Letter: Faith without works is dead

Dear Rep. John Curtis,

Your invitation to join in a worldwide day of fasting and prayer requires a public response.

I am a Downwinder. Ten years ago, I lost my left lung to the incompetence, deceit and callous disregard of the government’s nuclear testing. Today my missing lung increases my vulnerability to the incompetent, deceitful and callously indifferent governmental response to the coronavirus pandemic.

I’m frightened.

I recognize the comfort prayer brings to many, and appreciate the good intentions of my fellow world citizens. However, when those prayers flow from the lips of politicians on the heels of their miserable failure to provide for the common defense against a pandemic, and to promote the general welfare, I question both the value and the intent of their prayers.

I learned in Sunday school that faith without works is dead. Prayer will not replace the tests, the personal protective equipment, the ventilators, the lives and jobs lost.

I will welcome the prayers of a representative who declares health care a human right and works to replace our current system with one that prioritizes patients over profit.

I will welcome the prayers of a representative who works to establish an economy that rewards with a commensurate wage the work of those deemed so essential that they must risk their lives on multiple fronts during a national crisis.

Otherwise your fasting and prayers are just self-indulgence.

Jackie Anderson, Price

Submit a letter to the editor