Health Coverage

So, I return to my occasional series based on Luba Lukova’s social justice posters (see 12/30 post for brief intro/explanation) with a post on health coverage.

While I am a bit of a policy geek, health policy is not my thing, and I will not pretend to understand all the back-and-forths in this current debate. What I DO know is simple — the number of uninsured or underinsured in this “civilized” nation of ours is unacceptable; the fact that people suffer and/or die from preventable illness is unacceptable; the fact that families are bankrupted by medical bills is unacceptable. We can and must do better!

To say I do not understand all the back-and-forths in this current debate is simply to say this is one of those policy matters that concerns people’s very lives, and so should not be subject to the same political games inherent in lesser matters. It is fair to disagree, but let’s do so civilly and with the goal of coming to some kind of agreement that will better the lives of millions of Americans!

What I found particularly egregious was the first email I received regarding the so-called “death panels.” The email provided no link to verify this outrageous claim, nor even the bill number so the claims could be independently verified. (BTW, the bill is HR 3200, in case you care to look it up at http://thomas.loc.gov and judge for yourself instead of believing the spin of either side.)

Being that “bit of a policy geek,” it seemed pretty clear that no lawmaker was going to write “death panels” into a bill so obviously as was being claimed. For goodness sake, no one running for office can even run afoul of AARP for fear of losing political cache among the all-important (and voting) seniors, so this seemed like a good idea??? Wondering how such an idea was being found plausible enough for a usually sane individual to send me such an email, I looked further into the origins and was incredibly disappointed to find the source to be a widely respected organization among conservative Christians. Disingenuousness is one thing within politics, but I’ve been incredibly disappointed by some of the things stemming from such organizations beginning with the campaign and continuing through the present. It is absolutely appropriate for Christians to have a voice in the public square, but when did the worldly rules of politics trump God’s standards for the way in which such a voice should be expressed? When did it become alright for single-issue politics to stand in the way of a more just system for the most vulnerable among us? We would do well to heed God’s indictment of His people through the prophet Amos, and remember that we are called to a higher standard, and to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God  (Micah 6:8).

Walking Humbly

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
                                                —Micah 6:8

 It amazes me how little attention this verse gets…here it is, written out, the answer to all our questions: what does the Lord require?

To act justly
To love mercy
To walk humbly with your God

To best understand this text, I suggest working in reverse. Whereas our minds – trained in the Western scientific method – tend to work from cause to effect, the prophets often “[depicted] a scene in such a way that their listeners were led to inquire, ‘Why did this happen?’ This question led them back to the cause.”[1]

So let us start with the cause of all things – that which we find at the end of this text: GOD.

What does it mean to walk with God? It seems a simple and insignificant thing, but things happen when people walk with God…

MLK Still Speaks Today

So many of the words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. still ring true today. While many people tried to pigeon-hole Dr. King, particularly toward the end of his life, he was taking on more and more issues, seeing all intertwined within his calling. On this day honoring his legacy, then, I will let a rather lengthy excerpt from his speech delivered at Riverside Church in April of 1967 speak for itself in light of current events:

… when the issues at hand seem as perplexed as they often do …we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move on.

…For those who ask the question, “Aren’t you a civil rights leader?” and thereby mean to exclude me from the movement for peace, I have this further answer. In 1957 when a group of us formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, we chose as our motto: “To save the soul of America.” We were convinced that we could not limit our vision to certain rights for black people, but instead affirmed the conviction that America would never be free or saved from itself until the descendants of its slaves were loosed completely from the shackles they still wear. In a way we were agreeing with Langston Hughes, that black bard of Harlem, who had written earlier:

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath —
America will be!

…America’s soul … can never be saved so long as it destroys the deepest hopes of men the world over. So it is that those of us who are yet determined that America will be are led down the path of protest and dissent, working for the health of our land.

“Who Sinned?”…Spiritual Blindness

Here I was concerned with the subtle condescension of those being interviewed on the news last night…should have known there was more to come. What is the actual reason for the earthquake, according to Pat Robertson?

…something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, “We will serve you if you will get us free from the French.” True story. And so, the devil said, “OK, it’s a deal.”

