healthcare

[mustafear]

I believe we are seeing the effects of Christians not remembering to take care of the orphans, the widowed, the foreigners, and the poor

Comments

[sue_parsons]

Interesting point.

[mustafear]

If you look through the old testament prophets who preached all the doom and gloom to Israel, it goes back to two primary reasons God was angry: 1) the Israelites got so caught up in doing what their neighbors were doing (feasting and sacrificing to their deities was a community affair and who wants to be left out of the party? here in America, we call it 'keeping up with the Jones') that they 2) stopped looking out for the little guy and started taking advantage of the very same people that God designed their laws to protect. When they started focusing on things not of God and taking advantage of the poor, that's where we see 'mean God' who does horrible sounding stuff like cart them off to Babylon. Funny thing, though? When they were carried off into exile (both times) the rich were taken and the poorest of the poor were left to take care of the land that the rich had once withheld from them

[sue_parsons]

It's interesting that one of the reasons I was so attracted to the Bellingham area is because the level of compassion here would have been unheard of in Southern California. And just the other day at a writing conference a woman was discussing a book her friend was authoring. It was called The Empathic Parent, and had to do with loving the kids more when they acted up the most, a time when I know myself I would be pulling away, seeing that as an act of self-preservation. Been there. But charity is all about setting the self aside and seeing the greater good

[mustafear]

I know that God is a people person, too, simply because when I started this journey three years ago I wouldn't have felt this way. Since chasing Him (and I mean really doing it, not just going to church on Sundays- I do a LOT of quiet meditation on Scripture), my whole thought process is changing. Basically: I care now. As awful as I feel this healthcare bill is, as high as the price will be in the end (because I doubt we can really count the costs without a decade or so of perspective), I can't help but be happy that my friends who are without healthcare finally have some recourse. It was shameful that they didn't before.

[persephone_kore]

Just to clarify, are you suggesting it's a divine punishment or that you actually think it will help?

[mustafear]

Not punishment. Consequence. There is a HUGE difference.

I think that God is finding a way to take care of the 'little guy'. He is using the means available since the church didn't step up and see the need.

I think it will help them (my friends who are despairing for the care that they need) at least for the short term. Fiscally, this is a terrible, terrible idea. If christians had stepped up to the plate and taken care of this issue sooner, if the bible belt had 'led the march' then perhaps we could have gotten something a bit more palatable - as it is this is a bandaid when we need a real cure, something that can be financially supported but the problem got so, so bad that a bandaid is all we're going to get.

Hmm, I'm not sure I said that quite right but here's hoping we've been reading each others journals long enough to earn me a little mercy. :)

[persephone_kore]

Not punishment. Consequence. There is a HUGE difference.

I'm aware of that. That's why I asked. Then again, I suppose having control freaks take advantage of the opportunity created by not doing enough would qualify as a consequence even if there isn't even any short-term, superficial benefit. On the other hand -- it's been demonstrated that very good, functional charity programs can be shouldered out and replaced by more expensive and less useful government programs. As a result of people who think the government ought to be in control of things, not of the people originally involved not doing enough. There will always be somebody they can use as an excuse for that.

I'm skeptical about even short-term benefits, particularly given what I've been reading of the budgeting tricks involved. On the other hand, it makes sense to build in something immediate that benefits at least someone (no matter who else it damages, like the people who were managing at the edge of their budget before the taxes or fines hit), both for people who

[mustafear]

To be sure, I am very, very skeptical about it all as well. I'm not convinced that this will be the saving grace that the American system needs and I'm quite certain that there's more than a small element of power play happening.

I'm just sick and tired of all the complaining from people who haven't done anything about it before. Frankly, all the 'oh noes' FB statuses are making me angry in a way and for reasons that I can't seem to articulate.

Perhaps this is the wake up call my Christian family needed? I don't know. I hope so because when this system fails, because I do believe it will, I don't want the churches of America to stand up and say, "TOLD YOU SO!" No, I want to see them saying, "Let's fix it and do it right because we've been giving it serious thought for the last 8 years and we see now how badly it is needed."

In the short term, it gives hope and that is something I can be grateful for. In the short term sue's children will have something, as will littleoracle, and many, many other very dear friends.

[callmelydia]

That's exactly how I feel about all of this. It totally pisses me off to look at Facebook statuses of all the people from my whole church and are furious about this. Odds are they all have health insurance and have never had to go without.

That first sentence is going to be my new facebook status here in a sec.

[mustafear]

It was the FB statuses that made me angry enough to post something on LJ with 'politics' and 'religion' as tags.