Spiritual Fasting

Dear George,

I don’t care what they say about you, if anyone understood compassion, you did, and the nation is all the poorer for your departure.

Genuine compassion looks at the big picture in an effort to put issues and events into their true perspective. No tears. No bleeding-hearts. No hand wringing. Just a dispassionate look at what’s best for the country. It’s a rational approach, a clear vision grounded in a value-free assessment of a given situation.

Emotions corrupt compassion; clarity of vision liberates it from the syrupy morality in which it is too often mired.

There are those who criticize you because when you left office, there were thirty-four million Americans living in poverty. In their delusional thinking, they believe the government should eradicate this poverty with a wave of its legislative hand.

To them I say: You stupid shits! You vomit solutions in an orgasm of teary-eyed sentimentality. So clouded are you by your care and concern that you fail to recognize what poverty tells us about our society. So, take out paper and pencil and write this down for future reference.

Thirty-four million people in poverty means, simply, that there are thirty-four million people our economy is unable to absorb. And that number is growing as our economic meltdown continues. And given even the most optimistic of forecasts, it is doubtful our economy will ever absorb them. What we have here is a write-off.

“But children go to be hungry,” weep the do-gooders, because they are blind to starvation’s upside. Starvation is the most cost-effective method we have of bringing populations into alignment with resources. The human animal is wonderfully adaptable and is quite able to adapt itself to starvation.

But let’s be clear about one thing, George. There is really no such thing as starvation. There is only sacrificial fasting.

Yes, those who starve do a tremendous service to humanity. They waste away so we may grow. They deserve our admirations, not our pity.

There is also a transcendental element to starvation that the bleeding-hearts overlook. Starvation is spiritual. Here’s why: spirituality rests on a total rejection of all things of the flesh, including food. The act of letting go and surrendering is the very foundation of spiritual growth. To starve is to die happy, for in starvation the physical snare of earthly existence melts away and the soul is freed to begin its heavenly ascent.

Why should a Christian nation like America allow food stamps and welfare to stand between the poor and their spiritual union with God? So turn your back, ramp up your iPod and leave the poor alone to bask in the heavenly glory that is their entitlement.

Your admirer,
Belacqua Jones