Jesus warned us not to pledge our allegiance to worldly things but instead to give that honor to God alone. His most often example of idolatry was money. But today there is literally a myriad of things that we have chosen to put up as idols in God’s place. One of these in my mind is the greed around the concept of universal healthcare.
Jesus clearly told us to be our brother’s keeper. I can’t think of a more poignant area where where are not following his command to be our brother’s keeper than denying healthcare to those of meager financial means. Healthcare should be a right for all citizens of the U.S. as is the case for much of the rest of the world. In order to accomplish this it would be necessary for many of us to contribute some of our resources for those who cannot afford it. This greed of “I don’t want you taking away my money to benefit others” is no different than putting money above Jesus’ commands. Some say the money we would have to contribute is actually less than what we currently spend on pet supplies. While I love my pets I do not put there value above my fellow man!
This ambivalence toward universal healthcare comes primarily from the radical right in our political spectrum and unfortunately evangelical Christians are thought to make up a good segment of that population. Shame on us for, by association, putting a Christian name on this greed filled issue. Let’s show the world that we are Christians by insisting that we join the rest of the world and provide universal healthcare for all our citizens. To do otherwise is to do great damage to Jesus’ name and to his kingdom on this earth.
