The Religious Left already had their celebratory news releases
primed and ready for the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on
Obamacare.
“We as churches follow the bold example of Jesus, who healed the
sick, sometimes breaking the religious law that governed society,”
the National Council of Churches (NCC) somewhat boastfully
explained. “Our members have always believed that health care is
not simply another worthy cause to which we lend our name.”
The NCC claims to speak for 40 million U.S. church members in 37
denominations, although few church goers likely are aware of their
purported spokesman. As the NCC further outlined:
“Christians believe that human beings — all of them — are
infinitely-valued children of God, created in God’s image. Adequate
health care, therefore, is a matter of preserving what our gracious
God has made. That is why churches (and other religious
communities) have established so many hospitals and other places of
healing. And why we are convinced that health care is not a
privilege, reserved for those who can afford it, but a right that
should be available, at high quality, to all.”
The recollection of church founded hospitals is ironic, because
as usual the NCC interprets a social good to mean primarily
government controlled and/or provided. The United Methodist Board
of Church and Society on Capitol Hill also chimed in that Obamacare
is a “huge step in the right direction and we celebrate provisions
in that law that continue to fill the gaps and expand existing
health care, particularly to low-income Americans.”
Notice the Methodist lobbyist said Obamacare is only a “step”
towards what is the denomination’s official position, which is
single payer health care. The Methodist lobbyist noted their
church’s position is “informed by biblical and theological
witness.”
The Presbyterian Church (USA) Stated Clerk also joined the
celebration: “We rejoice today as the Supreme Court rules to uphold
constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.” The Presbyterian
rooted their pro-Obamacare stance in being “Reformed Christians,”
as though socialized medicine were intrinsically Calvinist. And he
made clear his church’s support for “single payer” as the “best
vehicle for providing such health care resources.”
The most left-leaning Mainline denomination is the United Church
of Christ, whose president rhapsodized about the Obamacare court
ruling: “The Supreme Court decision today is a clear signal that we
as a country are moving toward the realm of God on earth — the
realm of this merciful, compassionate God, full of love for
all.”
So Obamacare is ushering in God’s Kingdom. There is the old
Social Gospel confidence, still expressed by dying denominations
captive to it, that equates Big Government with divine rule. An
interfaith statement organized by the by the Washington
Interreligious Health Care Working Group and Faithful Reform, both
of which are pro-Obamacare lobby groups, expressed hope that with
“legal challenges behind us,” the nation will embrace Obamacare .
More so, they hope Congress will take the next logical “next step
toward health care justice, by adopting a single-payer health
system for the good of all.” And, “We pray that our elected leaders
will accept the decision of the Supreme Court and will diligently
facilitate the full implementation of this vital, life-giving
law.”
In stark contrast, a leading spokesman for the 16 million member
Southern Baptist Convention failed to discern Obamacare’s
“life-giving” nature. “It is astonishing that the majority of the
justices did not see the bill for what it really is: a blatant
violation of the personal freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution
and perhaps a mortal blow to the concept of federalism,” thundered
Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty
Commission. “When a government begins forcing citizens to purchase
what it thinks is important or necessary, that government takes a
dangerous step away from the freedom-embracing, democratic model,”
Land said.
Land also warned: “Greater government involvement in medical
care also means that the sick, elderly and terminally ill will
suffer.” And ultimately, Obamacare “will destroy much of what
Americans hold dear.” Land cited the infamous
contraceptive/abortifacient mandate on religious groups still
facing litigation. The U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops
reiterated their opposition to Obamacare, after the court ruling,
based on the mandate and Obamacare’s facilitation of abortion
funding.
Major Evangelical Left voices are so far mostly quiet, maybe
calculating how carefully to navigate their hope for government
controlled health care while retaining credibility with pro-life
and mostly instinctively conservative evangelicals. Overall, the
Religious Left embraces Obamacare because it locates transcendent
authority in centralized Big Government without really caring about
the cost to civil society and liberty. In contrast, traditional
faith is more realistic about the moral and practical limits of a
huge and coercive regulatory welfare state that aspires to solve
every human need.
The debate over Obamacare showcases competing religious visions
of America. One has faith in centralized state power as the primary
guarantor of justice. The other less bureaucratically believes
health care and other human goods are better achieved through the
efficiency, accountability, and greater compassion of civil
society. One vision implies religion is ultimately subordinate to
the state, while the other retains faith that religion
transcendently includes much more than the temporal delivery of
material goods and services.
