What kind of person are you?

We Americans have many names we use to describe ourselves. Which of these is yours?

Compassionate—Do you believe that two million Americans should lose the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and almost 12 million lose Medicaid health insurance? That’s what the Congressional Budget Office estimates will happen as Trump’s One Big Beautiful Act goes into effect.

Family-oriented—Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tears families apart when a parent, often a longtime U.S. resident who has no criminal record, is abducted. 

Financially conservative—Why give enough money to ICE to make it the third largest police/military budget in the world, only behind China and the U.S., when we outspend the world on defense?

Nature-loving—Because the Act cuts incentives to free us from fossil fuels, the pressures of climate change will stress all living organisms as floods, droughts, hurricanes, and temperature extremes become even more common than today.

Law abiding—Should the laws our country was founded upon, such as the right to speak freely and the right to legal counsel, should be tossed out, as the current Department of Justice seems determined to do? 

Christian—In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says to his followers, “I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.” Does this sound like our current government?

Every day we have a chance to decide which description fits our response to the actions of the current regime. Will you be true to the words you would choose to describe yourself? 

Barbara Burt

Athens