Monday, September 28, 2009

Health Care and Christianity - Denver Post Article

I am fascinated by the health care debate, and especially from a Christian perspective. My last two posts were a sermon given at my church a few weeks ago. Below is an article from the Denver Post. This article below looks at both sides of the debate from a religious perspetive. Enjoy!

Ministries find mission in health-reform debate

By Karen Auge, The Denver Post
Posted: 09/28/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT

When Health Care for America Now was putting together plans last week to protest what it considers health-insurance injustices, item No. 3 in a strategy memo advised holding "vigils featuring faith leaders."

The memo suggested recruiting "spokespeople who can wear clerical uniforms." Not that anyone has had to coax the nation's faithful into the discussion, or for that matter a sign-waving protest, over health care changes.

The often-bitter debate about how, or whether, to reform the nation's health care system has galvanized millions. But no group's effort to be heard above the din has been more heartfelt than that of faith-based groups.

From the conservative Christian Coalition, which exhorts followers to "stop the government takeover," to Jim Wallis, leader of the progressive Christian group Sojourners, who calls reform a "sacredness of life and dignity issue," a diverse collection of faith groups has mobilized with fervor over the issue.

Faith-filled activism

The Christian Coalition invites visitors to its website to stop a "drastic government takeover of our nation's health care system" by signing its petition, faxing elected officials and making donations.

"For the pro-life community, this has been an all-hands-on- deck effort," said Carrie Gordon Earll, spokeswoman for Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family.

The call has been heeded, Earll said.

"Since July, we've been asking constituents to contact members of Congress; we've had more than 25,000 e-mails and more than 6,000 phone calls tracked through our online action center," she said.

Earll said that's much higher volume than normal.

Wallis reports that when Sojourners hosted a conference call on health care reform this month, 140,000 followers listened in.

In the early 1990s, when the new Clinton administration proposed health care reform, the so-called progressive religious groups, which include Christians, Jews and other faiths, were barely heard from.

After making themselves a force in the peace and civil- rights movements of the 1960s, those groups were quiet and fell away from activism in recent decades, said Robert P. Jones of the Public Religion Research Group.

Jones said his polling has found a renewed zeal among those groups, as evidenced by their participation in health- system reform.

The faithful say they have good reasons for jumping into the health care fray, just as those already in the fight have good reason to seek support from religious leaders.

"It's really important to involve people from faith perspectives because they are tremendous message-carriers and leaders," said Leah Bry, lead organizer for Colorado Progressive Action, an activist organization pushing for health reform — and the group that received those memos on recruiting the faithful.

History of healing

So it was big news last week when a coalition of black clergy leaders who oppose abortion endorsed President Barack Obama's health-reform plan, in the process accepting his word that no government money will be used for the procedures.

"We wholeheartedly affirm the president's position that medical costs related to the abortion of fetuses shall not be covered by health care plans," Bishop Charles E. Blake Sr., a Los Angeles minister who heads the massive Church of God in Christ, said at a news conference Thursday.

"Health care is an issue that very clearly has moral resonance to it," Jones said.

It is also an issue with a long history among faith groups. Presbyterians, Lutherans and several Catholic saints still have their names on hospitals around town, reflecting a time when health care was a direct mission for many denominations.

"Health care is an issue related to the basic elements of human dignity, such as having adequate food, decent living, a just wage," said Jeanette De Melo, spokeswoman for Archbishop Charles Chaput.

"It's natural that faith-based groups would work to respond to secure these basic elements of dignity for people," DeMelo said.

But religious groups, even within the Christian faith, disagree on the direction in which faith points them.

For so-called progressive faithful, such as the Rev. Lydia Ferrante-Roseberry of Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, the answer is clear.

"The basic place where I'm coming from is moving with compassion in the world. It pains me to know that there are people in my congregation without access to health care," Ferrante-Roseberry said. "How we are for the least among us affects all of us."

Politics in play

Focus on the Family, though, zeroed in on the prospect of abortions paid for by taxpayer dollars.

That, Earll said, strikes at the core of Focus on the Family's mission.

"We have guiding principles for our ministry that lead us in certain directions. We have 30- plus years of following that path. We are known as a pro-life organization," Earll said.

If there were specific exclusions of abortion in the health- reform proposal, "We'd pull back. That's not to say we'd support it, but we'd be less engaged."

That's not the case for every conservative Christian group.

The president of the Minnesota Family Council told followers that health care reform, as currently proposed, is against God's plan.

