Pious Paul of Ryan

If you have not yet read this article, go do it now:

And Jesus said unto Paul of Ryan

This in so many ways highlights the conflict between conservative beliefs about poverty and health care and the teachings of t Jesus of Nazareth guy:


The highlights:

• "When you cure her, she learns dependency. Then the poor won’t take care of themselves..." 
• "And don’t worry about them — they’ve already got health care access."
• "Why, they can pray for a cure,” Pious Paul explained. “I call that universal health care access."
• "For the Samaritan’s work is unsustainable and sends the wrong message."
• "And you need to give people freedom, Jesus, the freedom to suffer misery and poverty"
• "That then inspires the poor to work harder, galvanizes the sick to become healthy, forces the lepers to solve their own problems rather than kick back and depend on others."
• "But, Lord,” protested Pious Paul of Ryan, “when did I see you hungry or thirsty or sick and refuse to help you? I drop your name everywhere. And I’m pro-life!

The author sums it up nicely, paraphrasing Jesus' own words here:

“Truly, I say to you,” Jesus responded, “as you did not help the homeless, the sick — as you did not help the least of these, you did not help me.”

"The poor will always be with us"

Representative Roger Marshall (R, Kansas) created some controversy when discussing Medicaid expansion and coverage cutbacks in the proposed AHCA legislation.  His full quote:

Just like Jesus said, ‘The poor will always be with us. There is a group of people that just don’t want health care and aren’t going to take care of themselves....Just, like, homeless people. … I think just morally, spiritually, socially,  just don’t want health care. The Medicaid population, which is a free credit card, as a group, do probably the least preventive medicine and taking care of themselves and eating healthy and exercising. And I’m not judging, I’m just saying socially that’s where they are. So there’s a group of people that even with unlimited access to health care are only going to use the emergency room when their arm is chopped off or when their pneumonia is so bad they get brought the ER.

The idea that those who live in poverty are so either due to poor choices, objectionable lifestyles, or some other personal flaw is not uncommon:

• Trump's comments about a lack of incentives for the poor to work
• Rick Perry implication that income inequality is not an issue
• Hillary Clinton suggesting those on welfare were undignified and dependent

Stephen Pimpare summarizes the many reasons why this is not the case here, including:

• Poor employment opportunities (low wages or none at all)
• Poor educational opportunities
• Higher crime and  incarceration rates (more single parent homes)
• High day care costs
• Lack of upward mobility

Despite these differences (and reams of strong research to support it), the supposition that poverty is more of a choice than a circumstance perseveres.  This myth often leads those who hold this belief to the conclusion that in order to best help those in poverty, the government must withhold government assistance, not provide it.  This will, in theory, spur on those in poverty to work harder and pull themselves out of the situation.

This theory does not, however, align with the very passage that Rep. Marshall quotes.  When Jesus said "The poor will always be with you" he was referring to a well-known and well understood verse in Deuteronomy:

If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be ... For the poor you will always have with you in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’ (Deuteronomy 15:7-11)

See the difference?   God is telling his people:

Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’ 

While a case may be made for responsible government spending on social programs, the case for those who claim to follow God seems clear--to open your hand, and not to close it.

Faith in Health Reform

Health care reform is a major topic in the news, with the election of Donald Trump and the Republican promise to ‘repeal and replace’ the Affordable Care Act (ACA, aka. Obamacare).  With the recent release of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the debate has intensified, as those on both sides of the debate now have a tangible framework to discuss.

The AHCA and the rhetoric around the ACA and health care, in general, is fascinating from a health policy perspective.  It is, however, rather disheartening to see the reaction from people of faith to these programs and proposals. Faith-based arguments against the ACA and expansion of health care have included:

• Elected officials using Jesus’s words to justify the denial of coverage to poor citizens ()
• The Christian Coalition's agenda includes repeal of the ACA, with assertions about federal funding of abortions 
• Concerns about religious freedom and provision of contraceptives 
• Physicians recently won the right to refuse to treat transgender patients or women who have had an abortion 
• Other concerns about federal power and tax policy being intrusive upon general personal freedoms 

Of course, there are examples of those standing up for the morality of health care:

• Ohio Gov. Kasich defends expansion of Medicaid by referring to the bible 
• Sitting congressman cites scriptures to question the AHCA proposal 

So, what is a person of faith to do in regards to health care and reform? That is what we hope to explore here on this blog.  We will be posting reactions to news of the day (e.g. controversial statements, movements in legislation or policy, etc.), as well as explore some bigger topics in depth (e.g. abortion, contraception, Medicaid, etc). 

Overall, we seek to aid in thinking through these issues, based on objective data (where possible), with the goal towards more unity among people of faith.  We will have guest bloggers from health policy, medicine, community development, and different faith and faith-based organizations to help us see these debates in a well-rounded and comprehensive way.  We will purposefully seek to make this a non-partisan discussion by including voices from a variety of backgrounds and positions.  Your feedback will help us to do just that.