War and Housing Insecurity Go Hand in Hand: Micah 4-4

This past Tuesday, at our monthly MHCH Housing Justice Forum, I gave a reflection focusing on the motto of MHCH, which is taken from the prophet Micah, who declared that  “Everyone beneath their vine and fig tree shall live in peace and unafraid.”

In other words, it is God’s intention that everyone should have secure, decent and affordable housing. Micah also states that “nations shall turn their swords into ploughshares and study war no more.” He makes the connection between war and housing insecurity and displacement.

During the past few weeks, we’ve seen the devastating effects of war not only on women and children and families, but also on their homes. Over100,000 Armenians fled their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh, fearing “ethnic cleansing.” Nearly 170,000 residences were damaged and nearly 16,000 homes destroyed in Gaza since October 7. One third of Ukrainians have been displaced since the Russian invasion two years ago. That’s nearly twelve million people. According to a UN report, world-wide 108 million people lost their homes due to war by the end of 2023. And 35 million had to leave their homeland due to war.

These numbers are staggering and mind-numbing, but we need to face the fact that our country bears a responsibility for these wars since we are by far the largest arms exporter, or as Dr. King put it, “purveyor of violence,”  in the world. We produce and sell 40% of the world’s weapons!

So, I’d like to close by asking us to reflect on how war is affecting not only the world but also our homeland. President Eisenhower gave a famous speech in 1953 in which he said, that “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”

These are prophetic words, especially when you consider that President Biden is asking for over $100 billion in additional military aid to Ukraine and Israel, and many in Congress are eager to allocate these funds. $100 billion could pay for 200,000 homes and end chronic homelessness in our nation!

So let’s pray that our leaders take to heart the words of the prophet Micah and spend our tax dollars not on weapons of war, but on basic human needs like education, medical care, and housing.

Please click here to let your elected officials know that you support a ceasefire and humanitarian aid to Gaza