10 for 10: Voting Vision not Division | On Healthcare

In this episode of "10 for 10: Voting Vision Not Division," Rev. Dr. George Mason, Rabbi Nancy Kasten, and Mara Richards Bim reflect on the role of healthcare in a faith-driven society. From the holistic healing ministry of Jesus to the ethical teachings of Maimonides, the discussion highlights the importance of universal healthcare access and the intersection of faith, medicine, and policy. As Election Day approaches, this episode invites voters to consider healthcare policies through the lens of compassion and justice, addressing issues like prescription drug costs, maternal health, and public safety.

What is 10 for 10: Voting Vision not Division? Starting on September 2, 2024 and continuing every Monday for ten weeks through November 4, Faith Commons is offering ten 10-minute reflections on topics related to the upcoming election through the lens of religion. Our premise is that religion should be used to unite people and groups of people rather than to divide them, and that the founders of our country shared our view.

Watch the video, here.

Mara (00:25):

Hi, welcome. I am Mara Richards Bim, and I am joined today by Reverend Dr. George Mason and Rabbi Nancy Castin. And we are Faith Commons. We are bringing you a program 10 for 10 voting vision not division over these 10 weeks. And this is week three. We will spend 10 minutes looking at topics that are important to voters of all faith traditions this season. Um, and we will wrap up just before election day. So our topic for today is healthcare, and to kick us off today will be George.

George (01:06):

Thanks, Mara. Well, I think when we talk about healthcare and Christianity, people might question whether the Christian faith has anything important to say about healthcare, because people tend to think that Christianity is all about salvation. And while that is true, uh, I think many people misunderstand or misinterpret what salvation really is. Uh, we think often that salvation is just getting people's hearts right with God so that when they die, they get to go to heaven. <laugh>. But salvation in the Bible has a much more holistic definition. In fact, the Greek word sozo, which is salvation, means both to rescue or deliver, and also to make whole or to heal. Mm-Hmm, <affirmative>. And those things are really very closely related. Uh, and so if you look at Jesus' own ministry, he came, uh, immediately into his ministry by performing healings. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, exorcisms in fact, which we can talk about as having mental health implications.

George (02:25):

But both physical and mental healings were a significant part of his ministry. Not just teaching, but also healing. And in fact, those healings, uh, often went beyond simply the physical to the social by, uh, people who had been marginalized being reintegrated into the community. Because when people have diseases or illnesses, they are often isolated. Sometimes people in those days, especially sometimes today too, think of those illnesses as having to do with, uh, sin in their lives. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And so, uh, the spiritual as well as the mental and physical are all tied up in our Christian faith in an important way. It's also important to recognize that when Jesus was doing these healings, he was often doing them, uh, with people on the margins of the community. Uh, people sometimes who were outside of Israel, Gentiles as well as, uh, people within the Jewish community. And so, uh, what we learned from that is that healthcare should not just be, uh, something that is only accessed by people who have privileges, who are, uh, able to, uh, manage the cost of it.

George (03:53):

Uh, but it should be accessible to everyone. So our faith tradition, uh, really, uh, focuses on this because we start from the end and work backward. That is to say we start with a vision of what we think God wants the world to be. And then we see in Jesus' ministry and the ministry he gave to the church as healing, being signs of that world to come in our present day. Uh, as a Baptist, I'm proud to say that Baptist and other Christians, as well as other religions have started hospitals and clinics and have always seen this as central to their work. But something people might want to know is the former pastor of, uh, the First Baptist Church of Dallas, George w Truett at a banquet in 1903, he stood up and said, is it not now time to build a great humanitarian hospital to which people of all faiths and no faith may come with equal confidence?

George (05:07):

That line led to the formation of what would become Baylor Hospital in Dallas. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> something I think we can be proud of. Uh, and as we go into the voting booth, I think these are the values we take with us that grow out of our faith tradition. We don't simply let science and medicine do this work. We also see this as part of our faith commitment and access. Universal access to healthcare for everyone regardless of their station in life is critically important. And when we see that taking place, we will sense that God's will is being done on earth as it is in heaven.

Nancy (05:51):

You know, George, um, the origin of healthcare as we know it today was actually in, in hostiles. Hostiles. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> were the predecessors of hospitals. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> hostels were the places where people who were wandering, moving from one place to the other, went to get everything they needed physically, spiritually. And, you know, in terms of, um, emotional and mm-Hmm. <affirmative> support. And so, um, healthcare and the care for the body Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> was integrated into providing food and rest and comfort and a place of home and security for, for people, um, of all stations. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And that developed into, um, a, a division of those kinds of, uh, services. But of course, faith communities participate in all of those ways of taking care of one another. The great Jewish scholar and philosopher and physician Maimonide who lived in the 12th century, uh, was the person who really spoke to the integration of science with the care of the House of the Spirit.

Nancy (07:08):

Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And he saw himself and other physicians and healthcare workers as being ordained by God. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> to take care of people's bodies. Nice. And in doing so, they had to know science. They had to continue to learn. They had to, um, not be swayed by politics or by charlatans Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> or by others who might, um, have other, uh, reasons for wanting to get into the medical field. I think when we look at the way our, um, healthcare system looks today in the United States of America, we've gone from a healthcare system that was based in taking care of people to a healthcare system that's based in financial gain. And that is an overall issue for our society. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. But when it comes to the policies that we can actually, um, think about and, and think about what will bring people the care that we need, and look, especially to this election, we need to look at policies that have to do with, for example, prescription drugs.

Nancy (08:14):

Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, do you know that McKesson? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> who distributes drugs? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> is the number one, uh, economic driver in Dallas today. Right. It's not, it's not oil and gas. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, it's not development of buildings or, you know, it's, it's mm-Hmm. <affirmative> healthcare. It's prescription drugs. And by the way, if, um, in the, you know, in the Republican platform, they want to take out the inflation reduction Act that Biden's, the Biden administration passed. Well, that will have incredible implications for the price of drugs for people in, uh, in our country. So, you know, we've got those, um, uh, those policy issues to think about. Do we see gun safety as a public health issue? Right. That's another one that we can think about. Um, how do we think maternal healthcare should be dealt with? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, we have the, we are our maternal mortality increasing rather than decreasing our infant brutality is increasing rather than decreasing here in the state of Texas.

Nancy (09:17):

We have to ask what were the policies that have led to that? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, we've managed to, you know, in the interest of economics, which is exactly what Maimonide warned against Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Um, we have reduced people's access to care and access to quality care. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> and some of our policies as well. Putting government into decision making positions for people's healthcare. Um, instead of leaving it to trained physicians who have been ordained to do that work, um, have, IM, you know, they've impacted our ability to keep our population healthy and take care of one another in the way that, um, we are intended to do.

Mara (09:59):

Well, thank you. And thank you for joining us, um, for this week's session. We hope that this helps inform your vote. And whatever you do, please do vote. We will see you next week.