Some may say that the healthcare debate is actually over, but it actually is just beginning with the recent passage of the healthcare bill. It’s not a secret that I supported the bill and I was happy to see it pass the other day. I don’t know if my political rationalizations are totally correct about why I supported the bill, I wish I knew way more about economics and our legislative system but what I do know is what I have witnessed and experienced how we have traditionally dealt with healthcare in America. I witnessed my best friend lose his health insurance when he got a brain tumor and have to figure out how to pay for chemotherapy on his own. He eventually found another way to get covered but that is a really long story. Although we, as a family, have what I think is good health insurance I learned during, my wife, Melissa’s cancer treatment and my recent knee surgery how easy it is to get nickeled and dimed to death over co-pays and deductibles, not to mention fighting with the insurance company about billing mistakes and things they said would cover then changed their minds later. Our family is blessed to be able to have coverage, so I’m not really complaining about our situation, but I can’t imagine what it is like to have poor coverage or no coverage at all. Finally, Just today I heard of probably the most disgusting healthcare nightmare that a friend is going through. The situation is so horrifying, if I ever hear of a worse situation I will just quit life and go live alone in the forest. I can’t share the details but if I could you would probably be as angry, confused, numb, and sick to your stomach as I was. I suppose it is for these reasons why I support the new changes in our system.
My joy over the passage of the bill, however, quickly faded as I witnessed the barrage of news commentaries, friends Facebook comments, comments on blogs, etc. Don’t get me wrong I never expect everyone to jump on board with the winning side when a law is passed (although I think it is funny that we start citing scripture about obeying the government when the government is doing something we agree with, but when they do something we disagree with, our scripture references all of the sudden disappear, but I digress…). What I do want to know though, is if we ever might find a place where we can disagree without losing our minds and dehumanizing one another?
Someone working out next to me at the physical therapy place this morning said, “I think we need drastic reform, I just don’t understand why we had to do it so fast.” My guess is that it really wouldn’t matter how “fast” we changed the system, a good portion of the country would always be in agreement with any changes and a good portion would be violently opposed. Maybe I just need to take the advice from someone who said “don’t even dream of politics being civil, they will always be mean, we need people who are willing to be mean in politics or change will never happen.” I don’t know if I can buy that as a Christian though. Perhaps it is just part of human nature to be mean when we disagree with one another and it may never be possible for politics or controversial discussions to be civil and loving but Easter is coming up and I usually get all hopeful about the impossible becoming possible during this time of year.
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I do dream of politics being civil. Like you, as a Christian, I don't think we need to be mean to produce change. Look at William Wilberforce, was he mean? MLK? I'm sure I can go on and on with examples. Maybe we just need perseverance.
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