And they kicked the French out. You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other. … [http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/01/pat_robertson_blames_haitian_d.html]

I’m not sure why I continue to be so shocked and appalled by such statements, as this isn’t the first time Robertson has blamed the victims of catastrophic events to make his “Christian” point, but I keep hoping the compassionate Christian might show up! The only way for a successful slave revolt was through a pact with the devil?!?!?! (That certainly wasn’t the case in the Exodus…as it turns out, God has a history of being on the side of the oppressed!)

I don’t presume to know as fact or assert as a true story dealings with the spiritual realm. What I do know is what we’re told in the Word of God. In the ninth chapter of John, Jesus encountered a man blind from birth:

²His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

³“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

Sometimes — a lot of times — things happen that we simply do not understand. Sometimes things happen that God may show His glory. This is not to say that God causes all these disasters we deem “acts of God,” but He does use these results of a sinful world to bring people to His saving grace.

If we are to ask “Who sinned,” the answer is at once “no one,” as in Christ’s answer to His disciples, and “everyone,” in that all of this devastation that was never intended in God’s perfectly created world is a result of the human race’s choosing to disobey God through the first Adam. But the good news is that God’s grace always trumps (Romans 5:12-21):

Haiti: Let’s Not Lose Focus

Listening to the coverage of the Haitian earthquake, I’m struck by some of the condescension and insensitivity. There are facts, and there are the logical fallacies that arise in trying to expand upon the facts to make a point.

FACT: Based on GDP (Gross Domestic Product), Haiti is the poorest county in the Western Hemisphere.

LOGICAL CONCLUSION: Haiti is not economically equipped to handle yet another catastrophe.

LOGICAL FALLACY: The Haitian people are somehow incapable of handling this because of the high rate of illiteracy?!?!?

The Haitian people have an amazing history, including the only successful nationwide slave revolt, which permanently abolished slavery and established Haiti as the first republic ruled by blacks.

Haiti has certainly had a troubled history, as have most countries to one extent or another — that cannot be glossed over, but neither is it the point. The most recent devastation caused by the earthquake is a tragedy; let’s stay focused on that and HELP in whatever tangible ways we can. [For one simple way, text YELE to 505-505 to donate $5.]

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POSTSCRIPT: Just as I was to press “Post,” NYC Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly was being interviewed. Finally, someone who had the good sense to note that Haiti’s “greatest asset is its people.” Amen!

Faith, Hope, Love – the “Trinity” of the Christian Life?

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. – 1 Co 13:13

What is the relation between faith, hope, and love? And why is “the greatest of these” love?

First, let’s make sure we have an understanding of what we’re talking about. If asked the definition of “faith,” many a Christian can rattle off Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” but what does that mean? This is one of those often quoted, but rarely understood verses.

An Indictment from Centuries Past

I considered several posts for today, and clearly wrote none, but all the better, as nothing could have been as striking as we enter the second decade of the 21st century as the following from Walter Rauschenbusch’s classic Christianity and the Social Crisis, written early in the 20th century:

When the Nineteenth Century died, its Spirit descended to the vaulted chamber of the Past, where the Spirits of the dead Centuries sit on granite thrones together. When the newcomer entered, all turned toward him and the Spirit of the Eighteenth Century spoke: “Tell thy tale, brother. Give us word of the humankind we left to thee.”

“I am the Spirit of the Wonderful Century. I gave man the mastery over nature. Discoveries and inventions, which lighted the black space of the past like lonely stars, have clustered in a Milky Way of radiance under my rule. One man does by the touch of his hand what the toil of a thousand slaves never did. Knowledge has unlocked the mines of wealth, and the hoarded wealth of today creates the vaster wealth of tomorrow. Man has escaped the slavery of Necessity and is free.

“I freed the thoughts of men. They face the facts and know. Their knowledge is common to all. The deeds of the East at eve are known in the West at morn. They send their whispers under the seas and across the clouds.

“I broke the chains of bigotry and despotism. I made men free and equal. Every man feels the worth of his manhood.

“I have touched the summit of history. I did for mankind what none of you did before. They are rich. They are wise. They are free.”

The Spirits of the dead Centuries sat silent, with troubled eyes. At last the Spirit of the First Century spoke for all.

“We all spoke proudly when we came here in the flush of our deeds, and thou more proudly than we all. But as we sit and think of what was before us, and what has come after us, shame and guilt bear down our pride. Your words sound as if the redemption of man had come at last. Has it come?