Justice and Health Care
Rev. Tom Harris
September 13, 2009
There are so many things to say about health care reform. The complexity of the issue is actually pretty staggering. What is adequate healthcare? How much should it cost a person or a family? Is it a human right? What is government’s role? And once we answer some of those questions, how do we move as a society from the complex system we have in place to a new system? Morally, politically, socially and personally the issue of health care reform defies efforts to force it into sound bytes, though many have tried. Then equal in degree to the complexity of the issue is the intensity of the emotion it inspires. The issue may inspire intense fear that we may lose the level of care we currently have however adequate or inadequate it may be. The issue may inspire intense outrage at the lack of care others have or the inequities between people. Regardless this is a complex issue that causes our emotions to rise to uncomfortable levels and intense emotion and complexity is never an easy combination.
So, in the next 15 minutes I would like to resolve the health care debate. I would like to do that but I won’t be able to. Instead, I will offer a few ideas based in the Christian faith that I hope will be helpful as we continue to discuss this complex issue as a society.
First, it is entirely legitimate to be suspicious of the government. Even though I do not agree with the ludicrous, fear mongering, cries of “socialism” at town hall meetings and in fact am repulsed by the behavior and violent threats of some of the most fanatical, I sympathize with the more general suspicion many people have about government power and authority. Suspicion of government power and authority is legitimate. Not only is it legitimate but that suspicion has strong theological and biblical basis.
Theologically, we know that governments are created by fallen, broken, sinful people and therefore governments, all governments including our own are fallen, sinful, broken institutions. Every human vice we have as individuals exists in government with more power and reach. From a biblical point of view, we have examples of fallen and sinful governments in Pharoah's Eygpt through the oppression of the Hebrew slaves, a multitude of unjust and wicked Kings of Israel including plenty of mistakes by David and Solomon, and perhaps the most glaring example of government run amok in the bible, the Roman government which bowed to the pressure of a small but powerful special interest group and unjustly executed Jesus. Of course it’s not just governments of the past that are sinful and broken, in today's world our government is deeply corrupted by the greed and the power of for profit corporations, including for profit health care corporations. Through campaign contributions, lobbyist and special access profit corporations practically run the U.S. government. And here is the problem for Christians: corporations in particular and our capitalist society in general embrace and glorify values of greed and power. These values are central to the way we do things in this society. But greed and power are not Christian values. Just the opposite, poverty and powerlessness are Christian values. So government, even out government is not necessarily the Christian’s friend.
A second point, which is directly related to the first: within this context of fallen, broken government, we as Christians, also fallen and broken are called by God to advocate for the powerless. We are called to look our sinful government square in the eyes and call it to account for its duty to protect the powerless from the powerful. We are not called to have faith in the government. We are not called to believe the government can solve all our problems. We are called to demand that the least the government can do is protect the powerless from the powerful. That is what laws are supposed to do. That is what justice is all about: stopping those who would profit on the vulnerability of others. We don’t demand that government fix everything we demand that government do its job to pass and enforce laws that protect all people, especially those who cannot protect themselves.
What does the Bible say about this philosophy of government? In the book of Job the wicked are described and they are described according to their oppression of the poor, “2The wicked remove landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them.3They drive away the donkey of the orphan; they take the widow’s ox for a pledge. 4They thrust the needy off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves.”
The prophet Jeremiah calls the people of Judah to repentance with the word of the Lord, “if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, 6if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, 7then I will dwell with you in this place,” says the Lord.
The prophet Micah, “Alas for those who devise wickedness and evil deeds on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in their power. 2They covet fields, and seize them; houses, and take them away; they oppress householder and house, people and their inheritance.”
And lest we think that our calling to care for the powerless is an Old Testament issue, the words of Jesus from Matthew, “31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations (not individuals but nations) will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ 41Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ 45Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’” How we treat the powerless is how we treat Christ.
