Gov Snyder: Sacrificing Children to Idol of Capitalism

I've been following the Flint water crisis for months now. With my background in education, I take lead poisoning very seriously, as it can cause really serious lifelong damage. And at this point in time, it's preventable. Yet Rebecca sees it in some of her pediatric patients because landlords don't take it seriously, and now many of Flint's children suffer from it because Governor Snyder and his emergency financial manager/dictator decided that saving a few dollars on water was more important than providing potable drinking water to an entire city.

I can't help but think of this passage of the Bible, from right after the Christmas story we all recently celebrated:

Matthew Chapter 2

16 Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. 17 Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: 

18 “A cry was heard in Ramah— 

weeping and great mourning. 

Rachel weeps for her children, 

refusing to be comforted, 

for they are dead.”* 

According to the Bible, Mary and Joseph received divine guidance to flee so that Jesus wouldn't be among the children killed. (*Background, if you need it: Herod was a brutal leader who feared that the Jewish messiah would overtake his reign. Since he liked his power and money and didn't care who was hurt, he ordered the murder of any child that could possibly meet the criteria.)

I have heard the pro-life group ask, "What if Mary had aborted Jesus?" Yet the same politicians have eroded democracy, promoted austerity and poverty, and de-prioritized children and families all over Michigan.

So let me ask: What if Herod's soldiers had murdered Jesus? What if the leader who didn't value the life of a toddler from a community unlike his had succeeded? What if his thirst for power, wealth, empire, subjugation, colonization had been fruitful?

How many potential leaders have been killed or maimed in the Flint water crisis? (Not to mention all of the other forms of pollution and poverty for so many of Michigan's children.)

How long must there be weeping and great mourning in Michigan communities?