When unable to reasonably threaten your physical security,
politicians use fear as their preferred tactic on losing what little you
have. Take the current Health Care
reform debates, the subtle messages of fear intended to stop reform include …
“why should you pay higher taxes to support illegal immigrants, and other poor
people to get coverage” or “you could lose ‘control’ over your own doctor” or
“rationing due to high costs could wind up killing grandma”. All of these assertions have a mild basis in
truth (in that they are not beyond the laws of physics), but none of them even
begin to reflect the intent of reform, the current bills under discussion, or
answer the key questions that must be addressed for any kind of health care
reform to be successful.
The real key question we should be asking on Health Care is
… “why do costs continue to rise faster than inflation every year in Health
Care for the past 10 years.” The reason
is simple but affects us all – it is because our entire Health Care system is
driven on a for-profit basis. Positive
aspects of this include: Health Care careers are considered stable with high
earnings potential; unlimited funding allows for advances in research in both
pharmaceutical and medical practice industries; most people’s 401k retirement
accounts include Medical stocks or Bio-Engineering firms in order to share in
the financial gains made from this setup.
But the downside of for-profit medical care is everything
Christians should stand against: we currently seek for “treatments” not “cures”
as treatments are lifelong income streams whereas cures kill profits; those who
cannot afford healthcare do not receive any outside of an ER room; and where
money motivates everyone wants a piece.
The insurance companies are motivated to deny coverage for treatments a
doctor requests in order to reduce pay-outs (i.e. costs). Lawyers are motives to sue hospitals,
doctors, and insurance companies for any perceived injustice or mistake (real
or imagined). Pharmaceuticals can set
prices for life-prolonging drugs at whatever they want, and we are forced to
pay them. All of this leads to insurance
rate increases, which leads back to increasing the cost of health care once
again. And while we are increasing prices
why not build a little extra “profit” in there as well.
When Christ walked our earth, His idea of Health Care was
complete cures for whatever was wrong with the “patients” he encountered. He healed them completely. He did not setup treatment programs that were
dependent on them coming back to Him over and over to insure they maintained
their new found cures. He healed anyone
in need, whether rich or poor, and in point of fact, He came across more poor
people in need, than rich. He healed
people who did not know who He truly was, and people who did not even believe
in Him prior to meeting Him. It was
unconditional life-lasting health care He provided at no cost to anyone. Talk about reform.
After His ascension His disciples carried on this kind of
Health Care work in His name. Current
Christians have lost all sight of this idea, and the power of healing has all
but gone out of the world. Now the idea
of “faith healing” is done largely by charlatans and money-grubbers more
interested in their own fame than the true work of healing the sick. And so Christians in the US are content with
allowing their Health Care to be provided to them on a for profit basis … until
they personally get bitten in the process.
So why keep things the way they are? Because there are millions of dollars to be
made in a business you cannot refuse to take part in. When you get sick, really sick, you have no
choice but to seek Health Care even if it results in your bankruptcy or financial
ruin. That alternative is better than
death. The kind of money that is made
from this business is self evident by the level of furor and advertising to
convince you that nothing should be done.
Only the mildest reforms will be proposed and only after the number
crunchers angle a new way to make even more money from the new regulations.
And how do you go about trying to convince people of
something that defies common sense? You
strike fear into their hearts. Fear that
they may lose grandma. Fear that they
may lose what little money they have in new taxes to support “poor”
people. Fear that they may lose their
doctor or ‘control’ over their health care to a government run
bureaucracy. Forget the fact that for-profit
insurance companies would gladly kill grandma to cut costs, they do it to moms,
dads, and kids today. Forget the fact
that not keeping poor people healthy costs more in tax dollars now than would
covering them and preventing the spread of disease. And forget the fact that government is
supposed to have the protection of its people as its motto, whereas
for-profit-industry cares only for the bottom line financials generally at the
expense of the people. But forgetting
the facts, and even the debates, it is the fear that is the preferred tactic in
this fight.
And Christians think this technique is only for
politicians? Think again. The term “Hell Fire and Brimstone” preacher
comes to mind, or how about “Evangelist”?
How many times have Christian leaders spoken from the pulpit about Hell
to motivate people to seek God, or more accurately to “listen and agree with
whatever the preacher says next”. Fear
has been a central tenant of the Christian religion. Those that believe fear has merit often quote
the text “Fear is the beginning of wisdom”.
The rational is that fear gets your attention, and then you learn about
love. This idea reminds me of the
Southpark cartoon where gnomes developed a 3 step program to make money: Step
1.) steal underwear; Step 3.) make profit.
The gnomes had no idea what to do in Step 2.) but they believed strongly
in the program. How a new believer is
able to get love out of a message of fear designed to control, is no different
than the underwear gnomes dilemma.
And what about all the messages of death and destruction in
the Bible like say the Flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the
destruction of the entire Assyrian army, Nineveh, not to mention the setting up
and taking down of worldwide kingdom after kingdom from Egypt, to Assyria, to
Babylon, to Medo-Persia, to Greece to Rome?
Like doctor Phil is often quoted as saying … how did that work out for
you? None of these real events have
changed the motives and hearts of man to become better and seek the true
God. That is because none of these
events were designed to spread the gospel of love. They were designed to stop, contain, or cut
short the spread of evil. God has
throughout history shown by example that evil will eventually be extinguished
for all time in the universe. Not
through an eternally burning fire of Hell, but through the eternally consistent
choices of the saved and redeemed to never seek evil again.
The destruction of evil in the Bible is not designed to
instill love or fear. It is a cause and
effect, matter of fact display of the results of evil within the universe. It will only be tolerated for so long, and
then extinguished. When using fear to
motivate along these lines the entire point of the gospel is lost. The truth is that evil is itself the
punishment. Evil is the cancer, it is
the pain that ripples through your life and the lives of others. Evil is the condition from which God wishes
to redeem us. Love is the relief and
removal of evil, not the prolonging of it.
The devil does not mind when a leader or speaker uses fear
to point people to God, as he knows as soon as the fear wears off, they will
leave God again. No immediacy, no fear,
no reason to stay with God. But when
someone realizes what Love is, and how their lives can be so much better
without the pain of evil – that person is lost to the devil forever in the palm
of our God. Understanding love is the
definition of wisdom. The wisdom that
fear should bring should only be attributed to the consequences of embracing
evil. This fear-based-wisdom is merely a
factual look at the results of evil, nothing more. Love based wisdom is learned over an eternity
and enriches your life everyday you experience it.
Christ came so that you would no longer be a slave to
fear. You need fear nothing for the God
of the Universe loves you personally. Do
not fear the sharing of your wealth with others, or the sharing of your love
with your enemies. Do not let messages
of fear inspire hatred within you, but rather let them inspire pity and
patience and charity. Most of all submit
your will to Christ, and find the change that will make your life one worth
living …
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