I recently saw a posting on a social media site that asked us to “… stop all American aid to countries that persecute Christians.” While this may sound like a good idea, at least to Christians, or even a “no-brainer” to some, let us think about this for a minute. I have two problems with this statement:

1. What about other religions? Are we saying that we should continue to send aid to countries that persecute, say … Muslims? Jews? Hindis? Are those groups of people less valuable or more expendable than Christians? And how can the government of a secular nation justify denying aid based on a single religion?

2. I am generally in favor of denying military aid to any country wherein the government is guilty of human rights violations of any sort, but humanitarian aid is something else altogether. Since the above statement pleads to deny “all American aid”, one must assume that those in support of this movement would deny both military and humanitarian aid to any country where there is persecution of Christian individuals. When we deny humanitarian aid, we are responsible for people, innocent people who have never persecuted anyone, going without food, clean water, medical care, clothing and shelter. Is this what we, as Americans, believe is the right thing to do?

Certainly, each church, as a non-governmental organization, has a right to decide how and where to spend its money, and what causes to support, but I believe the creator of this post was concerned with the issue of government funds derived from our tax dollars. Our government has imposed sanctions against a number of countries and these sanctions have often included the cessation of humanitarian aid. I believe this sends the wrong message to the world about the values of the U.S. government and its citizens. Granted, we cannot save every starving child, provide medical care to every person in need, but we certainly can do better than to choose to deprive innocent citizens of the world based on the actions of their government against a specific religion.

I am certain that some will make the argument that there are people starving in this country and we should use our tax dollars to help our own citizens first. My answer to this is twofold: a) our government, since the administration of FDR and his New Deal, has provided aid programs to assist with food, shelter, clothing and medical care for all citizens below a certain economic level; and b) any U.S. citizen who is struggling to put food on the table or pay the rent is still a thousand times better off than the poor in any underdeveloped nation.

It is my hope and belief that cooler heads prevail in the decision-making process about who we help and where we send aid. We are all citizens of a global community and have a vested interest in helping every citizen of that larger community, without bias toward religion, race, or cultural heritage. Let us put aside our differences and focus on our likenesses. Let us be the example for the rest of the world.