Religions are, essentially, symbolic and ceremonial ways
of depicting what an ideal society might be like.
Most religions have come down through history to us
from the time when people found it easy to think of the universe
as having gods and ghosts and demons and angels and imps.
In order to actually perceive the universe that way today,
one has to send one's brain on a vacation, and imagine
a world with leprechauns and tooth fairies and fiery chariots;
one with evils spells and miracles and hellfire and resurrections.
We know the world does not work that way, but once
people did, and most religions preserve the trappings.
But if you set aside the furniture of worldviews that are
millenia old, it is obvious that a religion is a way to think about
what an ideal society might be, and to try to achieve it.
Sometimes it is about absolute justice, or an absolute
moral code. Sometimes it is about achieving serenity
and balance with everything else. Sometimes it is about
living in peace with others, caring for the strangers in our midst,
or about being accepting and kind and honest and fair.
It almost does not matter which religion one might choose:
it would seem that almost any religion would want a society
in which everyone could have access to health care;
not because one had a good job, or a union contract,
or an enlightened employer, or an inheritance.
Just health care for everyone! Good health care! A shared
responsibility for each other. In fact, all industrial nations
except our own have that. We are way down on the list.
I can almost understand Libertarians. They think it is
a dog-eat-dog world, and that they are big, smart dogs.
I understand that there are greedy bastards, who want it all
for themselves, and the rest of you be damned!
I even understand that some people simply are afraid
of change, anxious for balanced budgets, and uncertain.
I do not understand how any religious person can oppose
the idea that, in a decent society, everyone should have
health care. Not almost everyone: everyone! It is to
the advantage of everyone that people be healthy!
So where are all these members of an ideal society?
They are veiling their women, or excluding them from
their priesthoods. They are telling women what to do
with their bodies; or sewing their genitals shut. They are
screaming obscenities at a Black President, and comparing
universal health care to German concentration camps.
They call counseling people who are going to die
Death Panels, and speak of it as "killing Grandma"!
An honest debate about the best kind of health care system
would be a good thing. There is room for disagreement.
But how can any religious person not be an advocate for
health care for everyone? That is a religion not worth having.
Maybe that is it.
of depicting what an ideal society might be like.
Most religions have come down through history to us
from the time when people found it easy to think of the universe
as having gods and ghosts and demons and angels and imps.
In order to actually perceive the universe that way today,
one has to send one's brain on a vacation, and imagine
a world with leprechauns and tooth fairies and fiery chariots;
one with evils spells and miracles and hellfire and resurrections.
We know the world does not work that way, but once
people did, and most religions preserve the trappings.
But if you set aside the furniture of worldviews that are
millenia old, it is obvious that a religion is a way to think about
what an ideal society might be, and to try to achieve it.
Sometimes it is about absolute justice, or an absolute
moral code. Sometimes it is about achieving serenity
and balance with everything else. Sometimes it is about
living in peace with others, caring for the strangers in our midst,
or about being accepting and kind and honest and fair.
It almost does not matter which religion one might choose:
it would seem that almost any religion would want a society
in which everyone could have access to health care;
not because one had a good job, or a union contract,
or an enlightened employer, or an inheritance.
Just health care for everyone! Good health care! A shared
responsibility for each other. In fact, all industrial nations
except our own have that. We are way down on the list.
I can almost understand Libertarians. They think it is
a dog-eat-dog world, and that they are big, smart dogs.
I understand that there are greedy bastards, who want it all
for themselves, and the rest of you be damned!
I even understand that some people simply are afraid
of change, anxious for balanced budgets, and uncertain.
I do not understand how any religious person can oppose
the idea that, in a decent society, everyone should have
health care. Not almost everyone: everyone! It is to
the advantage of everyone that people be healthy!
So where are all these members of an ideal society?
They are veiling their women, or excluding them from
their priesthoods. They are telling women what to do
with their bodies; or sewing their genitals shut. They are
screaming obscenities at a Black President, and comparing
universal health care to German concentration camps.
They call counseling people who are going to die
Death Panels, and speak of it as "killing Grandma"!
An honest debate about the best kind of health care system
would be a good thing. There is room for disagreement.
But how can any religious person not be an advocate for
health care for everyone? That is a religion not worth having.
Maybe that is it.
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