So, OFA asked me to visit my State Representative, and communicate to him/her my support for Obama's health reform initiative, and share my personal story with his staff. Well, the office happens to be up the street from my house, so I said, to President Obama, "Yes! I! can! [do that]". And I signed up for a time 12:00 noon, on a Wednesday. And I put on a hat, because this is Texas, and my insurance company is in the process of trying to retroactively cancel my one-year-old individual health insurance policy because I had a basal cell carcinoma removed (that's the good cancer, by the way -- it's the one John McCain doesn't even count as real cancer). And I thought that my soon-to-be-best-pal Lamar should really hear my personal story. Because it kind of sucks.
But first I did a little research. And guess what? Lamar Smith is a
Christian Scientist!
How kooky! Like Scientology, only you're more likely tokill your children through medical neglect!
So, as I said, I put my hat on, the one that shades my recently surgically reconfigured nose, and moseyed down the street (because this is Texas, and we mosey).
Here's the money quote about Christian Science:
Christian Scientists regard the material world as a kind of consensual illusion which is due to a misperception of the true spiritual world. Such a misperception can, they believe, be changed by reorientation of thought, or prayer in Christian Science terms. Thus the illusion can be dispelled, revealing the present spiritual reality. The result is perceived as healing...Many Christian Scientists use their healing system as their first choice for treatment over drugs and surgery.
So how does a guy whose religion tells him that he cannot abide by the dictates of his religion and at the same time benefit from conventional western medical treatment methods...how does a guy who believe that illness is an illusion best cured by prayer and meditation...how does a guy whose religion is based on the concept that, in the words of the religion's founder(ess), Mary Baker Eddy
"It is impossible to gain control over the body in any other way [divine Mind-Prayer]. On this fundamental point, timid conservatism is absolutely inadmissible. Only through radical reliance on Truth can scientific healing power be realized".
...how does a guy like this justify spending even one penny of public money on a cure which he believe to be ineffective of a disease which does not exist?
It was a question I decided to ask his staff.
"I do not discuss his personal religious beliefs with Representative Smith, said the well-fed young woman manning the desk in the dingy office at the end of the hall (at the end of a maze of shoddy buildings, past the maze of dingy offices in that last building, past the sink and the bathrooms, in Lamar Smith's actual office)."
me: But what about when his personal religious beliefs directly contradict prevailing science? How does he reconcile these two completely divergent beliefs?
"Representative Smith represents the desires of his constituents"
me: I am a constituent, and my ability to obtain health care is being threatened by the bureaucracy of a profit-mad insurance industry and I don't think that prayer will be as good for me as a pap smear, and I need Rep. Smith to convey that unless health insurance reform is passed, that I will not be as productive a member of society as I would otherwise, because to attain my maximum potential as a productive member of society, I need to be self-employed, but the current system of obtaining health care makes it economically not feasible for me to continue to be self-employed, because the market for individual health insurance is so stacked against the individual consumer with even trivial pre-existing medical conditions. Which Representative Smith's religious beliefs tell him do not really exist.
"I will convey your opinion to Representative Smith in the form of a tally."
The funny part? He doesn't even live in Texas anymore. When he's not in Washington, he lives at his house on Cape Cod.
I hope he has good insurance.
Oh, and did you know, that as a result of the Christian Science lobby, that Medicare pays reimbursements to "non-medical health care facilities" -- where Christian Scientists can go to not receive medical care? But be prayed at?
And why do the Europeans all think we're mad?