Dec. 7, 2009 issue
The new 'church'?
By Brian J. Martin Hatfield, Pa.The debate on health care in MWR has missed a critical question.
Is it really the government’s job to take care of everyone? As Mennonites, we have consistently been wary of government. But since the creation of Social Security and welfare, it seems our culture increasingly looks to government to provide for our needs, and we are being swept along with the tide. Several letter writers seem to connect support of government health care reform with our responsibility as Christians to help the poor and disadvantaged. Is that really where we are as a church?
Duane Beachey says, “Government is for the common good, and how we take care of the weakest says what kind of values our society has.” I agree, but is he assuming our society is a Christian one with Christian values? Our society is almost completely at odds with the way of Christ. It is almost as if Beachy and others are saying that if you are really a good Christian (Mennonite), you would support our government and health care reform.
As Anabaptists passionate about restoring the New Testament church, we need to emphasize the separation of church and state. It is not government’s job, but our responsibility as the church, to care for the poor. The problem is, we are more concerned with our stock portfolios and retirement accounts than with caring for the poor through our churches. By having the government do it for us, our consciences are assuaged. Has the government become the church for us? I do not connect the government forcing me to pay more taxes to provide health care for the poor with following Jesus. In fact, in doing so, my taxes would be used to support lifestyles that I believe are contrary to the Word of God.
Comments
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Thank you Brian for an excellent letter. You have presented many good points.
It has long been difficult for me to understand why MC USA is now asking the government to implement a national health care program, yet MC USA did not develop a similar HC program for all those in the Mennonite Church. If it is important now, why was it not important in the past at the Church level?
Further, at the church level, if it is important in the U.S., should not a global church HC program also be developed for Mennonite church people who live in other countries? Are not their healh care needs even greater than Mennonites who are blessed to live in the U.S.?
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I would agree that Mr. Martin has several good points in his letter. It seems at times that we Mennonites, and Christians in general for that matter, could perhaps do more to address poverty.
I agree that we owe our ultimate allegiance to God and not the government. This does not mean, however, that we cannot press our government of the People, by the People, and for the People, to rectify injustice. Do we not press the government to end wars and to ban abortion, even if these issues are not resolved within our own churches? Should we limit our efforts at reform to areas where there is no real personal cost to ourselves? (I could point out that most estimates point to this proposed reform being budget neutral at worst, but that would be beside the point.)
According to the American Journal of Public Health, 45,000 Americans died this past year for lack of adequate health insurance coverage. Dead not because they had incurable diseases but because they lacked the financial means to see a doctor to treat their illnesses.
What does this mean? Recent free clinics in New Orleans, Little Rock, and other places attracted patients without health insurance coverage by the thousands. Many had steady employment, but their employers did not provide health coverage because it was too expensive. Some were diagnosed with terminal illnesses that could have been treated had they been financially able to seek treatment earlier. This free clinic was the only one they could afford. Is this really the type of society we want to perpetuate?
Finally, and most problematic is the final statement, that to support health reform would be to send tax dollars to support lifestyles of which we may not approve. I could point out that we already send our dollars their way through health insurance coverage as it is, but that would be beside the point. This attitude is very much at odds with that of Christ, who went about healing the lame, the blind, the lepers, healing all he could reach without asking first if they would commit to moral, clean lives.
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