Faith Groups to Help Obama on Health Care

[ProSense]

August 10, 2009 2:28 PM

Faith Groups to Help Obama on Health Care

Having let his push for comprehensive health care refom become bogged down by confusion over the details of his plan, President Obama this month is turning to the religious community to rally support for the fundamental idea of expanding health care accessibility.

As part of a major new initiative from the faith community, Mr. Obama on Aug. 19 will participate in a call-in and audio Webcast with at least 25 faith leaders -- from evangelical Christian, Jewish, Muslim and other religious traditions -- to aggressively encourage their congregations to support health care reform.

"Every so often there is an issue that is so clear and compelling, or so alarming and disconcerting, that it really does galvanize the faith community," said Reverend Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, one of the groups sponsoring the new initiative. "Inclusive, accessible, affordable health care for all of God's children is for us a moral issue."

As the health care debate turns more hostile, dozens of religious organizations are joining in an effort to emphasize the moral argument for reform. Their 40-day campaign kicks off today with the launch of an advertisement on national cable networks featuring local evangelical, Catholic, and mainline pastors and people of faith with the message that "millions of people of faith are supporting health care reform."

On Tuesday, faith leaders will hold 50 prayer vigils and rallies in 45 cities in 18 strategically chosen states to communicate to members of Congress that health care reform is a priority for the religious community. More than 14,000 people are expected to participate, organizers said in a conference call today.

Additionally, various congregations have committed to generating 55,000 phone calls and e-mails on the issue to their congressmen over the next 45 days, and faith leaders will converge in Washington on Sept. 15 to directly lobby Congress.

link

[tosh]

1. This is good...and right.

[MoJoWorkin]

2. President Obama has a few surprises up his sleeve yet, I believe.

Oh, ye of little faith!

[Cha]

6. I'm not even worried..I know

he wants it as badly as we do.

[mimitabby]

3. oh, this is great news!

[jesus_of_suburbia]

4. It's a good idea, and I'm glad President Obama is asking them to help.... BUT

I get so uneasy mixing politics with religion (even though I know every single President has done so).

That being said, religious people (especially Christians, I don't know too much about other religions) should be more than willing to make sure every American has healthcare. I'm certain Jesus would have wanted everyone to be taken care of (especially in a country as well off as ours is).


Anyway, THIS TIME it is for a good purpose, so I'm glad Pres Obama is doing it. ANYTHING it takes to eventually get healthcare for all is good in my book.

[DailyGrind51]

15. RW Evangelicals are working for the other side.

I'm glad we have some members of the "God Squad" on "our" team!O8)

[Bluenorthwest]

5. That is what they should be doing

Wallis is a good man.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

7. Maybe this is one reason he reached out to evangelical (not fundie) groups

since the start of his administration- despite many people's sometimes intense opposition to it? :shrug: Good to know we have some more allies in our corner. Not that the push to reform health care reform doesn't already have a moral foundation to start with but maybe some of these evangelical organizations can help put more of a focus on the moral underpinnings of this endeavor (as well as highlight questionable morality of those simply opposing health care reform).

[1776Forever]

8. Reverend Jim Wallis Center for Faith-Based & Community Initiatives

Reverend Jim Wallis helps head the Center for Faith-Based & Community Initiatives. Go here for more on this:

http://www.dol.gov/cfbci/

Our Mission

The Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (CFBCI) at the U.S. Department of Labor seeks to empower faith-based and community organizations (FBCO) as these organizations help their neighbors enter, succeed and thrive in the workforce.

[SpartanDem]

9. Good move

[Bleacher Creature]

10. It's moves like this one that trigger this memory.

[PurityOfEssence]

11. Disgusting

Remember: religion is NECESSARY. Religion is intrinsic to all modes of public discourse and the font of all good.

Whether Obama's Presidency is a success, failure, or something between, he will be remembered for shoving more godcrap down our throats than any other President to grace the post so far.

Religion, among other things, is a shortcut. It's a free pass, a wild card, a quick fix that allows one to skip the real mechanisms of life and jump straight to the finish line.

