What Would Jesus Do About Health Care?
You knew it was coming.
Before we continue, a claim: I speak with absolutely no authority on Jesus, or his views, but I would bet a few days in purgatory that if Jesus were alive today, he would tell his followers not to watch any more cable news in August. Just going with my gut on that one.
MSNBC's Pastoral-stand-in Ed Shultz got the ball rolling last week by commanding evangelical mega-church leaders in an on-air segment to support universal health care and the public option, because the Lord himself wants it. "When Jesus walked the face of the earth, he was feeding the hungry, he was clothing the poor and healing the sick," preached Shultz. "He didn't ask anybody for their health insurance card, and he didn't heal anybody for profit." No doubt Jesus also wants people to watch Ed Shultz, because, as we know from the bible, Jesus never asked anybody to watch Fox News, either. Read your bible. You won't find it.
Fox, of course, could not just let this pass without comment.
So this morning the fair-and-balanced network had on Bishop Harry Jackson, who was told by God in 2004 to work for the reelection of George W. Bush. (The Lord works in mysterious ways.) I don't have a video of the exchange, but Mediaite grabbed a screen shot with the precious chyron: "WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?/ JACKSON: UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE AMORAL."
The only proper response to this sort of stuff is the one the actual pastor Mike Huckabee delivered in late 2007, when he was asked what Jesus would do about the death penalty. “Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office,'' Huckabee said. “That's what Jesus would do." Amen.
Next up on Fox, MSNBC and the rest: Will Jesus-Shaped Shark Attack Bites Driven In High Speed Car Chases Rescue Health Care From The Coming Swine Flu Pandemic?
UPDATE: Here is the Bishop Jackson video.
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1
Wow, this was a pointless post. Even for you, Mike.
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Michaelr is clearly jealous that Joe Klein refered to the health-reform debate as 'surreal' and wanted to crank up the surrealism an additional notch!
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"Bishop" Jackson needs to read the good news. The Gospels are pretty darn clear Jesus actually was the CEO of a universal healthcare system which boasted a large staff of healthcare providers. Jesus instituted his system as a radical reaction to the one run by elite priests & doctors who charged exhorbitant rates for services (providing prayers & poultices) which were wholly ineffective & usually required long walks from the hinterlands to the Jerusalem Temple. In contrast, Jesus' system was portable, free, effective & open to all. I think the Gospels call 'em "miracles."
The Constant Weader at http://www.RealityChex.com
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I used to say that Republicans believed in "faith based" health care, as in: "you better pray to God you don't get sick in America!"
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Well, there it is. Jesus was a single payer non-profit tax exempt self-insurer and part of a 12 apostle co-op that forced the free market prices up for the rest of the Roman world. The Colosseum had outrageous medical bills to offset all that "laying on of hands" that couldn't be coded by the HMO's. Jesus... irresponsible socialist goon.
It's nice to hear that Mike Huckabee acknowledges that he is not nor has he ever been on the side of the angels. Let's all giggle.
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6
Huckabee was over in Israel yesterday making speeches about how much Obama stinks. You'd think that Huckabee blowing up the "water's edge" doctrine of criticizing the president would be a big story, but I guess something he said in 2007 is more important at Time Magazine.
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Yeah, that was a nice dodge by Huckabee to avoid explaining how the GOP position on the death penalty is consistent with their incessant prattling about Jesus and the godless Dems. Boy, those were fun times.
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And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves […] And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? [Matthew 21:12 – 21:16]
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Huckabee's latest assault has him stating that a 2-state solution shouldn't/couldn't/wouldn't happen to the Palestinians. Apparetnly he wants them to find somewhere else to live - personally, I vote for Arkansas.
He's starting to make Avigdor Leiberman look mild and generous.
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Many people who call themselves religious conservatives and wear WWJD bracelets also like to forget about how Jesus threw the moneychangers out of the temple. Or who came up with the idea of the separation between church and state about 1800 years before our founding fathers did.
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[...] le commentaire 3 à cet article qui constate que ceux qui savent ce que Jésus veut se sont enfin décidé à rentrer dans la danse [...]
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Only an idiot (or a Fox viewer -- but I repeat myself) would care what that predictable old fraud Harrry Jackson has to say about anything.
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Nice wingnut you've linked to on Beliefnet, Michael. McGinty's opinioning is supposed to do exactly...what? Backup your smirky post? If so, then it's a Fail.
No doubt Jesus also wants people to watch Ed Shultz...
Not a peep from you when some media nutjob 'jokes' about poisoning the Speaker of the House or calls on God to 'protect our country'...but when Schultz criticizes this country's Christian leadership for their selective support of various policy initiatives, you post the blog equivalent of getting the vapors.
Oh, and Schultz is right about his other point...Providing for the sick and poor is a moral imperative; you can't call yourself a Christian and believe differently without inviting a charge of hypocrisy.
Next up on...
And in what way is this post by you any different, Michael?
Amen
Fitting that you would appreciate a non-answer, Michael.
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Sigh. Mike, it's not about your cynicism or capacity for irony. (or your capacity for false equivalence). It's about what our country should do about a very hard problem. Try doing your job. Karen is at least trying.
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Good ole Ed Schultz got into it, apparently, with Bill Nelson, told him a thing or three, as recounted over at Greg Sargent's blog After Senator Nelson Called To Complain, He And MSNBC's Ed Schultz Had Yelling Match Over Public Option | The Plum Line.
