Religious Abuse

I know many of you will not be happy with this. Many hold "Religion" as the "Sacred Cow" of conversations. Few, if any, want to cut into it. I don't blame you. The process requires real skill to open up closed minds, and is often messy.

Fortunately, I do not have those skills. But I do have some real observations that I feel fully qualified to speak on.

Disclosure: I practice Native Spiritual ways and I am a Pipe Carrier, which is like a Priest in most religions. I doubt that more than a handful of my readers will even know a thimbleful about this Spiritual Practice. I will tell you this: It is a Walking way of life, and I recruit no one. Most would not find it compatible, nor doable. One must be chosen to this path, not recruited.

Like so many, I was outright appalled by one Senator, standing up before the entire Senate and saying that "We must pray for one of them to not make it.." He calls himself a devout Christian. Yet he prays against the Good Will and Safety of a colleague.

To what end? To deny the passage of a bill that would provide Health Care to a sick and sorry nation, wherein more than 45K die every year for lack of access. Many more times that suffer permanent damage and financial ruin for the lack of access to adequate health care.

That so many who call themselves Christians work so diligently to deny a basic human right of decent care to their fellow citizens, is appalling. Worse, few if any, of their 'spiritual leaders' denounce this horrid, cruel, selfish behavior. Worse, many are promoting these same mindset.

Church Leaders, especially those most cult-like in C Street, are praying for not only Health Care to fail, leaving millions to die in the coming decades, but also praying for the President of The United States to die a horrible death and soon.

Yet, they are regarded with respect and considered "Men of God". Clearly, their God is the Corporate God and not the God of the People. Do these 'Men of God' think that Jesus would be pleased to see their work?

I question now, and here, if in fact they believe in Jesus or the God to which they pray. I question it because all their actions and the aim of their prayers is towards the undoing of the common good, and the death and demise of those who try to bring it to us.

If they really believed in God, or Jesus, they would be working towards that which provides the most healing, both physical and spiritual, in this nation. Not praying and moving towards all that denies us both.

I have a lot of Atheists in my stream on Twitter. They are much kinder, more compassionate towards their fellow man than are these high and might Right Wing Christian Cultists. They hold themselves personally accountable for their actions. They do not blame the Devil, nor do they seek forgiveness or Papal Indulgences for their actions.

What has it come to when Atheists have more care and compassion for their fellow man than do the Christians who claim to follow the teachings of Christ?

To be fair, I do have many good Christians in that stream as well. In my personal life I have good friends who are active in their churches, and genuine practitioners of various faiths: Muslim, Anglican, Sufi, Hindu, Shinto and Buddhists. There are even a Wiccan or two in there.

All are equally appalled at the behaviors emanating from the Christian Extremists. The lies and the fear mongering, the outright terrorizing of anyone that tries to speak truth to ignorance, has been one of the more shameful displays of our Citizens behaviors. Thanks to You Tube, everyone in every nation has had a chance to view how ignorant, loud, aggressive and just plain mean-spirited so many of our politicians and their tea bag constituents can be.

Thanks to the shoot-from-the-hip and don't think about it mentality of John McCain, Sarah Palin has been elevated to the International Stage as our national Freak Show goes on the road. She proudly displays her ignorance, her lies and her fear mongering, as the main features of her Strong Christian Faith.

Lies are so commonly used to try and rewrite history, or twist one man's words to make them something they were not. Outright lies are now considered useful common tools for the Right Wing. "Whatever it takes" seems to be the motto.

They care nothing for Nation. They care nothing for Truth. They care only for power. What God would they pray to?

Our nation, among the strongest in the world, considered a leader in the world, is demonstrating a zealous, religious extremism that is appalling to all who believe in God, and to those who do not.

It creates the appearance of Insanity, which creates mistrust about our ability to deal reasonably or fairly in world events. Other nations look at our nation and see religious leaders praying for the cruelest of deaths to afflict our president... hear our highest paid talk show hosts calling for him to fail and for everyone to do what they can to make him fail... and they allude to the need for violence... And they hear from Al Qaeda the same thing. Do they not wonder? Do we all not wonder whose side the Christian Extremists are on?

Can they not see that they are in lock step with the rantings of Osama Bin Laden and the others?

Or do they not care?

Our previous Vice Prez, Cheney, has been praying for another 9/11 attack. He does so, and so do many who follow him, so that our Nation will once again, be buckled by shock and grief, despair and his party can once again, step to the helm and steer us into oblivion, while the Religious Right prays and praises them.

There is madness out there. It is all around us. But we are more than they are. We have not forgotten who we are. There are more of us than there are of them. We can bring health and healing to this nation. They can grow tired of their failed lies and fear-mongering.

For Extremists, Religion is the mask that hides the darkest of deeds. It is the mask worn by those who seek refuge from their own behaviors.

For those of different faiths, who truly believe in their ways, compassion, generosity and healing are a walking way of life.

For those of Atheistic ways: Personal Accountability, compassion for others, and generosity are a walking way of life.

For those who condemn others who will not wear religion as a mask... I must tell you that the God you claim to believe, sees you. The mask will not protect you.

And for those who would condemn Atheists as "Godless" may I remind you, That is NOT your judgment to make.

It is up to each of us, for whatever we claim, to work on our own selves. It is not our job to condemn our brothers and sisters. It is not our job to recruit them.

