Why Is It God's Way to Allow the Government Control Over Health Care – Life or Death – by Taxing and Rationing?

by Gary North
by Gary North
Recently by Gary North: M.I.T. Calls Academia's Bluff

I received an email from Jim Wallis today. You can read it here.

It had a link to a page: A Christian Creed on Health Care Reform.

This is odd language. I searched for "creed" in the on-line dictionary that is attached to the Google Toolbar. You can read the definitions here:

1. any system, doctrine, or formula of religious belief, as of a denomination.
2. any system or codification of belief or of opinion.
3. an authoritative, formulated statement of the chief articles of Christian belief, as the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, or the Athanasian Creed.

This seems clear. A Christian creed is a formal statement of faith drawn up by a representative ecclesiastical body. It is not a political position paper drawn up over a weekend.

Your introduction to your "creed" proclaims this:

In the face of negative ads, partisan rhetoric, and a news cycle filled with fear and half-truths about health-care reform, Christians must affirm that we believe in: quality, affordable access to life-giving services for all people.

Christians believe in personal responsibility before God. This has to do with the doctrine of final judgment: heaven and hell.

Jesus healed a few people. He did not heal everyone. To heal even a few people for free led to huge crowds lining up to get free health care from Jesus. So many came that Jesus withdrew to the wilderness to pray (Luke 5:15). He could not heal the entire nation, let alone the whole world. Your slogan does not limit concern to one nation. It is universal: "all people."

Christians affirm that the world is under a curse (Genesis 3:17–19). This curse involves death. It also involves thorns and thistles. It affirms, loud and clear, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." The economist says, "At zero price, there is greater demand than supply."

It was Satan, not Jesus, who suggested turning stones into bread (Matthew 4:3).

Nothing can heal everyone except God. The State is not God.

Sign "A Christian Creed on Health-Care Reform" and a copy of it will be sent to your members of Congress. In addition, after you sign you will be given a link to Sojourners' free discussion guide about health-care reform, to help guide discussions in your congregation or small group.

Your health care creed is more in the nature of a political party's platform. Let me explain. My comments are in bold.

I believe God created each person in the divine image to be spiritually and physically healthy. I feel the pain of sickness and disease in our broken world (Genesis 1:27, Romans 8:22).

This slogan sounds strangely familiar. "I feel your pain." Anyway, disease is part of God's curse. We are to pay out of our own pockets to roll it back, along with all other curses imposed by God because of sin. But there is nothing in the Bible that suggests that the State is to take money at gunpoint from one voting bloc to heal people in other voting blocs.

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August 21, 2009

Gary North [send him mail] is the author of Mises on Money. Visit http://www.garynorth.com. He is also the author of a free 20-volume series, An Economic Commentary on the Bible.

Copyright © 2009 Gary North

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