"God has created government to do certain things. When we reject His design for government, in a sense, we're rejecting Him," Tom Prichard wrote.

"That's a ridiculous opinion. It's unbiblical. It's just extreme right-wing, not a mainstream religious point of view," Wallis said. "Look at the Scriptures. Healing is consistent throughout. Jesus is the great healer. He healed rich and poor alike, but he didn't ask for an insurance card or citizenship ID before he healed them."

The Catholic church has staked out a more middle ground.

While the church's stand on abortion is unequivocal, it is also the faith home of millions of Latinos, who make up the single largest ethnic group of Americans without insurance.

"We have a history of advocating for health care reform and being very supportive of reform that broadens access," DeMelo said. "It's saying how that happens that has not been the place of the church."

That seems to be a line many faith groups don't want to cross.

"We don't need to be in the weeds of policy debates," Wal lis said. "We need to hold both sides accountable ... but let the politicians work out the plumbing."

Karen Auge: 303-954-1733 or kauge@denverpost.com

Monday, September 21, 2009

The Healthcare Debate and a Christian Perspective - Part 2


Two weeks ago the senior pastor at my church, Wellshire Presbyterian, preached a phenomenal sermon on the healthcare debate. I asked him for the text and have posted it in two blog posts. The first can be read here: http://blogadegregorio.blogspot.com/2009/09/healthcare-debate-and-christian.html

The second part is below.

Guest Blogger: The Rev. Dr. John H. Bell, Jr., Pastor - Wellshire Presbyterian Church

Sermon entitled "O Divine Physician"

Disclaimer: This is a copy of the notes that were used by Dr. Bell to preach on Sunday, September 6, 2009, at Wellshire Presbyterian Church. It was intended for oral delivery to a community of faith in worship. Minimal attention has been given to spelling and grammar in this manuscript.

In the Good News according to Mark, the story of the Syrophoenician woman is important primarily because it shows that Jesus cared for all – those who did not share his race or nationality – and even those who were demon possessed, but … the story is one of the most interesting stories in all of Scripture and presents great mystery and intrigue.

Did you notice that Jesus initially does seem to degrade or insult this woman by comparing Gentiles to dogs, saying it is not fair to give the food of the children to the dogs, meaning it is not fair to give the food for the Jews to the Gentiles? We understand that Jesus understood his mission to be primarily to the Jews, but to compare the Gentiles to dogs seems derogatory [… I heard a comedian the other day that when he was growing up, “man” is what men called their good friends. But “man” gave way at some point to “dude” and “dude” at some point gave way to “bro,” and now it seems men are expected to call their best friends: “dog.” … Perhaps, but Jesus was not using dog as a term of affection here.] In ancient Palestine, dogs were not the beloved, pampered pets that they are in Denver, but they were more like garbage disposals, whose job it was to eat up all of the discarded food and lick the floor clean.

Now, I know of no scholar or preacher who has a good explanation of Jesus’ initial insult: is this a display of his humanity? He was fatigued, he needed some rest, he wanted to be alone … did he simply just slip and say the first thing that came to his mind? … I am personally lost for a good explanation BUT what really matters is that Jesus relents and to a degree even repents: he changes his mind. The woman did not take offense at his insult; she did not blanch; rather she came right back at him, saying, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.” Sensing her resolve and her desperation, Jesus is moved: he is moved from apparent indifference to compassion. He initially brushes this woman off but then decides to help her. . . . This point should be of interest to us in our prayer life, for here we see that the persistent plea of this woman actually moved Jesus to action. We talk a lot about how prayer changes us, but the Bible is unequivocal: prayer has the capacity to change God, to move God to compassion, to motivate God to benevolent action. Walter Brueggemann, one my professors, once said in class that ancient Israel had two types of prayers: “Help?” and “WOW!” The amazing thing about this story is – not that Jesus insulted the Gentiles by calling them “dogs”; rather, the amazing thing this woman’s plea pushed Jesus to act.

In your prayer life, you should seek to imitate this woman, who showed great courage, persistence and risked rejection … I find that fear of rejection is one of the main psychological barriers that people face – not only in their prayer life, but in life in general … I am always inspired by the example of Abraham Lincoln, who was born into poverty, lost eight elections, twice failed at business and battled depression throughout his life, suffering from at least one nervous breakdown. As a great man once said, you are not a failure when you lose, you are only a failure if you quite trying. In your prayer life, make it your goal to be like this woman who boldly approached Jesus, who did not back down when she was initially rebuffed, who was not afraid to risk rejection and who showed persistence and who – in the end – move Jesus to compassion.

