Wisconsin Council of Churches Pushing for Universal Health Care?
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel posted this in their religion section, which I thought was rather interesting. Apparently, the Wisconsin Council of Churches, a conglomerate of about 2,000 churches, is endorsing any measure in Congress that provides universal health care coverage. Not only do they want universal coverage, but they pushed for a Wisconsin bill called "Healthy Wisconsin", which even democrats dropped like a hot potato because it would have provided free health care (in a taxed sort of way) to undocumented aliens and to non-Wisconsin residents, would have increased taxes on employers, and would have ballooned our budget deficit to unsustainable levels.
Interestingly, Mr. Anderson was careful not to offer his support for the current health care bill sitting before Congress (H.R. 3200). Could it be fear of a church community backlash? The question is, why are they issuing press releases for health care reform now that the public option has run into a roadblock?On more of a theological note, the more theological-minded should understand that all scripture that supports helping the poor, the widows, the orphans, or the otherwise needy is based strictly on a charity basis. Such charity, according to Jesus, should not be made into a public ordeal, but should be done in privacy to avoid the outcrop of vanity or personal gain. In fact, Jesus expressly forbade his disciples to perform good deeds so that men could see. So important was this to Jesus that if his disciples disobeyed this divine edict, they would not receive their heavenly reward.
I have written a rather lengthy piece on this called "Jesus Was a Conservative", where this position has been laid out more extensively using scriptural support. The above link is a direct refutation of the current cultural trend that asserts Jesus was a socialist.
And finally, I would like to challenge Scott Anderson, the executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches, to provide an argument grounded in the scriptures that supports his recent call for government-run universal health care coverage.
Well argued, my friend. If Jesus had wanted government action to solve social problems, he would have spent more time with the Romans.
Our former pastor suggests that the church should be in the business of saving souls, not saving the world.