Some good conversations are taking place in various forums on the web. People are asking, with seriousness and honesty, why most Christians oppose universal health care.
Most of the evangelical Christians I know are Republicans. All of them, as far as I know, oppose universal health care (UHC). I'm not talking about opposing Obama's plan, or the Clinton plan. I mean, they oppose the very idea of universal health care, just as the Republican party has opposed it for as long as I can remember. No matter what form it might take, they're against it. Even if the economy were in great shape, Republicans would still oppose health care, and so would evangelical Christians.
Why is that?
Put aside your reasons for opposing the Obama plan--the cost, the timing, the details, the flaws, the uncertainties. I'm asking in a more general way: as a Christian, why do you oppose any kind of UHC, whether in the past, present or future? Are you merely embracing the full Republican ideological menu, which doesn't allow room for UHC? Or do you have biblical reasons?
It seems to me, and to other people asking this question, that UHC sounds like a made-to-order cause for Christians to champion.
If Jesus were here, would he agree that UHC is a bad thing, and that Christians should have nothing to do with it?
I'm just asking.
What is the biblical case against UHC? Why should Christians adamantly oppose it? Why does UHC violate Christian values?
Go ahead--give me a biblical (not a Republican) argument. Why should I, as a Christian, oppose universal health care? Because I'm really puzzled.
Most of the evangelical Christians I know are Republicans. All of them, as far as I know, oppose universal health care (UHC). I'm not talking about opposing Obama's plan, or the Clinton plan. I mean, they oppose the very idea of universal health care, just as the Republican party has opposed it for as long as I can remember. No matter what form it might take, they're against it. Even if the economy were in great shape, Republicans would still oppose health care, and so would evangelical Christians.
Why is that?
Put aside your reasons for opposing the Obama plan--the cost, the timing, the details, the flaws, the uncertainties. I'm asking in a more general way: as a Christian, why do you oppose any kind of UHC, whether in the past, present or future? Are you merely embracing the full Republican ideological menu, which doesn't allow room for UHC? Or do you have biblical reasons?
It seems to me, and to other people asking this question, that UHC sounds like a made-to-order cause for Christians to champion.
- Much of Jesus' ministry involved healing. Everywhere he went, he healed people.
- Jesus emphasized ministering to the poor, to the disadvantaged, to people unable to help themselves.
- UHC combines both of these emphases, which were so central to the heart of Jesus--healing, and providing for vulnerable or poor people.
- It is within our power, as the richest nation on earth, to provide UHC to all of our people. Lesser countries are doing it. Does it please God that we don't?
- People who lose their jobs also lose healthcare benefits; they are vulnerable people. Shouldn't a Christian be on their side? Or does the Bible support leaving these people to fend for themselves?
- When people die because they can't afford to get tests and procedures done, or go bankrupt because they had the misfortune to get cancer--is that something Christians should be party to?
- When it is within our power to help, and we don't--how is that characteristic of a Christian nation?
If Jesus were here, would he agree that UHC is a bad thing, and that Christians should have nothing to do with it?
I'm just asking.
What is the biblical case against UHC? Why should Christians adamantly oppose it? Why does UHC violate Christian values?
Go ahead--give me a biblical (not a Republican) argument. Why should I, as a Christian, oppose universal health care? Because I'm really puzzled.
Career-wise, I've been hanging around and writing about and cheering on churches and pastors for the past 25 years as my denomination's Communications Director.
There is a story in Acts chapter three about a man who was carried to the temple daily because he was lame from birth. One day Peter and John healed this man.
The question is, "How many times did Jesus go to the temple and walk past this man?"
With that in mind the answer to the question "When it is within our power to help, and we don't--how is that characteristic of a Christian?" becomes a little less obvious.
Anyone familiar with scripture knows that Jesus did not heal every sick person or assist every poor person. And, gave us no such command.
So, while an anti-universal stance may not be fully supported by scripture, neither is a pro-universal stance.
The issue may not be an evangelical christian "thing" but only appear as one as a result of the high population of evangelicals in the Republican party as opposed to those in the Democratic party.
I am a Christian that supports UHC, and this is why:
Luke 6: 27"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Proverbs 14: 21 He who despises his neighbor sins,
but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.
Isaiah 58: 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
1 John 4:16 God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
Mark 12: 28One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
1 Corinthians 13
1 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
I'm a Christian and I find it offensive that many so called followers of Christ are against Universal Health Care. They are clearly reading a different bible than I am.
If you see a man in need of bread, you could easily give the man bread from your plate. Neither Jesus nor the conservative would hear the man's plea for food and then force the person sitting next to them to give the hungry man some bread. Individual charity is fine, but forced charity is not.
Government healthcare removes the individual and forces some, against their will, to give their treasure to the government to do good.
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
I think this sums up my reasons pretty clearly:
"6 Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, 8 and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. 9 This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. 11 For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. 12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 13 Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right."
Nice try but no cigar Jess. First, the parable is taken out of context and if that's all you got your argument is pretty weak.
Secondly, The vast majority of people in this country without health care are employed.
I like the way that you described universal health
care. I live in a country with it, and the system has
slowly deteriorated.
Thank you for this article...I am a Christian and I stumbled upon this article because I went Googling around trying to figure out why so many "Christians" are opposed to UHC...it just so clearly seems to go against the Christian notion of love and helping one's neighbor...
I can see that the oft-repeated argument of "forced giving" has resurfaced but, again, my reply is, why are Christians FRETTING that their tax dollars might be (forcibly!) used to help someone with cancer or diabetes, preventative measures, etc.--whether it's "forced charity" or not, why is that such a bad thing?
On a different note, is there really a major difference between my tax dollars being used, against my will, to educate the children of others (I have no children and let's assume, for argument's sake, that I was privately educated my entire life) and being used to help a stranger's health? Yet public education isn't so hated. I might prefer to keep more of my tax dollars, but, as a Christian, it wouldn't bother me if my money were being used for either public education or public health.
Finally, the ONLY legitimate argument I feel Christians can make against UHC would involve matters such as abortion and other "hot topic" areas. Are those the real reasons Christians reject UHC?!