Re: [asa] health care

Rich:

I am sympathy with all that you say here.
But there is an However.

What I would perfer is a world where charity, gratitude, and
responsibility plays a significant part in our communal life.

I suggest that charity that is forced is no charity at all, and any such
forced charity received does not engender gratitude but expected desert.
Such a world does not engender a sense of responsibility, but rather a
form of autonomous selfishness.

All of this is not to say that any world lacking such force is ideal and
bursting with thankful, responsible people. It is perhaps the universal
nature of the force that is pernicious. Taxes must be collected for
certain enterprises because we benefit from them in ways that are too
obscure for us to notice (e.g., roads or military) until it is too late.
In this way, the poor can go unnoticed.

The question for me is one of priorities. Do I want to live in a world
that by the enforcement of its institutions it undermines expressions of
care, charity, thankfulness, and gratitude; or in a world where such is
possible, even required. Yes, in some utilitarian sense there may be
more suffering in the latter, but I judge the benefits to be greater.
What I think is called for is a mix of enforcements and freedoms. The
last thing I want is any attempt by man at establishing heaven on earth.

bill

On
Sat, 26 Sep 2009, Rich Blinne wrote:

>
> On Sep 26, 2009, at 7:05 AM, Alexanian, Moorad wrote:
>
>> I think Rush Limbaugh said it right, if the government controls healthcare,
>> then the government will control all aspects of your life-- what you eat,
>> what is sold, what kind of car you can buy, what kind of car can be
>> manufactured, and on and on. Is that what we want?
>> Moorad
>
>
> Or we can get what we have now with the latest Harvard Medical School study
> --
> http://www.harvardscience.harvard.edu/medicine-health/articles/new-study-finds-45000-deaths-annually-linked-lack-health-coverage
> -- where 45,000 people die per year for lack of health insurance. That's at a
> rate of more than homicide and drunk driving combined. Or once every twelve
> minutes. Talk about death panels. But that's just statistics, let's put a
> human face on it.
>
> http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/reported-swine-flu-victim-remembered-for-her-passion-315472.html
>
>> OXFORD — Friends say the Miami University graduate who died this week after
>> reportedly suffering from swine flu delayed getting medical treatment
>> because she did not have health insurance.
>>
>> News of Kimberly Young’s death Wednesday, Sept. 23, came as a shock to
>> those who knew the vibrant 22-year-old who was working at least two jobs in
>> Oxford after graduating with a double major in December 2008.
>>
>> Young became ill about two weeks ago, but didn’t seek care initially
>> because she didn’t have health insurance and was worried about the cost,
>> according to Brent Mowery, her friend and former roommate.
>>
>> Mowery said Young eventually went to an urgent care facility in Hamilton
>> where she was given pain medication and then sent home.
>>
>> On Tuesday, Sept. 22, Young’s condition suddenly worsened and her roommate
>> drove her to McCullough Hyde Memorial Hospital in Oxford, where she was
>> flown in critical condition to University Hospital in Cincinnati.
>>
>> “That’s the most tragic part about it. If she had insurance, she would have
>> gone to the doctor,” Mowery said.
>
> The "Christian" argument against insuring the uninsured usually goes like
> this: charity is voluntary and the government should not compel it. Scripture
> says otherwise. Contrast the degree of difference of compulsion between these
> two passage:
>
> Philemon 10-11
> I am appealing to (or encouraging) you concerning my child, whose spiritual
> father I have become during my imprisonment, that is, Onesimus, who was
> formerly useless to you, but is now useful to you and me.
>
> 1 Timothy 6:17-18
> Command those who are rich in this world’s goods not to be haughty or to set
> their hope on riches, which are uncertain, but on God who richly provides us
> with all things for our enjoyment. Tell them to do good, to be rich in good
> deeds, to be generous givers, sharing with others. [Note: Because of the
> length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence is started at the
> beginning of v. 18.]
>
> With respect to taxes the difference between the believer and unbeliever is
> that the believer gives and pays his/her taxes joyfully. They both can and
> should be generous -- particularly if they are rich -- but they have a
> different attitude. So, Christians may seek to change what they believe are
> unwise tax policies but on the other hand would not be the ones not showing
> up at the "tea parties" to protest. See Romans 13.
>
> Romans 13:1-7
> Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no
> authority except by God’s appointment, and the authorities that exist have
> been instituted by God. So the person who resists such authority resists the
> ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment (for rulers cause
> no fear for good conduct but for bad). Do you desire not to fear authority?
> Do good and you will receive its commendation, for it is God’s servant for
> your good. But if you do wrong, be in fear, for it does not bear the sword in
> vain. It is God’s servant to administer retribution on the wrongdoer.
> Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath
> of the authorities but also because of your conscience. For this reason you
> also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants devoted to governing.
> Pay everyone what is owed: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom
> revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
>
> Finally, the government does have the right to compel generosity out of the
> rich when the poor are being oppressed. See Nehemiah 5. There Nehemiah the
> governor saw how the people were starving because rich mortgage holders
> seized the collateral of their countrymen. He brought the rich in and forced
> them to curse themselves before God if they did not help the poor.
>
> I don't have a dog in this hunt with respect on how to fix the system. The
> WHO has ranked the U.S. system as number 37. If you look at the 36 countries
> in front of us they look very different from each other. The British have
> socialized medicine, the Canadians single payer, and the Dutch heavily
> regulated private health insurance providers. Where the U.S. is unique is we
> are the only industrialized democracy who does not have universal coverage
> and a majority of personal bankruptcies caused by medical costs, even for
> those who have insurance. The U.S. has the number one health care system FOR
> RICH PEOPLE. As in Nehemiah's time the poor are dying for lack of generosity
> of the rich. His response still applies:
>
> Nehemiah 5:13
> Then I called the priests and made the wealthy and the officials swear to do
> what had been promised. I also shook out my garment, and I said, “In this way
> may God shake out from his house and his property every person who does not
> carry out this matter. In this way may he be shaken out and emptied!” All the
> assembly replied, “So be it!” and they praised the LORD. Then the people did
> as they had promised.
>
> Rich Blinne
> Member ASA

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Received on Sat Sep 26 11:27:38 2009