(Ir)religiosity

Two things up front: 1.) I believe quality health care is a fundamental right that should be afforded to all persons regardless of _________, 2.) I believe governments have a moral responsibility to ensure that said care is provided to its citizens.  For me, these are non-negotiable.  Period.

Our country is the closest it has ever been to ensuring the most of its citizens have access to quality health care.  I will be outraged, not to mention deeply disappointed, if we fail to push it through.  At this point we’re our own worst enemy.  As Jon Stewart pointed out in a recent episode of The Daily Show, it wouldn’t be all the surprising if President Obama’s approval rating of the American people has plummeted over the last month or so.  The lack of civility and reasonableness in our public discourse on this issue would be disappointing if it weren’t so pathetic.

I’m continually perplexed at the various ways in which people either hear or see what they want to or intentionally caricature what is said by resorting to scare tactics (I’m looking at you Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck).  Most people simply aren’t working with the facts and if they are the choose to sideline them in favor of something that sounds controversial and may gain some shock value or media attention.¹

Health care is too important of an issue for us to play games.  I’m afraid if we keep screwing around we’re going to miss our chance.  Then we will be responsible for the lack of care and ensuring that the uninsured remain uninsured.  There won’t be any passing the buck.  The blame will rest squarely on our shoulders.

Yesterday President Obama published an op-ed in the New York Times that clearly and carefully articulates his position yet again.  You should stop right now and read the whole thing.  Here’s what I think is the nucleus.

This is what reform is about. If you don’t have health insurance, you will finally have quality, affordable options once we pass reform. If you have health insurance, we will make sure that no insurance company or government bureaucrat gets between you and the care you need. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan. You will not be waiting in any lines. This is not about putting the government in charge of your health insurance. I don’t believe anyone should be in charge of your health care decisions but you and your doctor — not government bureaucrats, not insurance companies.

But let’s make sure that we talk with one another, and not over one another. We are bound to disagree, but let’s disagree over issues that are real, and not wild misrepresentations that bear no resemblance to anything that anyone has actually proposed. This is a complicated and critical issue, and it deserves a serious debate.

I read that and I simply don’t understand what the great end-of-the-world, apocalypse inaugurating problem is that I keep hearing about.  What is so wrong with providing a public option for those who can’t afford it?  Please tell me.  Or better yet, let’s tell those who currently can’t afford care why it is that they were just dealt the wrong hand and don’t have the right to the same quality care that the rest of us enjoy.

It is deeply disturbing, I think, when this idea is met with such anger and hate by people (mostly white people who can afford health care, by the way) at town hall meetings and not accepted with a sense of great urgency.  Perhaps the health care debate is what racism and classism looks like in the 21st century.  It looks more and more like Gordon Marino was right when he wrote that “the fact that a significant number of Americans do not feel any urgency to revamp a system that leaves millions of our sick without care is symptomatic of the fact that we must be suffering from a hardening of more than our arteries.”  Indeed, our irrational and childish behavior is demonstrative not only our compassion deficiency but our collective moral bankruptcy.

Perhaps the recent recession extends to more than our economy.

1. One of the best places to keep up with what is fact and what is fiction is http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/ [↩]

It turns out that Joe isn’t really a plumber. At least not a licensed one. I’ve got nothing against Joe, I have more in common with him than the candidates, but I do have a problem with a campaign using someone for political gain.  It’s just patronizing.  “Like Sarah Palin, a great concept. But the McCain campaign needs to be able to vet its hood ornaments.” [Ht. Andrew Sullivan]

I’m not really interested in splitting hairs about who won and who lost.  I think Palin did surprisingly well simply by not fumbling and Biden maintained the status quo — of retatining the lead — simply by not saying anything inappropriate or flying off the handle.

I did find a quote by Palin very interesting if not disturbing.

“That world view that says that America is a nation of exceptionalism. And we are to be that shining city on a hill, as President Reagan so beautifully said, that we are a beacon of hope and that we are unapologetic here. We are not perfect as a nation. But together, we represent a perfect ideal. And that is democracy and tolerance and freedom and equal rights. Those things that we stand for that can be put to good use as a force for good in this world.”

I can’t underscore how dangerous this line of thinking is.  American exceptionalism is one of the greatest lies perpetrated by our government since this nation’s inception.  It is a myth that fuels nationalism and xenophobia and allows loose cannons like our current leadership to expand American imperialism under the guise of “spreading freedom and democracy.”  It is one of our biggest and most compelling fictions and it is present on both sides of the political spectrum.  More than a year ago, Barack Obama stated that “America is the last best hope for Earth.”  That sort thinking can — and has — justified some of the worst things imaginable.

American exceptionalism is false monomyth, indeed a false metanarrative, that can only be remedied by being destroyed.

I’d like to think the choices in the election will lead to that, but I wonder.

This was a lot of fun last week and I was fortunate enough to have several people participate in the commentary.  So — I thought we could have at it again.  There should definitely be more to talk this time around.

Check back here for live updates beginning at 9 PM EST.

I just removed the Daily Kos from my feeder reader.  And at the moment I’m close to doing the same with some other political blogs, namely Street Prophets and Andrew Sullivan.

Why?  It’s simple: I’m sick of the polemics and the personal attacks.  They’re just not helpful.  It is blogging at it’s absolute worst.

I’ll be as clear as possible — I profoundly disagree with Sarah Palin’s politics, I think she was a horrible choice for McCain’s VP and as a result, he may have already lost the election.  I understand the move, to woo Clinton supporters who are understandably upset about the still very much intact glass ceiling.  I wasn’t planning on voting for McCain in the first place, but now I have all the more reason not to do so. Read the rest of this entry »

I know, I know.  This book is so last year.

I picked up Scot McKnight‘s A Community Called Atonement last month with a Barnes & Noble giftcard.  I started it a few days ago and finished it last night.

It’s a really great book.  Not just on atonement theology, but also on what it means to be missional.  While I don’t always completely agree with his conclusions (mainly I think he gives penal substitution too much credit) McKnight does a wonderful job of covering all the bases while offering up the ideas of atonement as the restorative practice of justice and reconciliation within the local community and the poignant need to use and give proper recognition to, every metaphor and image we have available to describe the atonement.  Which is awesome.  Read it if you haven’t already.

There are too many good quotes but here are a few (or four) that I think grasp the overall thrust of the book.¹ Read the rest of this entry »

1. All emphases are original [↩]