Michael Bresciani
Obamacare - - what would the Great Physician say?
By Michael Bresciani
In the Obama campaign he was asked what he thought of Jesus Christ. His reply was that when he first heard of Christ he thought that Jesus was a person he would like to know more about. No one can say if he has taken up that quest as yet but here is something he has obviously missed so far.
Americans may be showing a bit of emotion in response to the proposed Health Care bill but they are not the slightest bit impressed with the theatrical sideshows at the Obama Townhall meetings. Michele Malkin who offers a closer look at the meetings has compiled an illustrated guide to the attendees and questions proffered at the Obama meetings on her website entitled 'The illustrated guide to Obamacare human props.'
Everyone in these meetings exhibits the quality of having been chosen, rehearsed and choreographed. What America do these people come from? Do they come from the same America that the dissenters who were kept outside of the meetings do?
When Republicans were in the majority and conservatism flourished they kept partisanship alive by drawing a circle around themselves large enough to take in the Democrats and liberals. At one of the most recent Obama town hall meetings one of the perfectly orderly attendees stood up to ask the question of whether it would be expedient to just bring in the Health Care package without the Republicans. Now, the circle is being tightened to exclude those who do not agree signaling both the death of partisanship and worse the death of yet more disposable Americans.
Did the Jesus that Barack Obama said he wanted to know more about address this seemingly modern or contemporary issue? Without resorting to the difficult theological explanation of plenary verbal inspiration we can answer with an unequivocal, yes.
When asked about his youth and what standing he would have against the ancient and revered patriarchs such as Abraham, Jesus replied with "...Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." (Jn 8:58) It is not the only scripture passage that confirms that Christ was pre-existent and co-eternal with God the Father but it is one of the clearest. What this means is that when the Ten Commandments, the moral, ceremonial and hygienic laws and all prophetic utterance of the prophets were given it was Christ speaking.
Exactly what did The Great Physician (Luke 4:23) say about the elderly and the ailing and how did he deal with them both in the ancient world and during the time of his public ministry?
Crowds instinctively knew that Christ was the great healer and they brought the sick, the lame and the diseased to him by the thousands. His response; he healed them all.
This show of compassion lasted three years and was seen everywhere across the land of Israel in almost every major town and city. It is this example that has inspired some to become doctors or to seek service as medical missionaries throughout the world. It is what inspired some to pray through for some individuals and see vast improvements in the sick or total healings just for praying.
It is the kind of compassion taught by Christ's example that gives hope to anyone who is seriously sick, that those around him will do anything and everything they can, at any expense to preserve their lives. This is the Christ our President said he would like to know more about!
Regardless of what clinical language is used the idea of offering the elderly an option for an assisted suicide is insulting to a life well lived and it is the evidence of a society that has decayed to the point of reprobation.
Not only may some elderly people be in the early stages of senility or dementia and unable to make informed decision but they will have to endure the frightening signal that their lives are no longer considered worth the living. Aging is difficult enough for the elderly, now will we add the emotional strain of knowing that those around them see them as expendable, disposable?
But what did Christ say about the elderly. Exactly what is God's view of the geriatric citizens of our nation? Here is where we want to read very carefully.
"And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs (white hairs) will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you." (Isaiah 46:4)
No one but Barack Obama himself can say what he learned in the Muslim schools in Indonesia or sitting at the feet of Rev Jeremiah Wright for twenty or more years but if he really wants to know Christ as he said, then he will come to this knowledge; Christ represents life. He healed the sick, raised the dead and condemned no-one before the time. He said, "...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)
On a visit to a nursing home some years ago I had the privilege of meeting a man who explained how he had served our country by flying in the Army Air Corp in both WWI and WWII. He was confined to a wheel chair but when he spoke of his service to the country it was as if he grew wings and took to the sky yet once again. My life has been made richer for meeting this man and I am grateful no one offered him a dignified exit strategy to end his wonderful life before I got to meet him and hear his story.
It is safe to say that there are thousands of nursing homes and elderly manors across this nation brimming with people who have similar stories. There are women who labored and worried night and day to bring their children up in safety while trying to steer them to make a good life for themselves. There are hard working men and heroes. They are all American and they all deserve to live out their lives in a natural and dignified manner without being offered a means to end their lives by government.
No, President Obama, we will not trade the dignity of our elderly Americans for the chance to sit in a room full of hand picked people who are only enamored with your dignity be it feigned or real. If you ramrod this bill through in a moment when America is off balance you will have to live with this mistake forever.
If you really want to know this man Christ better, as you said, then take a cue from these sayings made by the great Physician as he spoke through the ancient prophets and lawgivers. It says that rather than bowing to Saudi Kings you would gain more by rising in respect to acknowledge the elderly in your own nation who have helped to make America the great nation that she is.
