My brother was right, not that there’s anything wrong with that. He forwarded me a church e-bulletin from my uncle’s church in Texas… and he surmised it would cause me to blog about what I saw there. So it has… so it has.
Of course, the main thing being attacked is the new healthcare plan. I’ve talked about it here before, and I think it’s obvious from previous posts that I support it. But apparently, God does not. That’s at least the main assertion of my uncle’s main text in this bulletin. God chose sides in the healthcare debate, and I am not on his side. Woops.
And, we are related (my uncle and me, to be precise), because he definitely finds himself off topic on tangents of all sorts. At one point, he decides to discuss the “God is not a Republican” bumper sticker he sees. I think he misses the point if he wrote his article to say that, essentially at least in this case, God in fact is a Republican. But he goes on to tout how someone (I don’t know who and I really don’t care except for here) made the statement after the oil spill that God is obviously a Democrat. Note the fact that the statement is meant to be ironic, not serious, and meant to contrast with the tone of a political party that presumes divine allegiance.
But, that’s a sidetrack to a completely different topic - how God “feels” about the healthcare bill (which my uncle calls “Obamacare”, which I find more disrespectful than just about anything else…).
First, we need to start with a thoughtful observation about how God “feels” or endorses or agrees with anything - rather like a complex ruler of the universe, don’t you think? Did he pick sides in battles between nations? Well, actually, yes, in the Old Testament we see a clear “feeling” from God concerning the Israelites. But, maybe we’re seeing it backwards. It’s probably not that God is endorsing their military conquests, as much as they (sometimes) would actually follow God’s explicit direction, which always led to their victory. God “endorsed” the nation of Israel, but that doesn’t mean they won every battle or he thought everything they did was right. His claim to be their God and they to be His people was based on his gracious miraculous patient sacrifice. But the fact that they were His people didn’t make them right all the time. Almost the exact opposite. And the reflection of that is seen in the Church today. We are His people, but we should be wary about claiming our interests or beliefs or judgments are His.
And this is maybe a good place to bring us first when we’re talking about a healthcare bill fashioned by the United States Congress (but amazingly not called “Congresscare”… weird how that albatross is trying to be hung) for the people of the United States of America - this is not “God’s nation” even if we claim we are under Him sometimes (when it suits us). The Vatican is much more “God’s nation” than we are. But, that’s just to point out that no power of this world is the holy nation except the Church. So, the lessons learned and seen through the nation of Israel should be first applied to the Church, not assumed to be a natural addition to a secular state.
It also bugs me that my uncle asserts that conservatism naturally has “the moral high ground”… because it’s… older? Yes. Things in the past were naturally right and we’re constantly getting further from the good and the Truth. So, in the past, when we were a godly nation founded on godly principles, we were also fine with slavery written into our Constitution. Or, when in the perfect past, we fought a frighteningly bloody war (which I don’t think God was happy with either side, or has been a one-sided God in wars that I’m aware of since the Kingdom of Israel existed) and slavery ended, we instead instituted segregation and discrimination that must have been better than what we are now. Yes, amazing moral high ground of the conservative camp. We seriously need to let go of the notion that this nation was started as some sort of divine miracle which was perfect in the beginning. Thomas Jefferson was at least agnostic if not an atheist. Don’t tell me the person who crafted most of how our government was designed (on the basis of Montesquieu… also not some perfect prophet) was creating something flawless that we should return to from our socialist depravities.
Another issue I have with my uncle’s writing is his presumption that God endorses monetary wealth. He (my uncle) explains that we are supposed to support ourselves, be independent, self-sufficient… ect. He points to a passage in the New Testament where Paul says talks about those who don’t work should not eat (also noted as a common theme in Communist Russia right after the Revolution). My conservative, anti-healthcare bill relative jumps a few logical steps to the place where God endorses our capitalistic system (which, in my mind is like musical chairs, because someone always seems to be left without a seat based on greed and random things like music). I think there is plenty of Scripture to show a different directive from God about how we should view money and self-dependence.
Did we forget about Jesus’ parable about the man who stored up a barn full of grain (wealth) just to die the next day? Or how about Jesus telling the rich young ruler to give his possessions to the poor and follow Him? Paul might give us some good practical advice about hard work and living, but I see a clear lesson from Jesus about how we are not to store up our treasures here. We’re not supposed to worry about what we eat (do that all the time) or what we will wear (guilty).
Or, when my uncle grumbles about how he will be working to pay for other people’s healthcare who don’t work… calling for there to be freedom for a person to keep their money (i.e. wealth, grain, gold, land, whatever) instead of being forced to give some (but not all) to those who have little (or none). It’s also a slippery-slope assertion that the government will then decide who gets what healthcare, as though suddenly the wealthy people who are able to go to the doctor now will be kicked out the hospital door by a mob of poor, illiterate good-for-nothings needing hospital beds or something like that. Really, do we think that there isn’t already someone (called an insurance company) deciding what healthcare coverage I get and don’t get? The government doesn’t profit off my healthcare, but my insurance company does. Who will be more likely to cut a corner, or deny a claim: The United States or UnitedHealth?
We’re losing direction. I want to get back to another point that I think my well-meaning relative missed. There were a group (actually, everyone except Jesus) of people who were mad about Roman taxation, and some tricky religious people decided to trap Jesus with a question about that taxation. Jesus didn’t just squirm His way out of their trap like some verbal Houdini. He made a statement that they couldn’t even comprehend, and we’re still missing today! If the government prints money, then honestly the system we use to evaluate our wealth is theirs! When they ask for that money back, how are we really going to argue that they’re stealing from us? Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s. Nobody will walk into heaven with handfuls of greenbacks moaning to Almighty God about how so much of it was taken back by the US government. I think God must be amazed about how serious we take this thing called money, and He must be frustrated that we kill each other for it, and rob each other, and trust in it and not in Him!
Oh, and just for an example of God-directed redistribution of wealth, look no further than the year of Jubilee! Yes, every seven years, no-working no-goods got their land back that hard-working people had swindled them out of for a bowl of porridge, probably. So, don’t tell me God was ready to support the system we could have in which the wealthy could go on amassing wealth (and therefor, power) without any intervention from someone (or something) who might see a better use for that fun-money or extra land with someone who has neither fun-money or land.
I really just come back to the point that, if Jesus called us to follow Him, why are we fighting so hard to ensure that we keep more money for ourselves? What is so scary about healthcare for people who can’t afford it? One poor person who finally can get the proper healthcare they need is worth the swindlers and free-loaders that will take advantage of the system. It’s a ridiculous equation to believe poverty is undeniably connected to apathy, just as much as wealth is only the result of industry (the original meaning of the word). Is the right to vote worth much if a person cannot live long enough to exercise that right, only because of their financial status? Now I’m just ranting. But, I might just ask God if He really is against the healthcare bill. Then I’ll wonder what other legislation He’s been for or against.