Today, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann suggested that America's only hope at stopping the plague of "Obamacare" was through "divine intervention." She urged all prayerful citizens to petition God for the repeal of this dreaded law.
Granted, the Congresswoman lives on the fanatical fringe, and I'm no Christian apologist or preacher. But, I have a question for Ms. Bachmann.
What would the biblical Jesus do?
While you ponder the question, peruse this passage of the New Testament in the Christian Bible:
Luke 8:43-44
King James Version (KJV)
43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,
44 Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
Now, the biblical text does not illuminate the extent of the woman's condition. We get neither diagnosis nor prognosis. All we know is that "a woman" was saddled with a "pre-existing condition" for twelve years. According to the biblical writer, the woman had expended her entire livelihood on doctors and could find no cure. No doubt, due to her womanly "blood condition," many doctors would neither touch nor treat her. Some biblical scholars surmise that the woman suffered from a chronic menstrual disorder affecting her ability to become pregnant...compromising her reproductive health and status in society. She appeared to be alone without husband or any visible means of support.
This ancient tale sounds eerily modern to me. How many women and others have been saddled with "pre-existing conditions" driving them into bankruptcy after exhausting their entire life savings? How many women, single and married, are currently fighting to prevent insurance companies from defining issues of reproductive health as "pre-existing conditions?" The woman with the "issue of blood," like many in America today, was simply struggling to regain her health and rejoin the ranks of productive citizens.
First came the condition...and then came "the garment."
Listen, I have no idea what the biblical Jesus would do. I do know what he did. The biblical text suggests that he presented "the border of his garment" as a cure for the woman's condition and an insurance policy against future complications. For many American families, Obamacare represents that metaphorical "garment" serving as a protective cloak against physical and financial ruin.
Why would any person of faith ask God to snatch that cloak of protection from the most vulnerable of the citizenry, Ms. Bachmann?
I'm no Bible-thumper...to put it mildly. But, there's nothing more distasteful than faux religiosity or Christian hypocrisy. Ms. Bachmann, apparently you "went to a meetin' one night," and your heart wasn't right. "Something gotta hold" on you!!! I'm just not sure what it is!!
Until we rendezvous...
Peace!!
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