My Wonderings

The healthcare debate is loud and earnest. As it should be. We are talking about very fundamental, elementary issues of living together in community. We are continuing the national discernment process begun in the 18^th century of establishing what it means to say that our Creator endowed all hu(man)s with certain unalienable rights. Among those, our declarators determined, were life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The framers assumed every reasonable person would agree with these given presuppositions. But the conclusion that followed as been anything but self-evident. We have a hard time reaching consensus with the practice of this reasonable theoretical assumption.  All that seems self-evident to me is the premise that there is some correlation between one’s religious beliefs and political values and that there are some level of human rights that ought to be non-negotiable.

Bringing theory to practice has been the stuff of American politics and it is the stuff of the current debate. But the debate has turned ugly and shrill and out of order. I’m wondering if we’re all on the same page of the hymn book. Maybe the set of assumptions that begin my logic is not where others are beginning.   Maybe we’re not talking about the same thing. Because some people seem to be incredulous and shocked that I could have reached the conclusion that our country should have a national health plan. It’s as though this conclusion was somehow, un-American or un-godly or un-reasonable. All I know to do at this point is be very clear with my thought process and hope that someone will tell me where my logic takes such a radically different path than conservatives.

Let me begin by explaining what my faith has to do with my desire for universal coverage. Regarding the relationship between religion and politics – folk have argued with me about this correlation for decades; usually after I preached a sermon that didn’t sit well with them.  But I think one’s politics is a byproduct of one’s worldview, one’s faith system. I am not talking about a specific creed or confession; just an individual’s conscious or unconscious belief system of who they are as an individual, who they are in relation to others, the relationship between humanity to the rest of the natural world and the relationship of a Higher Power, or lack thereof, to all these things.  At its most basic definition, politics is how we organize relationships with one another.  The values that determine that organizational structure stems from a worldview we have imagined to be rightly ordered.

For example, our founding fathers believed that a Higher Power created all ‘men’ (sic) as equal members of the human race; no inherent superiority or inferiority. Additionally, the very act of that divine creation ‘gave’ a certain level of dignity and worth to the human being. Because of that dignified worth, each individual has the right to be treated accordingly. An obvious example of how this is manifested in our social ordering (politics) is the idea of death fights. Dog fights and cock fights are offensive to many, but most people do not consider them on the same level of atrocity as gladiator fights. Gladiator fights are considered atrocious because most of us do not believe that the human being exists as ‘sport’ for the gods. Less obvious is how this has developed into the right to protect oneself, to make a living, to be educated, to own property. Today, we are asking what determines a human being’s access to healthcare. Is it by virtue of money? Employment? Health? Social standing? Intelligence? Merit? Marital Status? Or is it one of those inherited rights? I believe that the health of an individual is of grave importance to the Creator. In my tradition, a lot of biblical ink is devoted to the curing of the sick and teaching how to care for the sick. I get the impression that I’m suppose to love my neighbor by caring for her when she’s sick even if I don’t think she deserves it. Because God think she deserves it.  (to be continued …)

Sarah Bennett is an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Texas. She is an avid evangelist of social media and honest, authentic conversations of the spiritual journey.  I’m an Episcopal priest in Austin, TX. I am working to develop a new ministry strategy that deepens community bonds, stimulates theological conversations, and reaches out to others through social networking. I have been energized by Clay Shirky’s book, Here Comes Everybody, and am fascinated by the power, good and bad, of novel collaborative efforts now made possible by the internet. Read more from this author