The final point that I wish to make may be quite bland or obvious, but it seems to be lost on many Christians in the contemporary debate taking place in American, and that is: much of what Jesus did was heal people from disease and free people from physical pain or mental anguish.

In the first story, Jesus exorcised a demon, which most likely was - in modern terms – curing a child with mental or psychological difficulties; in the second story, Jesus heals a deaf man with a speech impediment. Another Gospel claims that Jesus healed every disease and cured every illness. Jesus was a Divine Physician, a doctor who did not recognize borders or treat people according to their ability to pay.

Now, I am going to be honest: I have not been following the details of the current health care debate and I am in no way, shape or form taking a position on the current health care bill before Congress. However, what I do find appalling is the clear lack of concern on the part of many for those who have inadequate access to health care. How in the name of Jesus Christ can any Christian justify a lack of concern for the physical and mental needs of the poor? – this is beyond my comprehension as a Christian, who reads my Bible and tries to follow Jesus Christ, who seems to have spent most of his time healing people from disease and illness.

We might and maybe SHOULD all disagree on how it happens, who pays, to what degree government is involved but Christians should be promote adequate health care for all persons on the face of this planet. Presbyterians once saw it as our Christian duty to start hospitals and send out medical missionaries to third world countries on our nickel. I understand that reasonable minds disagree when it comes to the details of health care and health insurance, but it is not acceptable for Christians not to care for the medical needs of the poor – and help pay for it.

Listening to the debate in the public square and at private parties, I wonder if Christians have forgotten the story of the Good Samaritan?

Here it is:

‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two denarii,* gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” After telling this story, Jesus says to his disciples, ‘Go and do likewise.’

In the current, hostile climate, as we argue and fuss about what to do about health care, it would be wise for those who claim to be Christian – conservatives and liberals, persons in both parties!!! -- to hear and obey the Divine Physician, Jesus Christ, who charged his disciples to “Go and do likewise” – to be like the Good Samaritan, who saw a man in desperate need of medical attention, was moved to pity, bandaged his wounds, put him on his own animal, took him to an inn and paid the bill.

During one Christmas Eve worship service I accidentally called for an offering for the “less needy.” My father-in-law humorously said he had a vision of the ushers running out into the street and tracking down people in expensive cars and fur coats to GIVE them money from that offering.

Well apparently, some Christians think that’s the way it should be: rich get richer and poor get poor, but it is not so in Kingdom of God. It is not so. Christians have a responsibility to care for the least of those among us.

Friday, September 18, 2009

The Healthcare Debate and a Christian Perspective


Two weeks ago, the pastor at my church, Wellshire Presbyterian preached a phenomenal sermon on the healthcare debate. I asked him for the text and will be posting it in two blog posts. The first is below.

Guest Blogger: The Rev. Dr. John H. Bell, Jr., Pastor - Wellshire Presbyterian Church

Sermon entitled "O Divine Physician"

Disclaimer: This is a copy of the notes that were used by Dr. Bell to preach on Sunday, September 6, 2009, at Wellshire Presbyterian Church. It was intended for oral delivery to a community of faith in worship. Minimal attention has been given to spelling and grammar in this manuscript.

Listen for the Word of God: Mark 7:24-37
24From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, 25but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." 28But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." 29Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go-the demon has left your daughter." 30So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
31Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 34Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." 35And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37They were astounded beyond measure, saying, "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

In the overall sweep of the Gospel story, as it is told in the Gospel of Mark, the story of the Syrophoenician woman contains lots of mystery and intrigue, but is important for one primary reason: this story clearly shows that Jesus did have compassion for Gentiles, as well as Jews. The Gospels are clear that Jesus thought his primary responsibility was to the Jews, the people of Israel. He obeyed Jewish law; he went to the synagogues; he made pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. He was considered to be “a rabbi” by his followers; he observed the Sabbath and Jewish Holy Days. BUT he did exhibit compassion for some Gentiles – like this Syrophoenician woman, suggesting that the Kingdom of God is open to all … and later the early church would decide that there should be no distinction between Jews and Gentiles - or for that matter slave or free or men and women, for, the early church recognized that we are all one in Christ Jesus our Lord, that we are all the same in the eyes of our Lord and Savior.

