{"id":214,"date":"2009-08-20T11:56:34","date_gmt":"2009-08-20T11:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/08\/gods-chosen-healthcare-reform.html"},"modified":"2009-08-20T11:56:34","modified_gmt":"2009-08-20T11:56:34","slug":"gods-chosen-healthcare-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/08\/gods-chosen-healthcare-reform.html","title":{"rendered":"God’s Chosen Healthcare Reform?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday at 5 o’clock Eastern time, I joined the President and 130,000 of his closest friends on a conference call about health care.  Earlier in the day, the President had a similar phone call<\/a> with about 1,000 rabbis, initiated by my longtime friend David Saperstein, head of the Reform Action Center.<\/p>\n

Was there anything wrong with these calls?  Here’s my take.<\/p>\n

First, religious groups do have every right to advocate for specific public policies on any and all subjects.  Those on the Religious Right even have the “right” to support curtailing or abolishing the separation of church and state.  (I’ve spent much of my life trying to be an advocate on the other side of that debate.)<\/p>\n

Second, these groups, like all others, may invite politicians, including the President to address their gatherings, live or on the telephone.  Ronald Reagan used to frequently address <\/a>the primarily religious “March for Life” every January on the anniversary of Roe v Wade<\/i> via a telephone call played through loudspeakers at the Capitol.  Many of us were horrified at what he said, but I don’t recall anyone saying he didn’t have the right to speak to these people.<\/p>\n


\nThis, however, is only one side of the matter.  The other is what politicos should say when they address such groups.<\/p>\n

One, no politician should claim that his or her plan for anything–from
\ntax reform to health care reform- has gotten God’s stamp of approval. 
\nAccording to some reports<\/a>,
\nincluding one via Twitter from another friend, Rabbi Jack Moline,
\nPresident Obama told the morning call yesterday that “we are God’s
\npartners in matters of life and death.”  Since no full transcript of
\nthe President’s remarks have been released, it is not clear what the
\ncontext of that statement was, but it certainly seems to veer into the
\n“penumbra” of my fear about claiming to mirror some divine intent.<\/p>\n

Two, even if a political leader does believe that his or her view is
\nconsistent with a set of holy scriptures, that can’t be the basis for
\npolicymaking.  There must be commonly shared secular values (including
\nthose derived from the Constitution) which shape any programs or
\nproposals.  In the healthcare debate there are all kinds of rational
\nbases for seeing the need for dramatic changes in the current system. 
\nThere is no need to have political figures “throw in” some references
\nto the Bible to buttress the evidence.<\/p>\n

I wish President Obama would skip the religious rhetoric and instead
\nclearly lay out the kind of reform he’s looking for. If he wants the
\nsupport of religious leaders, he needs to be crystal clear about his
\nbottom lines for acceptable reform.  Is it cost savings, the public
\noption, limits on insurance company profits, or other specifics?  One
\nof the things the Religious Right often said after Reagan’s anti-choice
\ncalls was that he never followed up on specific proposals.  Progressive
\ntypes ought to insist that the current administration make a firm
\ncommittment to specifics–and that last minute further compromises will
\nnot show up on the table.<\/p>\n

To subscribe to “Lynn v. Sekulow” click <\/font>here<\/font><\/a>.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span>  <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday at 5 o’clock Eastern time, I joined the President and 130,000 of his closest friends on a conference call about health care.  Earlier in the day, the President had a similar phone call with about 1,000 rabbis, initiated by my longtime friend David Saperstein, head of the Reform Action Center. Was there anything wrong…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[217,123],"tags":[219,238,51,65,67,239,237],"class_list":["post-214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-care","category-president-barack-obama","tag-health-care-reform","tag-march-for-life","tag-news","tag-obama","tag-politics","tag-religion-and-politics","tag-ronald-reagan"],"yoast_head":"\nGod's Chosen Healthcare Reform? - Lynn v. Sekulow<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/08\/gods-chosen-healthcare-reform.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"God's Chosen Healthcare Reform? - Lynn v. Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yesterday at 5 o’clock Eastern time, I joined the President and 130,000 of his closest friends on a conference call about health care.  Earlier in the day, the President had a similar phone call with about 1,000 rabbis, initiated by my longtime friend David Saperstein, head of the Reform Action Center. 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An accomplished speaker and lecturer, Lynn has appeared frequently on television and radio broadcasts to offer analysis of First Amendment issues. News programs on which Lynn has appeared include PBS's \"NewsHour,\" NBC's \"Today Show,\" Fox News Channel's \"O'Reilly Factor,\" ABC's \"Nightline,\" CNN's \"Crossfire,\" CBS's \"60 Minutes,\" MSNBC's \"Countdown with Keith Olbermann,\" Fox News Channel's \"Hannity & Colmes,\" ABC's \"Good Morning America,\" CNN's \"Larry King Live\" and the national nightly news on NBC, ABC and CBS. On the radio, Lynn serves as host of \"Culture Shocks,\" a daily look at various issues affecting society and the culture. In the 1990s he served for two years as regular co-host of \"Pat Buchanan and Company\" and after that did a weekly syndicated radio program, \"Review of the News,\" with Col. Oliver North. Lynn is a regular guest on nationally broadcast radio programs, including National Public Radio's \"All Things Considered,\" \"Morning Edition\" and \"Talk of the Nation,\" as well as having appeared on national networks such as CBS Radio, CNN Radio, ABC Radio and AP Radio. Lynn began his professional career working at the national office of the United Church of Christ, including a two-year stint as legislative counsel for the Church's Office of Church in Society in Washington, D.C. From 1984 to 1991 he was legislative counsel for the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union. In 2006, Lynn authored Piety & Politics: The Right-Wing Assault On Religious Freedom (Harmony Books). In 2008 he coauthored (with C. Welton Gaddy) First Freedom First: A Citizen's Guide to Protecting Religious Liberty and the Separation of Church and State (Beacon Press). Lynn writes frequently on religious liberty issues, and has had essays published in outlets such as USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Nation. Lynn also has op-eds published frequently by the McClatchy and Scripps-Howard newspaper chains. A member of the Washington, D.C. and U.S. Supreme Court bar, Lynn earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1978. In addition, he received his theology degree from Boston University School of Theology in 1973. 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