And then I believe one of the most relevant passages about this topic because it refers directly to the role of government is from the Psalms and it is a prayer for a new king, or today it might be for a new president or a new congress , “Give the king (or the president or the congress) your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king’s son.
2May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.
3May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness.
4May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.”
We do not need to trust the government to fix all our problems. In fact we would be foolish to expect it to, but we are called to hold government accountable to protect the powerless.
So, what does this have to do with health care. This may go without saying, but my third point is that our current system of health care which is created by our laws, which are written and enforced by our government, this system does not live up to the standards of justice, just described. It is an unjust system. So, even though it may go without saying, it is worth spelling out. Our current system which is created by our laws, which are written and enforced by our government pays for Viagra for wealthy 90 year old men but does not provide prenatal care for poor pregnant women. Our current system which is created by our laws, which are written and enforced by our government provides government run health insurance for individuals over 65 regardless of their wealth but not provide for basic check-ups for low income children. Our current system which is created by our laws, which are written and enforced by our government does not have a place for undocumented immigrants and their families even though our economy and prosperity depends on them, even though justice for the alien among is a biblical principle. Our current system which is created by our laws, which are written and enforced by our government does not have a place for minimum wage workers that just can’t afford to buy in. There are better laws than the ones we have and out government the maker of our laws that protect the powerless from the powerful must create a new system by writing and enforcing new laws. Our job, as average Christians in this democracy is not necessarily to write those laws. We have elected representatives who are experts in that. Our job is to demand results, to demand justice. We must demand that whatever laws are passed be fair and just and specifically protect the vulnerable and powerless from the powerful who would harm or ignore them for profit.
I want to close with the story of a kindergarten teacher who tried an experiment in her classroom. Vivian Paley was fed up with the way her students would exclude one another from their playtime activities. Typically a small group of children will start playing a game together and if another child asks to join the game those children might very well say “no, you can’t play with us.” Vivian Paley decided that as the teacher she was going to make a new rule. From now on if children were playing together they could not exclude another child that wanted to play also. To make this understandable to her kindergartener’s the rule was, “you can’t say, you can’t play,” which is the name of the book she wrote about her experience. When she introduced the rule the children protested. “That’s not fair. It will be too hard. It won’t work. We can’t do it. Maybe if you had done this when we were younger, but now that we are in kindergarten it won’t work.” But, Ms. Paley was the teacher and so she made the rule and she enforced it. You can’t say you can’t play. And low and behold it worked. Children stopped being excluded in Ms. Paley’s classroom. Then Ms. Paley started working with other children all the way up to fifth grade and implementing the same rule. Interestingly, they had the same complaints in the higher grades as with the kindergartener’s. “It’s not right. It’s not fair. It won’t work. Maybe if you had done this when we were younger.” But, at every level she made and enforced the rule and the rule the rule worked.
So then, in closing my question is “How much more important is this rule when the game we are playing involves the health, well being and very lives of others?” Morally, biblically, socially, we must hold our government accountable to create laws that say when it comes to health care, “you can’t say, you can’t play.” When it comes to children in poor families who need regular check ups and medical interventions, “you can’t say, you can’t play.” When it comes to pregnant women, needing care for themselves and their unborn children, “you can’t say, you can’t play.” When it comes to undocumented people working in our country with a wink and nudge and needing care for serious illness, “you can’t say, you can’t play.” When it comes to average hard working people who just can’t make ends meet and must choose between food, rent and medical treatment for illness, “you can’t say, you can’t play.” People might complain. People might say it won’t work, it’s too hard, its not fair. But, our government has a responsibility to protect the powerless from the powerful. Our government has to enact laws so that people cannot get rich on other people’s sickness and vulnerability. Our government, all governments have a responsibility to administer a just society. And if they don’t or they won’t, as Christians, fallen and broken as we are, we must speak out and we must demand it of them. This is no children’s playground game. This life and death. When it comes to healthcare. You can’t say, you can’t play.
