I don’t know if you heard the news, but the government shutdown yesterday.
They should really talk about that sort of thing on the news more so people are aware of what’s going on.
Well, in an effort to help spread the word I wrote my monthly Church & State column for A Deeper Story today. I focused more on the Christian response to healthcare than the actual shutdown, but hopefully it will still help more people become aware of the fact that the government has shutdown.
And as I usually do in my posts here, I tried not to reveal my own thoughts on a sensitive issue, nor did I refer heavily to Matthew 25.
By which I mean I definitely did both.
Anyway, here’s a quick preview below. I hope you’ll click through at the bottom and check out the rest of it.
I have to admit I had a hard time deciding how to respond to the government shutdown.
There’s just so many different angles to choose from.
I could rant about how the far right wing of the GOP apparently thinks we’re all dumb and ignorant about how the political process works, how they assume none of us were paying attention in third grade when we learned that negotiation and debate take place before laws are passed, then those laws are voted on, and if passed and not struck down by the Supreme Court, they become law. But apparently they think we’re stupid enough to believe that a minority or Congressional members can just hijack the political process and call a do over when they don’t get their way. Because apparently Congress operates on playground rules.
Actually that last part may be true.
I could point out the blatant hypocrisy in those who rail against publicly funded and mandated healthcare one day, then get up the next morning and take their kids to get a publicly funded and mandated education.
Or I could talk about how the far right wing of the GOP seems to care more about winning at all costs than they do helping the American people or, you know, actually doing their jobs and passing a budget.
But since this is a faith and politics column I want to talk about how, as people who claim to be emulating Christ to the world, we should be responding to the mess over the Affordable Care Act.