In God I Trust

After watching some of the discussion in the health care summit yesterday the real truth of the matter sank in. There is not a partisan disagreement over how health care should be handled in our nation. There is a sharp philosophical divide between those who believe that the solution lies in government and those who believe the solution lies in the marketplace. It is such times as these that I fondly remember the days that I knew little and cared less about what government was doing around me. The saying goes that "ignorance is bliss," and I was the biggest blister on the block.

My concerns began when government impeded my rights and responsibility as a parent. The more time spent on that rabbit trail, the more my eyes were opened to other government usurpations of personal responsibilities. Zealous to address the issues, it appeared that my trust could be put in conservative Republicans to present the answers. Wrong. The lesson learned was painful, personal, and spiritual. You can never put your trust in man - it is idolatry.

My view changed, not to one that there was no hope this side of Heaven, but to understand that God's ways are not our ways. The ability for the people to directly control the destiny of our government through the constitutional rule of law is a gift the Lord has given to Americans that is not equally enjoyed by all nations. The model envisioned by our founders has served us well for well over 200 years. But, watching yesterday I understood that whether the torch of freedom in America is passed to the next generation could well be determined in the next decade.

The Book of Genesis tells the story or Joseph. Disliked by his brothers, he was sold into slavery to Egyptians where he found great favor with the Pharoah. Through a series of circumstances, and an interpretation of a dream, he was the instrument to strategically place Egypt as a land of plenty when a famine occurred. Acting on behalf of the Pharoah, Joseph traded the people's money for food. Then he traded their cattle for food. And, finally, he traded their land and their labor for food and so enslaved a nation. The enslavement lasted 400 years. (Until the Lord heard their cries.)

The path of government provision of services that are not a legitimate government role leads to enslavement. Slavery is nothing more, nor less than when the product of one's labor belongs to another. In the case of the Egyptians and Israelites who sold themselves and their posterity for food, at least there was a reasoning that the alternative was starvation.

In the case of health care reform, the debate is not even over the delivery of health care services, but the provision of health care insurance and who will pay for that. And, the bad news is that increased health insurance does not necessarily increase access to health care services. Everybody in rural Texas can have health insurance, but there are still more cows than people in many of the counties and there are no doctors or hospitals in the areas. And, in the urban areas, the current socialized systems of health care that we have experimented with - Medicaid and Medicare - the reimbursement rates are so low that many patients cannot find a doctor who is filling to provide the services for the government rate of return. The result is long waits for a doctor's appointment and increased use of the emergency room. Yes, the government solution is exacerbating the problem it was intended to solve.

Do you trust your elected officials to solve this problem for you? Was personal virtue a factor in your last voting decision? Do you believe that the men and women whom you have elected have the personal virtue and courage necessary to stand strong in favor of your personal rights and responsibilities? Do you trust your fellow Americans to rise to the occasion of fulfilling their personal responsibilties?

Or, have you so lost trust in those who do not do the right thing that you are willing to give up your own rights and responsibilities to make sure that "everybody" is provided by government what you have worked and sacrificed to obtain? Do you believe that there is still a constitutional right to be an idiot (as one of my readers pointed out yesterday), or do you believe that the role of government is to protects its citizens from themselves?

I no longer know for certain whether or not our citizens have the personal virtue and political will to pay our debts and restore our nation. But:

This I know, that God is for me. In God whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust without a fear. What can man do to me? Psalm 56:9-11