… And so it was done, and greed and hypocrisy spread over the Earth as god’s people went forth and divided.
It’s this article winding the Saturday clock today, titled: What the Flap Over Health Care Tells Us About American Religion.
That interesting juxtaposition of words caught my eye since the fact that there is a flap never ceases to amaze me and I’m often curious about religion, American or otherwise. Not curious in a “What’s it all about?” sense as much as “How does such a load of bollocks manage to fly?”, but curious, nonetheless.
One reason it does fly, apparently, has much to do with that hypocrisy thing:
We begin with the teachings of Jesus, for his message was clear.
He told his followers to care for the poor. In fact, providing for those he called “the least of these” was perhaps his highest priority. He didn’t say how to get that job done. He just said, Do it.
But in this richest nation on earth, where 75 percent of its people claim to be Christian, the poor — even the working poor — routinely fall through the cracks. One would think that Christians in this country would utilize “any means necessary” to make sure that no one in this country is homeless or starving or naked or without basic healthcare.
…
Indeed, one would think that the 75 percent of the nation’s population that claims to follow Jesus would rejoice when the government creates a tool to provide healthcare for virtually all the nation’s poor. And one would think that those same Christians would rise up in furious protest and righteous indignation when some politicians attempt to sabotage that tool — and thereby sabotage the nation’s poor.
But that seldom happens. In fact, many Christians denounce the health care law as a tool of the devil and support its repeal.
How odd.
Or is it?
The guy writing the piece makes a living off religion as “Distinguished Professor of Religion and Director of the Sider Institute for Anabaptist, Pietist, and Wesleyan Studies at Messiah College” … Huh? … so must be well invested in the idea that there’s value in them thar holy hills and pointing out an obvious disconnect is worth the effort it takes to do that.
To me, however, it seems a gianormous waste of time akin to trying to get Sarah Palin to shutthefuckup with the stupid shit by publishing every stupid shit thing she says. Wouldn’t it be easier to just state once and flatly that Palin is a moron and religion is a load of crap, then drop both subjects?
Is it helpful in the least to mention Frederick Douglas and Martin Luther King, as this article does, and their ponderings on the false virtue of sanctimonious pretense as an attempt at finger-wagging when sanctimonious pretense is the name of the game?
In fact, when Christians read the Bible through the lens of American individualism, limited government, and free-market conservatism, there is no way they can acknowledge what the Bible teaches about social justice and compassion for the poor.
A man who responded to one of my editorials, for example, complained, “No where does the Lord, or his Son, Jesus Christ, say that government should take care of the poor and downtrodden.”
Yeah … like that guy will be shamed by a finger-wag in his direction. Not bloody likely. But he will most certainly be proud as all get-out of his adherence to Christianity, consider it some sort of personal moral victory, trot it out often, wave it around and try to shove it down the necks of others.
A handy thing, a defining title, a membership in a club that conveys some version of gravitas; to be able to say “I’m a Christian” and have that taken to mean something significant.
The only question is this: how will America’s Christians respond?
I’m guessing … with greed and hypocrisy, as always.
To put it succinctly, they suck.
1. Cannot get health insurance in the USA now.
2. Just paid my *yearly* health insurance in a “far off” country, cost me €601 for the year, no deductible.
Guess which one really, really sucks.
I did have some hope the US was getting around to the idea, but it seems I was wrong … sigh …
Sandra, I am, once again, confused. As a soon-to-be divorced mother of two with no significant incoome as a freelancer and about to lose my husband’s insurance coverage, I had hopes for Obamacare. Then I started doing my due diligence and determined that it would not enable me to acquire medical care but it would mandate that I have insurance. Well, if I could get the insurance in the first place, wouldn’t I?
The way I see it, the law as written and enacted was bullshit and needs rework.
Given the fact that these things come together through such convoluted bullshit, I’m not surprised at all that it’s a mishmashmess. With so many working so hard to cover the asses of special interests, there seems little motivation to get much of anything right. Sigh …
because what we need is a health *care* system, yet what we have is a health *insurance* system.
That makes a whole load of sense there, Amy! Well put.
Yay Sandra! Well said. (standing and clapping)
“The greatest tragedy in mankind’s entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion.”… Arthur C Clarke
GREAT article! You are right. . . the hypocrisy and inconsistency is obvious. But you pick up on something deeper – that Christianity (and generally religion generally) is defined, not so much what its FOR, but by what it is against! the schisms and breaks in Christianity are defined the best by what they are against!
so, the thinking of the author of the article you quote is the same. he states his case by telling us how he he is against the attitude of Christians.
when i was still a christian myself we had a very poor white family living in a predominantly black area. the church members told me many times that they refuse to go and visit them out of fear (they said it was their responsibility to care for their own safety first).
i told them that we must get together and get them a better place to stay. they laughed at me. a year or so, while this was going on, a gang of men broke into her apartment one night, assaulted her and raped her repeatedly. some of the men were HIV positive.
I hear about it the next morning at around 9. I called the leaders of the church to get her another place to stay THAT day. hahahahaha! NO RESPONSE!!!!!
the church is a missions church of a fundamentalist american movement. so, its not even an african thing.
that incident opened my eyes to the power of the transforming power of the holy spirit in the lives of people.
and i am not a christian any longer.
:-))
the entire savior idea is a load of bullshit in any event which is the other problem i have with the guys article.
but that is another discussion.
GOOD aRTICLE!!
Thanks, Eben. As always, your enthusiasm is a joy!
I agree with amy, not in only in the US but many other “developed” countries suffer the same fate, they prioritize health insurance over health care. Like drug dealers the money is in the come back. Its in the disease and not the cure
Great analogy, Bobby. Thanks …
Spot on! And Kudos to Amy – on the *insurance* system. She nailed that on the head.
~dena
Yes, it’s* insurance”, not *care*. SO if we could back up even further and let it be a *Well* Care system, that could solve a lot, don’t you think? Then you can being the whole discussion about the poor health choices that so many make, and it goes on, and on, and…
Care should begin at ‘well’, then follow as needed.