dependence on government.
While Barber told the crowd that the nation’s “political system has a heart problem and a moral problem,” Creech pointed out that the government has been doling out public assistance for decades and has not succeeded in eliminating poverty, but has, in fact exacerbated it.
“I agree that the church should play a central role in addressing poverty, but not in the manner Barber advocates. Church-based initiatives such as food banks, homeless shelters and financial assistance programs are desperately needed. Offering spiritual support and counsel on how to overcome poverty is also needed. We can always do more,” Creech says. “But the policies he advocates, along with his leftist friends and supporters, undermine personal responsibility and create government dependence.”
He said Barber’s entire ministry has been devoted to using the poor as a means of political power, putting socialists and socialistic policies in place, and redistributing wealth in attempt to equalize it.
“This only works to make us all equally poor,” Creech says.
Instead of looking to the government for help, he said evangelicals with a strong Christian worldview believe that the role of the family is central to addressing poverty.
“We are living in a time when family is seriously being undermined. Conservative Christians promote the institution of marriage as a sacred covenant ordained by God. They encourage individuals to marry and uphold traditional marital values such as one man and one woman, fidelity, commitment, and mutual respect,” Creech says. “Research consistently shows that single-parent households, particularly those headed by single mothers, are at a higher risk of poverty compared to two-parent households. When families break down due to divorce, separation, or other factors, it often results in a loss of income and resources, making it more difficult for single parents to support themselves and their children.”
Stable family structures provide a supportive environment for children to thrive, but when those families are undermined, children face greater challenges in accessing educational and economic opportunities, leading to lower levels of educational attainment and reduced earning potential in adulthood, Creech says.
“I do agree with Barber that there’s a ‘heart problem and a moral problem,’ but it’s not with the U.S. political system. Countries don’t have hearts and morals, individuals do. Until people turn their hearts back to God and his design for family, societal breakdown is going to continue, and consequently so will poverty,” he added.