The hoary head (white hair) is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness. (Proverbs 16:31)
Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:32)
© Michael Bresciani
August 13, 2009
In the Obama campaign he was asked what he thought of Jesus Christ. His reply was that when he first heard of Christ he thought that Jesus was a person he would like to know more about. No one can say if he has taken up that quest as yet but here is something he has obviously missed so far.
Americans may be showing a bit of emotion in response to the proposed Health Care bill but they are not the slightest bit impressed with the theatrical sideshows at the Obama Townhall meetings. Michele Malkin who offers a closer look at the meetings has compiled an illustrated guide to the attendees and questions proffered at the Obama meetings on her website entitled 'The illustrated guide to Obamacare human props.'
Everyone in these meetings exhibits the quality of having been chosen, rehearsed and choreographed. What America do these people come from? Do they come from the same America that the dissenters who were kept outside of the meetings do?
When Republicans were in the majority and conservatism flourished they kept partisanship alive by drawing a circle around themselves large enough to take in the Democrats and liberals. At one of the most recent Obama town hall meetings one of the perfectly orderly attendees stood up to ask the question of whether it would be expedient to just bring in the Health Care package without the Republicans. Now, the circle is being tightened to exclude those who do not agree signaling both the death of partisanship and worse the death of yet more disposable Americans.
Did the Jesus that Barack Obama said he wanted to know more about address this seemingly modern or contemporary issue? Without resorting to the difficult theological explanation of plenary verbal inspiration we can answer with an unequivocal, yes.
When asked about his youth and what standing he would have against the ancient and revered patriarchs such as Abraham, Jesus replied with "...Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." (Jn 8:58) It is not the only scripture passage that confirms that Christ was pre-existent and co-eternal with God the Father but it is one of the clearest. What this means is that when the Ten Commandments, the moral, ceremonial and hygienic laws and all prophetic utterance of the prophets were given it was Christ speaking.
Exactly what did The Great Physician (Luke 4:23) say about the elderly and the ailing and how did he deal with them both in the ancient world and during the time of his public ministry?
Crowds instinctively knew that Christ was the great healer and they brought the sick, the lame and the diseased to him by the thousands. His response; he healed them all.
This show of compassion lasted three years and was seen everywhere across the land of Israel in almost every major town and city. It is this example that has inspired some to become doctors or to seek service as medical missionaries throughout the world. It is what inspired some to pray through for some individuals and see vast improvements in the sick or total healings just for praying.
It is the kind of compassion taught by Christ's example that gives hope to anyone who is seriously sick, that those around him will do anything and everything they can, at any expense to preserve their lives. This is the Christ our President said he would like to know more about!
Regardless of what clinical language is used the idea of offering the elderly an option for an assisted suicide is insulting to a life well lived and it is the evidence of a society that has decayed to the point of reprobation.
Not only may some elderly people be in the early stages of senility or dementia and unable to make informed decision but they will have to endure the frightening signal that their lives are no longer considered worth the living. Aging is difficult enough for the elderly, now will we add the emotional strain of knowing that those around them see them as expendable, disposable?
But what did Christ say about the elderly. Exactly what is God's view of the geriatric citizens of our nation? Here is where we want to read very carefully.
"And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs (white hairs) will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you." (Isaiah 46:4)
No one but Barack Obama himself can say what he learned in the Muslim schools in Indonesia or sitting at the feet of Rev Jeremiah Wright for twenty or more years but if he really wants to know Christ as he said, then he will come to this knowledge; Christ represents life. He healed the sick, raised the dead and condemned no-one before the time. He said, "...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)
On a visit to a nursing home some years ago I had the privilege of meeting a man who explained how he had served our country by flying in the Army Air Corp in both WWI and WWII. He was confined to a wheel chair but when he spoke of his service to the country it was as if he grew wings and took to the sky yet once again. My life has been made richer for meeting this man and I am grateful no one offered him a dignified exit strategy to end his wonderful life before I got to meet him and hear his story.
It is safe to say that there are thousands of nursing homes and elderly manors across this nation brimming with people who have similar stories. There are women who labored and worried night and day to bring their children up in safety while trying to steer them to make a good life for themselves. There are hard working men and heroes. They are all American and they all deserve to live out their lives in a natural and dignified manner without being offered a means to end their lives by government.
No, President Obama, we will not trade the dignity of our elderly Americans for the chance to sit in a room full of hand picked people who are only enamored with your dignity be it feigned or real. If you ramrod this bill through in a moment when America is off balance you will have to live with this mistake forever.
If you really want to know this man Christ better, as you said, then take a cue from these sayings made by the great Physician as he spoke through the ancient prophets and lawgivers. It says that rather than bowing to Saudi Kings you would gain more by rising in respect to acknowledge the elderly in your own nation who have helped to make America the great nation that she is.
The hoary head (white hair) is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness. (Proverbs 16:31)
Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:32)
© Michael Bresciani
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