Lent 2022, Week 5: Lent Calls Us to See True Gifts

Inequity hurts our country. More importantly, it hurts the broader Body of Christ when generations of families are ensnared in cycles of financial hardship. A new status quo is needed! As we enter Lent’s final days, let us be mindful of how we can advocate for justice that extends past our earthly lives.

View earlier Lenten Reflections: Ash Wednesday | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4

Colin Martinez Longmore
April 1, 2022

As we combined our budgets and planned for our financial future, we were grateful for the sacrifices our families made to provide us with this opportunity. However, at the same time, we were mindful that our financial plans would have to account for the fact that neither of our parents have retirement savings. In a few years, we will have to support them in old age.

Unfortunately, in our country, this situation is not unique. We can see it illustrated in the mixed-citizenship status family with parents who don’t hold retirement assets, or in the single mother heading into old age with a high personal debt-to-income ratio due to emergency expenses. There are countless families who find themselves in the cycle of an upward generational transfer of wealth, where younger generations are financially supporting their parents, rather than receiving wealth from them.

Our tax code does not reward this spending framework. It also disadvantages these families by not offering help, in the form of interest deductions, on certain debts like medical bills, credit cards, or personal loans. Many families are limited in their ability to save, invest, build wealth, retire comfortably and pass down wealth to future generations.

In contrast, wealthy—and overwhelmingly white—families enjoy a very different set of rules in our tax code when it comes to passing down wealth. The “stepped-up” basis loophole for inherited assets protects these families. They can dodge taxes on their wealth when transferring it from one owner to the next. The value on investment assets gained during the original owner’s possession is not taxed upon being inherited by the new owner. In other words, the assets are “stepped-up” in value and the new owner is able to realize tax-free gains. On top of that, estate and other inheritance loopholes allow wealthy families to avoid taxes on up to $23 million when passing down wealth.

The system of penalizing poor families and rewarding wealthy ones supercharges the already growing racial wealth gap. We know that this type of inequity hurts our country, but more importantly, it hurts the broader Body of Christ by ensnaring generations of families in cycles of financial hardship. A new status quo is needed! As we enter into the final week of Lent, let us be mindful of how we can continue to advocate for a justice that extends past our earthly lives.

Good and gracious God, as we prepare ourselves to share in the joy of Easter, open our hearts and minds. Help us to see what we would rather not see, especially the suffering caused by the injustice of systemic racism. Help us reflect on these painful realities and see them for what they are. Help us to avoid despair and to move from reflection to action, galvanized by your Spirit. Grant us the courage to speak out and the clarity to cooperate with your grace in building the world anew. Amen. NETWORK Prayer to Move from Reflection to Action

Lent 2022, Week 4: Lent Calls Us to See True Gifts

Wealthy white people cling to the narrative that they’ve earned their wealth and shouldn’t have it taxed, while Black and Brown families whose sweat and blood built that wealth for white families face heavier tax burdens and fewer tax benefits. The reality, though, is that all we have is gift. The whole of Creation and our very lives are unearned gifts from God.

View earlier Lenten Reflections: Ash Wednesday | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3

Emily TeKolste, SP
March 25, 2022

As Sr. Juliet says, “A practical result of this common ownership and sharing is to remove the connection between what I have earned and what I can spend. No longer is personal worth or worthiness equated to financial income.” She continues, “In disavowing personal wealth and ownership, we also recognize that all we have is gift…Because those resources are recognized as gift, they must be used for the benefit of the society as a whole.”

In my work over the past couple of years, particularly in researching and teaching about injustice in the U.S. tax code, I see how little the attitude of gift is reflected in our society, especially in light of the giftedness that wealth and it’s preferential treatment in the U.S. tax code are to white people in our country. White families benefitted from stolen land and stolen labor to build their wealth and then built a tax code that preferences the ultra-wealthy while taxing most Black and Brown families at higher rates due to their lower levels of wealth.

Wealthy white people cling to the narrative that they’ve earned their wealth and shouldn’t have it taxed, while Black and Brown families whose sweat and blood built that wealth for white families face heavier tax burdens and fewer tax benefits. The reality, though, is that all we have is gift. The whole of Creation and our very lives are unearned gifts from God.

Perhaps this is why immediately after the angel announces to her the gift of Jesus, Mary proclaims the “Magnificat,” a prayer that declares and celebrates a God who casts down the mighty and lifts up the powerless. This prayer is a continuation of the entire prophetic tradition of the Hebrew Scriptures and a precursor of the Gospel – the Good News of Jesus’s life.

Good and gracious God, as we prepare ourselves to share in the joy of Easter, open our hearts and minds. Help us to see what we would rather not see, especially the suffering caused by the injustice of systemic racism. Help us reflect on these painful realities and see them for what they are. Help us to avoid despair and to move from reflection to action, galvanized by your Spirit. Grant us the courage to speak out and the clarity to cooperate with your grace in building the world anew. Amen. NETWORK Prayer to Move from Reflection to Action

Lent 2022, Week 3: Lent Calls Us to See Injustice and Build Anew

Meg Olson
March 18, 2022

Federal, state, and local laws have negatively impacted economic progress for Black and Brown people. From post-WWI federal public housing policy, red-lining, and the tax code to the ‘War on Drugs’ and school funding, the dire gap in wealth disparity between white and Black families can be traced to government intervention. A 2015 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston showed that the median net wealth of Boston’s white households is nearly $250,000, while that of Black households is $8. Let that sink in. All Black and Brown people aren’t prevented from wealth-building opportunities like buying a home, contributing to a child’s 529 college savings plan, and saving for retirement. But as the Boston data shows, far too many have been unable to overcome the obstacles of discriminatory lending, housing, and tax policy to live the liberative, dignified life that God wants for ALL OF US.

Now that we’re aware of government discrimination, we may balk at feeling responsible for it. But, we’ve seen it. The discrimination has been laid bare. We can’t unsee the injustice.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, a market spawned for on demand, short term contracted work. This “gig economy” boomed during the COVID-19 shutdown as services like Lyft, Uber Eats and dog walking were in high demand. The people in these jobs may  provide vital services, but they don’t enjoy wages, benefits and labor protections that traditional employers must provide. A significant portion of gig economy workers are Black, Brown, and immigrants. Their wages are unpredictable and stagnant and they are practically barred from the opportunity to build wealth.

St. Joseph’s feast day is tomorrow. Use his example to see the sacred character of all who seek to make a home for themselves and provide for their families. Consider how what we’ve seen together in the Tax Justice For All resource can help us Build Anew the economic and social structures that are just for all, especially those who struggle to overcome racist policies and laws.

Good and gracious God, as we prepare ourselves to share in the joy of Easter, open our hearts and minds. Help us to see what we would rather not see, especially the suffering caused by the injustice of systemic racism. Help us reflect on these painful realities and see them for what they are. Help us to avoid despair and to move from reflection to action, galvanized by your Spirit. Grant us the courage to speak out and the clarity to cooperate with your grace in building the world anew. Amen. NETWORK Prayer to Move from Reflection to Action