malicious talk

Sunday August 25^th, Isaiah 58:  9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Isaiah is addressed not to individuals as much as to the nations.  Let’s read this from a national point of view.  Have we done away with the yoke of oppression by cutting taxes on the top 1% and corporations?  When we refer to others as “empires of evil” have we done away with malicious talk or pointing fingers, or have we helped to open any conversation that could result in the good for all the children of God?  Is delaying the minimum wage at a time when the discrepancy between CEO’s and wage earners is at an all-time high, and cutting support for Head start and food stamps spending ourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfying the needs of the oppressed?  Perhaps the best way to “fight” terrorism is to promote agendas and programs and budgets that will let our light, not our oppression, rise in the darkness.