It has unintended consequences, and it is supremely dangerous: more than anything else, it must be remembered that religion plays for keeps. Although many believers aren't hell-bent on complete world-domination, the rest most decidedly ARE, and they use every toehold and precedent to justify and angle for more.

How is this not a major crossing of Madison's and Jefferson's wall? Sure, it doesn't defy Article One, but the Faith Based initiatives do: Congress authorizes funds to sustain those posts and the activities of the proselytes.

The argument so far has been that yeah, yeah, politicians should be able to voice their beliefs and all that, as long as they don't use their religious beliefs as justification for policy. Is this not what this is? The sly and pernicious inference here is that Jesus would have wanted us to have health care, and it's his big daddy's will writ large. I don't want that kind of abstract guesswork to be accorded the mantle of "fact", and I CERTAINLY don't want it to have the muscle of our government to enact its worldly paradise.

Any argument that can't be made with secular justifications doesn't deserve to win.

We should have universal health care because it is to everyone's detriment if we don't, whether their short-sighted selfishness and greed can see it or not. It can be demonstrated.

Somehow, far too many progressives and liberals snicker that he's "getting away" with something by playing this kind of greasy grandstanding, but he's just furthering the establishment of religion and reinforcing the subtle message that religion is NECESSARY.

To some of us, not only is it not that, it's not particularly good.

[DevonRex]

12. Greasy grandstanding? Poor, poor you. nt

[PurityOfEssence]

16. Yeah, well, when the God Cops come, just make sure you're dancin' to the right tune

These guys play for keeps.

[DailyGrind51]

20. Tell that to the Rev. Martin Luther King!

Try winning elections without the support of "people of faith"!

[PurityOfEssence]

22. "Support" is different than "permission"

Inviting them into the conversation is one thing, but giving them the power to justify actions with their supernatural guess is to endorse this mindset and thus marginalize those who differ.

Once one accepts things without proof, one can be twisted into doing almost anything; it's just a question of the mystic at hand and the willingness of people to stoke the fires.

Using religion as a justification for policy is selfish, dangerous, sloppy and cowardly. It also treads very close to being unconstitutional, and truly violates the spirit of our concept of secular government.

[DailyGrind51]

24. It does not meet the "establishment clause" since several faiths are represented!

Where is one faith advocated as a state religion?

[PurityOfEssence]

25. That is an incorrect interpretation of the clause

Article One reads "...respecting an establishment of religion...", not an establishment of a PARTICULAR religion. It's not the mere institutions, it's THE CONCEPT ITSELF.

Right wingers and theocrats have poisoned the discourse by repeatedly making a bullshit claim that the Amendment is only there so no particular sect can have preference over another. This is ABSOLUTELY NOT what was intended, and Madison is rather clear on it. Those who would have us believe this use it to further the spurious claim of this being a religious nation.

By continually repeating a hare-brained interpretation like this, what is driven home is the misconception that our government "approves" of religion. It does not. It doesn't "disapprove" of it either. It is to NOT be instituted as a given, and this is the slippery crap that those who wish to further erode the secularism of our intended government use with impunity.

The establishment clause is not simply about not having a state sanctioned religion; it is a statement that Congress shall stay out of the subject completely. That is why "In God We Trust" on money is unconstitutional: it's saying that we, as a people and a government, state that such an entity exists. That is a direct violation of the spirit and letter of the law. They've gotten away with it because it's somehow demanded that one "play nice" with religion, regardless of how it behaves.

I'd love to hear more than just a drive-by proclamation of a hoary bit of reactionary claptrap, so if anyone wants to chime in on it, please do.

It has nothing to do with "playing favorites", so the fact that no particular flavor of silliness is proffered is not a defense; the problem is the concept itself.

[DailyGrind51]

28. That is YOUR obviously biased interpretation.

Here is the interpretation from Cornell University Law School's Legal Information Institute:


"Two clauses in the First Amendment guarantee freedom of religion. The establishment clause prohibits the government from passing legislation to establish an official religion or preferring one religion over another. It enforces the "separation of church and state." Some governmental activity related to religion has been declared constitutional by the Supreme Court. For example, providing bus transportation for parochial school students and the enforcement of "blue laws" is not prohibited. The free exercise clause prohibits the government, in most instances, from interfering with a person's practice of their religion."

http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/First_amendment


However, if you prefer to go into some anti-religious diatribe, knock yourself out!