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James, to me the interesting thing about that was that the argument was Off Air.
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The subtext from Nelson seems to be "Ed this is all a game, don't you get it?" -
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It is almost as funny as when Nelson called that Nebraskan restaurant owner who was starring in ads against him to try and intimidate him. Nelson gave him some junk line about supporting a public option, and the guy asked a few more questions and got Nelson to admit that he supported a public option--but only if it was illegal for the public to join it.
Nelson needs to stay off the phone and do what he does best: vacuum up insurance company bribes donations.
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Oh, and check out this latest development in the ongoing Republican assassination of the concept of bipartisanship:
Sen. Jon Kyl just confirmed the suspicions of most liberals fearful that the White House is giving away too much in the health care debate.
The Senate Republican whip, speaking to reporters on a conference call from his home state of Arizona, said that even if the Democrats do away with a government-run insurance option, the GOP most likely won't support the bill that's being written in the Senate.
"I think it's safe to say that there are a huge number of big issues that people have," Kyl said, referring to Republican senators. "There is no way that Republicans are going to support a trillion-dollar-plus bill."
...
"I have no doubt that they can make it revenue neutral to find enough ways to tax the American people, but that doesn't mean the Republicans will support it," Kyl said.No matter how much is given up, a health reform bill won't get Republican votes. Period. Time to stop pretending otherwise.
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16.1
Agreed. This act of the Kabuki is over.
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Thank Godot for the honesty Senator Kyl.
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Playing out EXACTLY as the stimulus bill. The White House tries to wheel and deal with people who won't support him. Ever. On anything. -
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Exactly. So it's now perfectly clear to everyone that Obama is no "partisan" and who's the skunk at the picnic. I hope it was all worth it when we get to the end of this thing.
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16.4
Harry Reid is useless. There's so much talk of needing 60 votes and that's just wrong. If any Democrat votes for a filibuster, they should lose their seniority. Got to the back of the line. End of story.
Blue Dogs, moderates, whatever they call themselves, can vote against it in the full chamber. If you're going to filibuster the main legislation of your own party, why should the party support you?
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Since Kyl is the type of guy that lies to the Supreme Court, even when he is talking about how much he hates average Americans, you have to wonder if he is understating the case.
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Does that question REALLY need to be asked? I mean, given that we live under a secular government, not everyone in America is Christian, it's a leading question, etc.
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Oh and Huckabee sucks. "I didn't major in math, I majored in miracles." -
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Today at 5 pm, President Obama is having a conference call with several thousand of the Faithful Reform in Health Care "people of faith." If I get off work on time, and get a chance to talk, I'll quote some of Mr. Scherer's comments, the comments where he's quoting Jesus.
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Yeah, I think Jesus supports universal healthcare.
I think those of us who want it need to be out beating the hustings, instead of complaining about Obama so much. Collectively we have made it pretty easy for the right to swamp public opinion. Kudos to Ed, though I don't watch him with any regularity. Too shrill for my tastes.
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Michael Scherer:
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You knew it was coming..
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What, something from the political press corps that's completely irrelevant to the question of what policy would be best for most ordinary people (and that tiresomely advances the "both sides are equally bad" storyline/ideology)?-
20.1
Please let's not forget that at least when Ed Schultz posed the question is took place just prior to Obama's meeting with the religious community so they could weigh-in on the health care reform debate. So what's Michael's reasoning for bringing the religious aspect up today? could it be as a distraction away from the Christian right opposition in the media of the "C Street Family" You know that so-called secret christian organization championed by some many like Senators Tom Co-burn, Ensign, Inhofe and Governor Sanford? Just another shiny object Michael?
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But the point remains...where are all the "Christians" and religious leaders on the health care issue? They didn't appear to have problems discussing issues in the run up to the election, why the silence now?
I was taught to love my brother as myself, and I am my brothers keeper - that what you do for the least of these you do for me. Unfortunately in our "it's all about me" society, the true tenants of Christianity are easily dismissed - until it's convenient for "Christians" to lord their religion over the rest of us.
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21.1
It's simple, they are hiding. The Rick Warren contingent made it clear that Christians had more concerns than just abortion and gay marriage. They wanted to be viewed independent from the Republican Party. So now here's comces an issue that is tailor made to coincide with Jesus' mission to heal the sick and the only way to support it is to abandon their Republican masters. Obviously, they are not nearly as independent as they pretend to be. Because they are putting the need to be loyal Republicans over the tenets of their faith -- and it's now screw the sick.
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http://www.ucc.org/health-care-reform/Status-quo-2.html
A lot of us Christians are "Praying Until Something Happens" (operation PUSH) on health care reform. But we don't get on TV.
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Next thing you know Fox will claim "ObamaCare" is the sign of the apocalypse or something...
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[...] is the original post: What Would Jesus Do About Health Care? - Swampland - TIME.com Tags: christian, country, democrats, facebook, jesus, michael-scherer, obama, republican, [...]
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Jesus not only provided universal coverage, but it also didn't cost one trillion dollars. Once the Dems figure out how to do that, I'll be on board.
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25.1
Luke 18:18 ~ The answer to the dollar amount from Jesus' perspective is "unlimited". While most of us do not consider that practical, if we're speaking literally of his position on the matter, there is no cost too high.
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