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Perhaps the biggest casualty of John Edwards’ fall from political grace was the loss of his “two Americas” rhetorical device—an argument of haves versus have-nots. The comparison was further dramatized when a recent health fair in Inglewood, California was overwhelmed by thousands of Los Angelinos looking for emergency dental and vision care, blood pressure checks, mammograms, and immunizations. Remote Area Medical, the Tennessee-based group that organized the event, has organized similar health fairs in rural Virginia and New Orleans, post-Hurricane Katrina.
Evangelical conservatives have not been shy about entering the political fray in the last few election cycles. So why the relative quiet on health care reform—a topic captivating most Americans?
More socially progressive religious organizations—like Sojourners, Faith in Public Life, Alliance for the Common Good, and the PICO National Network—have joined the “40 Days for Health Reform” coalition, buying ad time on national cable news outlets in an effort to resurrect an idea that has fallen out of favor—a health care crisis is fundamentally a crisis of faith. Rev. John Hay, speaking for the coalition, has said “This is no way for the most blessed country in the world to treat its most vulnerable citizens.”
The Catholic Medical Association, representative of more conservative religious organizations, has channeled the RNC’s point-by-point criticisms of the current proposals: concerns over subsidizing abortion, competition tilted in the government’s favor, “heavy-handed federal control” and the “death panel” evocative “regulating medical treatments based not only on clinical, but also ‘economic’ criteria.”
The abortion issue has been addressed. One version of the House reform bill, by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, would allow health plans to cover abortions, provided they were paid for entirely with private funds (the Capps Amendment).
But concern over unfair competition, real or imagined, is an odd plank, especially for groups that enjoyed preferential treatment under the Bush Administration’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, all the while flouting employment non-discrimination laws that their secular competitors had to honor. But speaking to a more disturbing trend: when did free market apologetics become a cornerstone of mainstream religious belief?
When you think of some of this country’s most sweeping social legislation, it is hard to imagine what shape those debates might have taken had our religious leaders sat on the sidelines.
That any American can look at thousands of their fellow citizens, waiting in the sweltering southern California sun for basic health care, and see a system that works is an indictment. That our religious leaders can watch it and say nothing makes us question who has done the calling. A religious push in favor of social policy that is less worldly and more humane seems in order, and consistent with the best traditions of our religious communities.