Forgive Me, Father

Watching and hearing Obama reach out to Christians and appealing that his health care plan is a "moral obligation", I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, or both. On the one hand, I kind of feel sorry for the guy. It's obvious he's reaching. Not necessarily reaching out, just reaching desperately for anything that might stick. But on the other...

Before I tackle the moral obligation aspect of public/universal health care, didn't anyone find it rather offensive that Obama called out those against his plan as "bearing false witness"? He's my president, not my pastor or spiritual leader (gotta wonder if the anti-religion loons on the far-left were similarly bothered by that remark, but for a totally different reason). Besides, who exactly is Barack Obama to call me a liar in light of what we know and don't know about his plan?

I agree that as a moral and just society, we must provide and care for those who can't help themselves (notice I said can't...not won't). Everyone should have access to health care, and for those that need assistance, government should step in. Sound familiar? It should. It's mainly what we have now in the form of Medicare, Medicaid, and free ER visits for the uninsured. Is this good enough? What about those who don't meet the criteria for government assistance yet run into trouble with health care? Those are valid questions worth pondering.

Here's something else to ponder: if we have a moral obligation to provide access to health care for everyone, then we also have the moral responsibility to ensure that we don't unnecessarily burden our neighbors by selfish, personal actions and/or misguided priorities. If I am a 25-year-old with a perfect medical history who has decided to chance it and not purchase adequate medical insurance, then I suddenly come down with a catastrophic illness and can't pay the medical bills, is it your responsibility to cover me? Hmmm.

Many on Obama's side use that very scenario to justify mandating health care for everyone, just like automobile insurance. They have a good point here. The problem is, of course, that they want to run the show and not let individuals and the private sector take the lead. Former senator Rick Santorum nailed the moral obligation argument when he stated the following on Greta Van Susteren's On The Record last night:

...But the question is, is it's (sic) our obligation to provide. I mean, the reason the Catholic church, for example, has hospitals all over the country is because the Catholic church felt it was an obligation for them and for the community to provide. It isn't the obligation for the government to do it. Then you're really taking the obligation from you and from the family and from the community and from -- from each of us individually and -- and to do -- and giving it to some, you know, rather feckless organization, the federal government, to provide care for us.

I certainly hope this is good enough for Pastor Obama. Otherwise, Reconciliation on Saturday between 3 and 4 PM in the Oval Office.