United Church of Christ Daily Devotional 15th August 2025 Friday Message
War Always Hurts the Poor.
By Lillian Daniel
But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? – James 2:6 (NIV)
War is not the great democratizer. It is the great demolisher.
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War always hurts the poor.
The Bible records and predicts it all. There is no great violence in which economic forces are not wielding power to build up their petty pyramids. Century after century, the only change seems to be that the powerful party-planners of battle now market shinier wrapping paper.
People do not bear the burden of their countries’ wars equally. In the USA, our wise elders remember that in the Vietnam War, our draft was dodge-able for anyone who could afford it. Who told me that? It was my father, Leon Daniel, who received a Purple Heart.
Who else told me that war hurts the poor? Many people in many countries have shared their stories publicly. Today, I read it in interviews from Palestine as war puts the region on the brink of famine. I hear it from veterans who want a better college scholarship program for their grandchildren—one that will not leave them with deep scars of war on their psyches.
Individuals hurt and cry out in pain. Crowds hurt and cry out in pain. Some voices are heard louder than others.
War always hurts the people who have the least to lose economically, who have the least resources to shield them from conflict. But who among us has anything we can afford to lose, when it comes to human life?
The letter of James warns, “If you show special attention to a man wearing fine clothes but [dismiss] a poor man, have you not discriminated and become judges with evil thoughts?”
War always discriminates against the poor. Do we do the same?
Prayer
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
About the AuthorLillian Daniel serves as Conference Minister with the Michigan Conference UCC. She is the author of Tired of Apologizing for a Church I Don’t Belong To and When “Spiritual But Not Religious” Is Not Enough.
