Faith groups, including the Episcopal Church, are fighting back against those who would keep health care options in the hands of those who have given us the current system of being a country with the most money spent on health care and one that leaves out large numbers of those who cannot afford good health.
The Boston Globe reports:
President Obama’s allies are ramping up their efforts for healthcare overhaul as the battle moves full bore back into local congressional districts and out of Washington.
Opponents of the healthcare bills being pushed by congressional Democrats have been raging at town hall meetings held by members of Congress, protests organized in part by conservative and business groups and cheered on by Republicans.
So Obama’s grassroots group from the campaign, Organizing for America, sent an email out to the millions on its list, urging supporters to visit their members of Congress in their offices. The email names each supporter’s representative and offers help on the message.
From Columbus Dispatch:
God wouldn’t deny anyone a doctor, affordable medicine or any other medical needs, religious leaders are preaching in the midst of a nationwide debate about health-care reform.
Faith groups are lobbying Congress and working to gain support among laypeople for a health-care system that offers affordable coverage to all, though they largely leave the specifics of how that would happen to the legislators.
….
Congress is on recess until after Labor Day, and members are holding town meetings in their districts and providing other opportunities for constituents to weigh in on health care. President Barack Obama has said he’d like to pass health-care reform by year’s end.
In the meantime, an interfaith coalition called Faithful Reform in Health Care, based in Cleveland, is asking its members to hold “health-care Sabbaths,” a chance to pray for “those who are victimized by the current system,” said the Rev. Linda Hanna Walling, founder of the group.
The victims include both uninsured and insured Americans who are being overwhelmed by the cost of health care, she said.
The group offers congregations an adult-education curriculum on health care.
According to Christianity Today:
President Obama has accepted an invitation to speak during a public call-in about health care reform on August 19. The call will be open to the public, streamed live, and include a coalition of religious groups ranging from Sojourners to Faith in Public Life to the National Baptist Convention. More details will be released this afternoon.
The coalition released the “40 Days for Health Reform” initiative this morning, including a national TV ad featuring Christians arguing for healthcare reform, prayer events, meetings with members of Congress, and a nationwide health care sermon weekend on August 28-30.
A web site has been launched to combat erroneous information and lies spread by those who oppose health care that is affordable and accessible and portable. See it here.
Suggestions for action from Faithful America are here.
General Convention 2009 Resolutions:
Adoption of a “Single Payer” Universal Health Care Program
40 Minutes for Health Reform is sponsored by:
Faith in Public Life; Faithful America; PICO National Network; Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good; Sojourners; National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.; Progressive National Baptist Convention; Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism; NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby; United Methodist Church General Board of Church & Society; The Episcopal Church; Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference; Jewish Council for Public Affairs; Gamaliel Foundation; Faithful Reform in Health Care; Unitarian Universalist Association; African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME); The New Evangelicals; National Council of Churches; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; United Church of Christ; The Latino Leadership Circle; Christian Community Development Association; Islamic Society of North America