I particularly like the preamble to Sojourners resource page:

Good health is the will of God for each and every one of God’s children. Death, disease, and pain did not exist in the garden of Eden, and Revelation tells of a “new heaven and new earth,” where once again they will not exist.

In the fallen world in which we live, injury and sickness are a fact of life; physical death on this earth will never be overcome. But scripture paints a clear picture that health was God’s intent from the beginning and will be the goal once again in the end. This means that on a personal, national, and global level the physical well-being of all God’s children is close to God’s heart — and should be close to ours as well.

There is no religious mandate for a specific, God-ordained system of health care or insurance. No amount of biblical exegesis will lead you to a policy conclusion about health care savings accounts, personal versus employer-provided insurance, single-payer public systems, or private insurance plans. Luke might have been a physician, but he never commented on whether or not computerizing medical records should be a national priority.

There is no divine mandate for a certain health care system and biblical exegesis cannot help us with the details of the policy issues under debate. But that doesn’t relieve us from responsibility to care for those who cannot care for themselves. Check out their page in full.

 

• There can be no debate about the fact that there are millions of Americans without healthcare¹ and even more with healthcare that, should something dramatic were to happen, would not cover necessary costs.
• As Christians we are called to care for the poor, to provide clothing, food, and healing to those without. This is not debatable either and the biblical citations would just be too many so I will not bother.
• Something must be done, from whatever perspective one approaches the issue.

The question is, what is the best answer? What interests me most now is how some of my biblioblogging (or at least biblioblog reading) colleagues are assessing the situation. I have written previously on this topic and I have found the comments very thought provoking and interesting. Most recently  I posted a video that compared wait times for appointments between Atlanta and Boston (Boston because MA has a “universal” healthcare plan such as Obama is proposing) There are lots of reasons to criticize the video and it presents only one view, to be sure, but I posted it to illicit comment for my edification (selfish, perhaps) and it has done and I thank you all for that.²

Apparently it has also cost me a reader which is unfortunate but part of the risks we take. This blog has always been and will always be a reflection of me and my interests which are broader than just biblical or rabbinic studies. Thus we encroach upon politics here and I post comics often (and sometimes, like now, both at once!). I make no apologies for that, but I do value your reading and your comments, so can we dig down a bit deeper on this question of a “Christian” approach to healthcare?

Several people have now criticized my implicit questioning of a federally run (i.e., taxpayer funded) healthcare program by saying things like “it is not Christian to support a system that does not care for the poor” or that as a Christian “question number one” of any system is what kind of care poor people will receive.  I agree with the standard but I ask, how is it applied? Is “how are the poor cared for” the litmus test for any society (and any element of a society)? We can move beyond healthcare and apply that rubric to our banking system, our schools, our churches… That seems to me a kind of prosperity Gospel placed on its head and of course in the Gospels Jesus was not calling for a reform of the contemporary government, he was calling for a reform of the people.³

One of the things that interests me about these sorts of arguments (a Christian should support government funded X plan since it cares for the poor) is that the folks who put this forward are often the same people who argue against those who would make this a “Christian nation.” We are to keep religion out of politics, after all we cannot “legislate morality” (a phrase popular in the late 90s, ignoring the fact that all law is legislated morality on some level) or impose our religious views on others. And yet…now we are to legislate universal healthcare because it is the Christian thing to do?

I could similarly critique those who want to keep the status quo and/or simply keep the government out of providing healthcare (or health insurance, why don’t we talk about that distinction enough?). Again, I DO think that we, as Americans not just those who are Christians, need a better system that will help cover as many of our citizens as possible as efficiently as possible. Efficiency aside, I think only the federal government can make something like this work. The devil is, of course, in the details and those always get mangled making their way through Congress.

In the end I suppose that all of this rambling is a fledgling attempt to come up with a consistent hermeneutic for considering government funded programs that benefit the poorest among us. As you can see by now I haven’t even begun to form such a hermeneutic, principles that would guide our reading of Scripture to inform our policy making. More thinking is required and I hope you will help. Perhaps then another post will be more coherent and articulate.

 

1. According to this site, citing a 2007 government report, 48 million.
2. BTW some commented that the video was rubbish because it was comparing a state to a city, but having viewed it 3 more times to check, I don’t see that the video is doing that at all. Can someone tell me how they came to that conclusion?
3. It seems to me that this is the general approach to the founding of the US. The government was to protect and preserve while the people themselves, through organizations such as churches, provided care for one another.

(I am not sure what kind of appointments they are waiting for, by the way, since I have always been able to get an appointment within a day if urgent or 5 days for a regular check-up. Less if I do not care which doctor in the firm I see.)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqD-nMpsYAY&feature=player_embedded

 

I am a Canadian and have used the health care system recently. It is not the horror that many Americans describe our health care system. … I feel it is not Christian to support a system that does not care for the poor. Many of problems in our system are in fact caused by doctors who are independent businessmen trying to maximize their income.

That was why I posted that other story, the author is a Canadian so his experience was more relevant that from someone “outside.” In my four years in England we had very mixed experiences.  Certainly for those without healthcare coverage it is a moot point, some (good) care is better than none.

Now, to the most interesting point of his comment (to me), “It is not Christian to support a system that does not care for the poor.” I too believe that as Christians we are called to care for the poor and the needy but is the best mechanism through the government? Just because someone supports a healthcare model that is not government run doesn’t mean they are not living up to their Christian calling (not caring about others does, however). I think the question is and ought to be how to get the best care for the most but judging by other programs I am not sure the government is the best solution.

On the other hand, there are many who say that a true Christian state is a (ideal) socialist state…. Any care to make that argument?

Not to be distracted however I want to throw it open and ask my readers, what is the “Christian”¹ response to the US healthcare situation?

 

1. Feel free to offer you definition of “Christian” in this context because I do not think it is defined as a confession of faith.

In 2007, documentary director Michael Moore released his latest film, entitled “Sicko”. The premise of the doc was to compare the American health care industry to other nations, including Canada.

As a proud Canadian myself (eh?), I was forced to watch in disbelief as Moore painted the Canadian health care system as something other countries should aspire to. At several points during this segment, I kept waiting for a Unicorn to come out into the waiting room to announce that Cancer had been cured, and a free vaccine was now available to all.

At no cost, of course.

I feel the need to set a few things straight, and also to point my fellow countrymen to a site where they may be actually able to help affect some change.

The bottom line to the Canadian Health Care system is this: You get what you pay for.

With that in mind, this is the reality: It is absolutely impossible to get yourself a family doctor. A 5 hour wait in the Emergency Waiting Room is considered a brief stay. Government run means government bureaucracy. You will still pay for certain things, any thing that the government can cut out to trim their budget (Ie, a doctor’s note for school to explain why you missed class can cost you 10$). Need any kind of specific test or scan? You’ll get it, within 6 months to 2 years.

By Ryan Sohmer.