No God, no "Powerful" God, would require our belief to exist. Nor would any Powerful God require us to fight one another. No God would require that we recruit anyone. Only the churches seeking power, require that.

It is our job to help one another. The one clear thing to all of us is that we are many in number, and there must be a reason for that. Obviously, we are not meant to do anything in this life, without one another being affected by it.

If you think you have found religion, and it requires that you abuse others, neglect others, tell lies.. if that is what you have found, you have my profound pity. For, all that you do, in the name of your God or your Religion is what you are held accountable for in this and any other world.

Take the Wheel Away From Crazy

Here is the theory on how insurance is supposed to work: We all pay money in to a pool. Since we don't all need care at the same time, the pool stays fairly constant. When we do need it, we need way more than we could afford without it. Insurance steps in and pays the bills from the pool.

That is how they have sold us insurance on everything from our cars to our pets to our lives and our health, for decades. We all pay in. Essentially, we are helping to pay for others when they need it, and others are paying for us when we need it.

The way insurance works now, is different. The insurance companies take our money, raise our rates at will. When we need the product, they make us fight them to get it. Even then, they will deny us access to the very thing we have been paying for all these years.

People are paying 10-25% or more, of their income, for 'health insurance'. Add to that premium, the deductibles, co-pays and the cost goes up substantially. People who are unemployed or lose their jobs can continue to access insurance at exorbitant rates. Anywhere from 80-120% or more, of their Unemployment Benefits check.

The laws governing and regulating business have been thrown out the window so that Insurance companies could grow bigger, play dirtier, give less and make higher profits.

The Public Option would change all that.

• We would not be denied Insurance.
• We would have substantially less cash outgo, and in some cases, have subsidies to pay for it.
• We would only have to worry about getting better, not about going bankrupt, dying and leaving our families with nothing but bills.
  
• We could rely on receiving good preventative care, and we could, if needed, get the best possible care for terminal diseases.
  
• It would cost employers a fraction of what it costs them now. that translates into more money into the consumer economy.
• Hospitals would be better, more efficiently run because they would have more predictable workloads. As it stands now, the ER fills up with everything from infected hangnails, heart attacks and deadly flu viruses. Being able to see a doctor by appointment for non-emergency events would free up our waiting rooms, and put less stress on our medical personnel and the facilities.
  
• Babies would be born healthier because their mothers could get prenatal care.
  
• Babies born with defects could be cared for without the family going bankrupt. There would be more babies born.
  

But the crazies are being whipped up to oppose all this. As if they have good health insurance now? They don't! They are at the whim of the Insurance companies and their 2,000 page lists of 'reasons' to deny coverage. Everything from teenage acne to a broken toe in childhood.

Single Payer would be a boon to every man, woman and child in the country. Every business, large and small, would benefit and make higher profits if they didn't have to offer such high cost benefits as "Health Insurance" with their ever increasing premiums.

The only business that would "Suffer" if you can call it that, are the Insurance Companies that have been allowed to run wild through our economy, with no rules, no leashes, and no conscience. They would have to 'settle' for profits in the hundreds of millions instead of the hundreds of billions.

Opening up Medicare, a system that is already in place and works well, would be the best possible of all worlds. It would bring more money into Medicare, improve the efficiency of Medicare and we would not need to establish yet a whole 'nother' bureaucracy to run Health Care.

What Grampa McCain and the other bought and paid for by the Insurance Companies, Politicians are saying to us, in their outright lies and misrepresentations is this:

"You are meat. You are not human. You live to serve the Insurance Companies profits. You are not entitled to good care at a reasonable cost. You are too stupid to know what is best for you and you will fight this until the Insurance Companies Win."

He knows that the 'cost cuts' to Medicare that are proposed are cutting the waste and abuse that exists in Medicare. Waste and abuse that is, much of it, profitable to the Insurance companies that sell "supplemental" insurance to seniors, and then take over their Medicare payments, and then charge extra for the very things that Medicare, by itself, would cover!

He, Grassley, and the rest of them KNOW this would be the very best thing for the economy, for our overall health, and it would cut the debt.

They are not arguing to improve this bill and make it better. They are trying to kill this bill so that they can continue to get funds from the big boys that done bought them already.

It is estimated that 40-45 thousand people a year, die for lack of Health Insurance. They have it, but it is taken away when they need it. Or, they can't afford the premiums.

What is not in the statistics is how many people go bankrupt every year because of medical costs. How many people have permanent damage or disabilities related to not being able to get treatable injuries or illnesses taken care of.

I am guessing that that number is much, much higher.

What we do know is this: The Insurance Companies give themselves billions in bonuses every year. Some of their board members get as much or more, than $1billion every year.

Who do you think is paying for that?

So, for those who say they don't want to pay for someone else's medical bills, I ask this: Do you have insurance now? If so, then when you get sick, someone else is paying for YOUR bills. If you are well, you are already paying for someone else's bills--- and those obscene bonuses.

If you don't have insurance and you are opposed to Public Option/Single Payer, then you are either wealthy enough to cover any medical expense that comes your way, or you are willing to suffer and die, or watch members of your family suffer and die, for lack of it. How far will your principles carry you?

One of the ways Societies are judged is in how they take care of their sick and their disabled.

Look around.

By even entertaining the obscene lies in opposition to major, substantial Health Care Reform, we are allowing the craziest, the stupidest and the most mean-spirited, to drive us over the financial cliff.

It is time to take the wheel away from crazy, and get us to a safer place.