Friday, September 8, 2023

SojoMail - Who would Jesus cut from Medicaid?

SojoMail

Lauren W. Reliford writes in this week's SojoMail that kicking millions of people out of their health care program is a failure of Christian imagination:

When I teach people how to advocate on Capitol Hill, I say that the best way to appeal to legislators is to build a common vision for humanity rooted in shared values. Early in my political advocacy career, I assumed that as a Christian, I’d have an easier time of this since more than 87 percent of Congress claims to share my Christian faith.

For me, this faith has always been rooted in Jesus’ lived example of how we are to be unapologetic in our support for each other. And when Jesus says, “love thy neighbor as thyself,” I imagined this meant, well, help thy neighbor, assist thy neighbor, care for thy neighbor, nurture thy neighbor — all without condition or justification, just as Jesus did.

But since then, I’ve learned a serious lesson about the limitations of the Christian imagination in politics. Despite our shared faith, many lawmakers in this country don’t seem to envision a country where we actually put these values into practice. My latest disappointment? Millions of people losing Medicaid coverage — our nation’s primary public health system that provides health care and support for folks with low income and/or disabilities — because states refuse to do the right thing.

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