Health care? Do we really care?

I met a certain pastor, a very kind godly man, who expressed his disagreement of the current administration because of their "socialist" agenda. He dislike the White House idea of health care reform because it will lead to socialism and more government control. I did not totally disagree with his comment, however I simply replied that a little more oversight is better that lack of oversight. The pastor then said he is open to a little more oversight but he was worried that the big government will eventually take over everything.

Yes, Americans are proud of their freedom, and that's actually one of the reasons I was attracted to America. However, as I live here for more than 10 years I began to realize that we often fought for "freedom" too much while sacrificing other values. No, I am not talking about terrorism and their surveillance. I am talking about the heated debate about the current health care reform. I did not agree a hundred percent with the plan, partly because of some critical flaws in the plan, but in general I can see the importance and the possible benefit from the plan (if it was run successfully). However, I still can't believe that lawmakers (whom many of them proudly called themselves as "conservatives" or "Christians") repeatedly invoked the concept of freedom as one of their reasoning. Yes, I like freedom, but I am afraid that what concerns those lawmakers more are not really freedom but money. I am afraid that all these propaganda was just a smokescreen to cover up the traces of the lobbying money from big insurance companies.

I personally think some Americans are truly overpaying for the health care insurance, while others are actually enjoying it for free. Sadly, America has an interesting approach toward illegal immigrants (something that I agree in principal but often disagree in application). Poor immigrants can have free health care if they go directly to the ER (that would explain why we see that many low-paying workers actually have more kids that those who have more money). Some of them even received food stamps to pay for their kids nutrition needs (I believe some of the recipient truly deserve the food stamps while others don't). I think the idea was noble but it was grossly abused by a certain group in the community that it became a burden for hospitals.

However, I disagree with the fact that every Americans must have health insurance from private for profit insurance companies or pay penalty. I think this would only work if the premium is very cheap. Some people simply do not have money to pay for the premium amount, how would they pay for the penalty. Sadly, I don't think the premium will be cheap (those private companies are for profit, remember?). Even non-profit title can be misleading these days. Many people simply open non-profit orgs for their own benefits while proudly claiming "helping others while helping ourselves." I did not disagree with the jargon, but I would like to ask how much they actually help others compared to helping themselves?

Sadly, many communities who called themselves as Christians, conservatives or religious were often the most staunch opponents of some of the government's sponsored social programs. Why? Some of them are claiming that they were simply against the idea of big government, some cried out "Socialism," while others invoked the conspiracy theory of government control as the early form of the end-times' "one world government" as prophesied in the book of Revelation. If they were so worried about the government, why would not they consider the "non-profit" or religious organizations to run it instead? Ah, separation of church and state? Now, that's another long topic to discuss.

But honestly, I want to ask: Can Christians really justify this? Do we not care about others' needs just because of our unfounded fear and worries? May I ask, who are truly our neighbors?