[Fwd: Event in DC: Health Care for All]

[Mike Hersh]

FYI:

Friends Committee on National Legislation A Quaker Lobby in the Public Interest Event in DC: Health Care for All Dear Mike Hersh, Congress is currently drafting health care reform proposals; now is the time to let your voice be heard! Join FCNL and Faithful Reform in Health Care in DC on June 24th for an Interfaith Service of Witness and Prayer on the need for comprehensive health care reform. The event will begin at 4 pm with a "health fair" including free health care screenings, live music, and information on health care reform principles from faith-based organizations. Look for FCNL's materials at the Washington Inter-Religious Staff Community (WISC) health care table. At 5:15 faith leaders and members of Congress will begin sharing their thoughts on health care reform. Speakers include Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. of the Healing of the Nations Foundation, Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and Dr. Sayyid Syeed of the Islamic Society of North America. The event will wrap up around 8 pm. We hope to see you there! Event Details Where: Freedom Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC When: June 24th, 4-8pm What: The afternoon will include a health fair, complete with free screenings, live music, and information about health care reform, followed by a program of faith leaders and members of Congress speaking on the need for comprehensive health care reform. More Information Register for updates and find more information on Faithful Reform in Healthcare. Learn more about FCNL's work on health care reform. Can't attend the event? Email your comments on health care reform to your members of Congress.

[Hansh...@aol.com]

Mike, I don't know what religion has to do with healthcare which is a right of every resident of this country and the rest of the world. Why can't they join an existing group that fights for Single Payer Healthcare without God, Jesus, Mohammed or Moses and Abraham. This splitting up of forces is the dilemma we have in the progressive movement.

 

In a message dated 6/19/2009 5:58:43 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, mike...@mikehersh.com writes:

FYI:

[Mike Hersh]

Many people are religious, and it's a good addition to the movement if
religious people join in. I don't see it as splitting forces, so long as
people welcome each other. Dr. King was a religious leader, for one
example, and he helped make progress.

[Hansh...@aol.com]

I understand but I don't agree, Mike. Single payer is a government decision and has nothing to do with religion. Martin Luther King worked on improving the status and the self image of black or Afro-Americans. That is different from fighting for the right to healthcare. Churches should join with the rest of America if they want to push for Single Payer. That is my opinion.

[Ken Sandin]

Are you guys trying to drive us crazy with this back-and-forth?  Wouldn't you agree that religious belief, or none, is not relevant to the health care issue?  Isn't the point, "What kind of plan is most likely to make health care more available, more effective, and more affordable for all"? Aren't you two in agreement with PNHP, Health Care-NOW!, California Nurses Association, Medicare for All, and Progressive Democrats of America that a government-designed "single-payer" plan is the best way to go?  If many of the religious groups coming together in DC on June 24th for "the Interfaith Service of Witness and Prayer on the need for comprehensive health care reform" are not single-payer advocates, or don't care what plan we get so long as we get some improvement, should we refuse to join them just to maintain single-payer purity?  If that's the issue you are haggling over, why obscure it by talking about religion?

The subject line you are using in this exchange is another example of confusing terms. "Health Care for All" means different things in different states. In MD, it's the slogan of MCHI, an incrementalist, public-option plan; in MA it's also public-option; while in CA, OR, CO,TX, WA, PA, and VT, for example, it's used by single-payer groups.

 

 

 

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