Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” (Matthew 19:14)
How does God judge a nation? According to the Hebrew prophets, a nation’s faithfulness to God depends on two things: justice and righteousness. And the proof of how much justice and righteousness really exist is in how that nation cares for the poor, the widows, the orphans, and strangers. When society’s most vulnerable are neglected, mistreated, or oppressed in any way, no amount of religious piety will win God’s favor.
Jesus, whose teaching was squarely in the tradition of the prophets, included “little children” in the list of society’s vulnerable people. That’s probably because in ancient Palestine, children were not actually regarded as whole people. They had no civil rights, they were considered the property of their parents, and many were sold into slavery to pay off family debts. Homeless children congregated in the streets of the cities in an ancient version of gangs. Even children of respectable parents who were clean and well fed were not allowed in the presence of a religious official unless brought by their parents for a specific purpose.
Yet Jesus welcomed the children unconditionally. He laid his hands on them and blessed them. He treated them, not only as human beings, but also as God’s special concern.
If God judges a nation by how its children fare, the United States is in serious spiritual jeopardy. A few weeks ago, updated poverty statistics were released, revealing that while 15% of all Americans live in poverty, 22% of all American children are poor. And now, BBC America, culling through statistics provided by the Department of Health and Human Services, has uncovered another great shame of this country. The rate of abuse and neglect of children in the U.S. is higher than in any other industrialized country. For every 1,000 children, 2.4 are victims of abuse or neglect. Every five hours, a child in America dies from maltreatment. That means nearly 1,800 young victims of abuse die annually. (Another study puts the number at 2,500.) Child abuse in our country is three times higher per capita than in the United Kingdom and eleven times worse than in Italy. An epidemic like this only feeds itself. Most abused children grow up to be abusers, metastasizing the problem.