What is it about?
American Christians take opposite sides on healthcare policy. While some Christians helped craft laws and programs to provide healthcare for the poor, other Christians argue and legislate against it. Both sides cite Bible verses and use moral language to explain their stances. This article looks at how Frames shape our thinking, especially when it comes to the politics of bringing about care on a national scale.
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Why is it important?
The US healthcare system is in crisis. This is a pivotal issue in Christian social ethics but also of public theology and Christian witness and mission.
Perspectives
This was a hard piece to write, and I actually changed my mind in the middle of it! The starting point was hearing a conservative Christian US Congressman say, "some people - poor, homeless people - just don't want healthcare." That astounded me. Fillmore's Frame analysis helped me sort out what might be underneath the congressman's words. But Charles Taylor helped me change my mind about where the key problem lies, and what the ultimate solution might be. It is not going to be about convincing the "haves" to support the "have-nots," or designing a better system. We need a deeper Christian conversion, grounded in experiencing the worthiness of each member of our community, of our society.
BONNIE HOWE
New College Berkeley
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Cognition and the Crisis of Citizenship and Care, Open Theology, January 2018, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1515/opth-2018-0008.
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