It is not too strong to say that in Christ there are no distinctions among us, in Christ we are all equal, in Christ we all are expected to rise above our differences and stand together in Christ: Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, rich and poor, Presbyterians and Baptists – and Roman Catholics, black and white, Hispanic and Caucasian, the simple and sophisticated. Whatever differences we do have, whatever labels the world puts on us or categories that we are placed in, it is important for the witness of the church that we rise above our differences and seek unity.

Notice that the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman was demon possessed. This – to me – is particularly important, because today in America it seems that people want to demonize their opponents and dismiss them or destroy them. Many conservative folks on the right wing want to label those on the left evil or demonic, and many on the left try to do the same thing to those folk on the right. By labeling their opponents evil or demonic, they seek to devalue the humanity of their opponents, fuel their own anger and justify their own hate.

Friends, listen: Jesus actually had compassion for those that were generally considered to be “demon possessed.” He did not hate the daughter of this woman, he did not devalue her existence, he did not seek to humiliate her or dismiss her or lampoon her; no, he showed compassion to her BECAUSE she was demon possessed.

There is certainly a lesson here as you try to relate to those with whom you disagree, and it is this: do not demonize your opponents, do not devalue those with whom you disagree, do not seek to humiliate or destroy those that you consider to be your enemies. In the name of Jesus Christ love them, show compassion to all, learn to love your enemies, for you, Christian, represent the one who exorcised demons, made peace and taught YOU to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute YOU. This does not mean that we do not fight for our causes or stand up for what we believe; it does mean that we must treat our opponents with compassion, we must think of them as human beings created in the image of God, valued by God. This does mean we must be civil and respectful in all of our relationships, regardless of how others treat us or where others stand on the political or religious spectrum.

Ellie Weisel, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor, once wrote, “Even if I meet the devil himself on the street, I will be treat him as a gentleman, I will speak politely to him, I will try to divine his evil.” Now, Weisel is not a pacifist; he is not a naïve person; he is certainly aware of the power and the destruction that demonic forces can do, but he also recognizes the importance of treating every human with dignity, for the one who measures himself against reality of evil is always defeated.

Friday, September 11, 2009

9/11 Reflections

My wife and I were living in Ecuador on Sept. 11, 2001. We overheard our landlady talking on the phone that morning, just bits and pieces about bombs and the United States. Because of my perspective and where I was living at the time, I assumed the US embassy in Ecuador had been bombed. So we turned on the television and watched. . .



Helplessly we watched. . .



Two US citizens living in South America, totally out of touch with their families, and their country. We knew something was changing that day, but had no idea the scope of change.

We turned on the TV in our little apartment and watched footage from CNN (the local Ecuadorian stations were pirating CNN footage and then just speaking Spanish over the top of it, so if you listened carefully you could hear the English behind the Spanish.)

We sat there in shock and just watched. It is strange to feel like you are part of the US, but not be in the US when such a traumatic event is happening. I am sure other ex-pats living abroad at the time had similar feelings.

We called our families to make sure they were ok. Everyone on the other end of the line was in shock, disbelief. So were we, but we were stuck in Ecuador.

My mom asked us if we thought we should come home "to be safe." It was kind of funny, because we want to be close and turn inwards in a situation like that. But there weren't any terrorists flying airplanes into buildings in Ecuador. We were "safer" in Cuenca, Ecuador than we would have been in the United States on that day.

After a half day of watching gut-wrenching news footage with the TV muted, we left our apartment and wandered into the center of town to grab dinner. There weren't a ton of foreigners living in Cuenca, so we always stood out and people always knew us as "that really tall American couple." As we walked into town, complete stangers (at least strangers to us) walked up to us and asked us if we were ok, if our families were ok. We were treated almost like royalty for the days following Sept. 11.

We decided to eat at a restaurant called "New York Pizza." There was even a drawing of the New York skyline on their sign and their pizza boxes that included the twin towers. The owners were Ecuadorian but had lived in New York for years and then moved back to Ecuador to open the restaurant.

As we sat there, watching more news footage (this time in English because New York Pizza had satelite television) more people came up to us and asked us how we were doing. Those that didn't come right up to us stared at us, or looked at us with sympathy and even solidarity in their eyes.

We walked back to our apartment in a daze. I don't think we had any idea what kind of a long-term impact this would have on our country, our "homeland."

