Senator Coburn-
As an Oklahoman, Christian, and a proponent of healthcare reform that includes a robust public option, I watched the majority of the Senate's healthcare debate yesterday, paying special attention to the contributions to the debate made by the Senators from my beloved state of Oklahoma.
I've come to the realization that my voice means very little in this state, resigning myself to the fact that the majority here tends to lean right. And while I have been embarrassed by many of the things you and your colleague Mr. Inhofe have said and done in the name of our great state, the democratic process has been and always will be the means I use to enact change here.
That said, as one of your constituents, I could not let your comments on the floor of the Senate yesterday go unnoticed or unquestioned.
Your statement: "What the American people ought to pray is that somebody can't make the vote tonight. That's what they ought to pray."
Anticipating your defense, I realize that it is common for congressmen and women to miss votes. However, in regard to a bill of this significance, with so much political posturing on both sides, there was very little doubt that any Senator would miss this vote unless he or she was struck down by death in some fashion. With that concession made, I would very much like to hear your defense of the comments in question.
Given the declining health of Senator Byrd and the precarious weather conditions in Washington DC yesterday, I think your comments were irresponsible at best and disgustingly cruel at worst. You may owe the Senate body an apology for wishing ill-will on them but I'll let you make that determination in your own heart.
As a fellow Christian, I too hope that the American people spend much time in prayer. However, little comes of praying to God that he do OUR will (particularly when it comes to government and/or wishing harm on one of his children). Instead, your prayer, if you must involve it on the floor of the Senate, should be only that His will be done and impose not your own desires on Him.
And as Christians who continue to grow in our faith, I hope you'll spend time in prayer over the following passage as you seek to discern God's will in regard to healthcare reform in this country.
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'"
Matthew 25: 41-45
Respectfully,
AC Stewart