[anonymous171]

23. I don't care what arguments he uses to get this shit done,

mostly because I am not a religious zealot like you.

[kath]

13. WWJDC?

Whom would Jesus deny care?

I've long seen it as a moral issue (and "I don't even believe in Jeebus", as Homer Simpson said.)

[vaberella]

14. This is definitely one smart move. Send the translators out to the mob!! n/t

[TomCADem]

17. ITS ABOUT TIME! The Right Wings Efforts To Exploit The Gospel Sickens Me

A casual review of the bible will show that subject of the unborn/abortion is only mentioned in passing. Indeed, the Bible only directly suggests a fine in the event that you cause a woman to suffer a miscarriage.

Exodux 21:22 (Hebrew to English version): "And if men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart, and yet no harm follow, he shall be surely fined, according as the woman's husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine."

Not exactly abortion is murder, but the right wing has re-written this passage in some editions to support their views on abortion.

IN SHARP CONTRAST, the Bible is replete with references to poverty and the obligations to help those of limited means. Yet, you rarely hear the evangelicals discussing poverty. Instead, the Christian Coalition mobilizes their followers to support, of all things, oil drilling:

http://www.cc.org/2009_legislative_agenda

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Energy Independence and Reform
America's economic growth, national security and the health of our environment are all intertwined with our country's energy policies - and we need a better plan. We can better ensure our national security, strengthen our economy and protect our environment at the same time by developing American energy resources and investing in clean, renewable energy technologies that create American jobs.

In other words, we need an all-American "all of the above" approach to our energy needs. A solution that allows for the development of American resources to lower our gas prices, but also recognizes we must work towards a much more diversified energy future.

Delays increase the negative impact that climate related issues may have on the world's poor, who have less resources to cope with the impact of changing climate. Even as we work to reduce emissions, we need to be leaders in helping the most vulnerable deal with dwindling supplies of clean water, coastal flooding, and prolonged drought and famine. We believe that we have a scriptural obligation to care for what Matthew 25:40 refers to as "the least of these". As a result, helping the world's poor adapt to these circumstances, and preventing such circumstances where possible, with the introduction of new technologies, is a responsibility we should be willing to bear.

Defend the 2001 Tax Cuts
Christian Coalition worked to help former President Bush pass legislation that lowered federal taxes for virtually every family in America by a total of $1.3 trillion, (a bill which passed by a large bipartisan margin in the 107th Congress).

Unfortunately, the tax cuts are set to expire in 2010. Christian Coalition will work to defend those tax cuts and protect the income of America’s family’s from rising taxes under Barack Obama’s administration.

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Oppose Nationalization of Health Care
With a new Democrat in the White House and a larger Democrat majority in Congress, many liberals can’t wait to push for nationalization of our nation’s health care system. Such a program would put government in control of another huge chunk of the American economy, not to mention give bureaucrats a place between you and your doctor. And make doctors beholden to the government, not their patients.

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Even countries with nationalized systems such as Germany, Sweden and Australia have begun establishing some free-market alternatives to their government run programs, as the problems with these programs have become more obvious.

We believe doctors should have the flexibility to practice medicine according to the needs of their patients, not government mandates. We don’t believe government has a track record of success Americans can trust to run a quality health care system. The solutions to our health care problems lies with more patient and consumer control, not more government control.



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[BurtWorm]

18. Prayer vigils are gonna be a HUGE help with health care reform.

They work so well in every other circumstance, right?

;-)

[Autumn]

21. Look on the bright side. We may all

be able to get plenty of wine.

[FrenchieCat]

19. Sermon on the Mount, anyone?

[Douglas Carpenter]

26. GREAT NEWS!!! KICK AND RECOMMENDED!!!

[harun]

27. Good !!!