We spent weeks processing it. It would occasionaly slip from our conciousness because of where we were, but then it would be brought back by seeing a paper or watching the news.

I think the first time we really "mourned" was watching one of the telethons following the attacks. It was 10 days afterwards, the "America - A Tribute to Heros" broadcast. It was showing live on every channel in Ecuador. When Neil Young began to sing "Imagine" we just cried and held each other. I still get misty-eyed thinking about that moment.

I still think Jessica and I have a little bit of a disconnect from the events of that day. I am so grateful that we shared the experience together. It would have been even tougher to suffer through it alone.

I think this is the first time I have written down my reflections of that day, where we were, and what it did to us.

My inspiration for writing this blog post was from watching a video yesterday. The first "Daily Show with John Stewart" broadcast following Sept. 11. I listened to John Stewart's reflections and began thinking about my own experience with that day.

Below is a link to the video. The first 8 minutes are amazingly profound. I hope this means as much to you as it meant to me after watching it.

http://www.bangitout.com/videos/viewvideo.php?a=1463

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Water use put into perspective

I saw this and thought it was pretty amazing. It is a graphic that shows how much water we use in a day, not just through showers and flushing toilets, but the amount of freshwater resources it takes to create some of the food we eat too.

Click on the link and then click on the graphic within the link to get it to a size you can read it:
http://www.good.is/post/transparency-how-much-water-do-you-use/

Friday, September 4, 2009

Another great water org with a very similar message

Yesterday I posted about not getting paralyzed by the scope of the problems we are facing in the world. Today I got an e-mail and a video from another water org that had a very similar message. I really like what they have to say, just at the end, kick over to Healing Waters website instead of the one that they suggest. :)

Enjoy!

"I've been reading a lot lately about the psychology of enormous problems. About how people will always rush to save one child but disconnect when faced with helping thousands of children. "One death is a tragedy, a million - a statistic," we're told.

Non-profits like ours that are addressing enormous problems (a billion people without clean water) are told to make sure we don't scare people off by communicating how big the whole problem is.

Author Seth Godin recently wrote that the problem with enormity in marketing is that it doesn't work. He said "Enormity should pull at our heartstrings, but it usually shuts us down. Show us too many sick kids, unfair imprisonments or burned bodies, and you won't get a bigger donation, you'll just get averted eyes."

While all this may be true, it just seems rather boring. Visionless. I believe people want to sign up for something bigger than just one. I did.

There's a proverb in the Bible that says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." People are certainly dying all around us, but could that be because we're terrified to tackle the enormous? Because we don't have the faith to see the entire problem solved?

I can't quite see to a billion people yet, but I'm getting closer.

So in the spirit of solving enormous problems, we want to step it up this September, and serve more people. Then keep going until every single person on the planet has clean and safe drinking water.

We shot a video that explains how we want to do that through the 2009 September campaign. Please watch it, share it and act."



Thursday, September 3, 2009

Overwhelmed, paralyzed, what can I do?

The title of this post captures the sentiment that I have felt at times about issues of social justice, global poverty, starvation, the water crisis and other tough stuff that tugs at my heart strings.

There are so many issues out there, that we can be paralyzed into inaction because we are so overwhelmed by the amount of saddness and suffering around us.

But know that you can make a difference, even little you. In your tiny corner of the world, you can make a difference. I use the starfish parable a lot to describe this:


One morning an elderly man was walking on a beach. A high tide the night before had washed thousands of starfish up on the beach. Now that the tide was back out and the sun was coming up, the starfish were dying in the sun. He came upon a boy surrounded by thousands and thousands of starfish. As eagerly as he could, the youngster was picking them up one at a time and throwing them back into the ocean.

Puzzled, the older man looked at the young boy and asked, "Little boy, what are you doing?"

The youth responded without looking up, "I'm trying to save these starfish, sir."

The old man chuckled aloud, and queried, "Son, there are thousands of starfish and only one of you. What difference can you make?"

Holding a starfish in his hand, the boy turned to the man and, gently tossing the starfish into the water, said, "It will make a difference to that one!"
Find your starfish in your own little corner of the world. For me, it is safe drinking water in Latin America. For my wife, it is teaching in urban schools. For a friend of mine, it is working in soup kitchens and homeless shelters on her time off. Each one of us knows we can't fix all the world's problems, but we each work in our own corner of the world "making a difference to that one."

The video below has a cool spin on this too (and is also pretty critical of "reality TV" which is one of my pet peeves):