Signing the Universal Health Care by Obama Barrack

Why this is the right thing to do from a religious point-of-view

Philosophers and Theologians have been dazzled for over a thousand years by one single-most important question, and here is what the buzz is all about:

A child is near death from a serious disease. There was only one drug that might save the sick child. But the sick child’s father cannot afford this cure even with his entire life long savings. The father went to everyone he knew and begged to borrow the money and tried every legal means to obtain this money, but he could only get together enough for even half of what the drug cost. And his child is dying. The father is desperate and considers breaking into the pharmacy to steal the drug for his son. Is this wrong? What is a father suppose to do?

This moral dilemma is played out by Hollywood, in a father-and-son drama called John Q — starring Denzel Washington. In John Q., Denzel Washington portrays a desperate father struggling save his sick son, no matter what the cost. Working as an average, honest American, his job at the factory, his wife, and his son are John’s whole world. But when John’s son suddenly became ill and needed an urgent heart transplant, John Q. learns that his work-insurance won’t cover the bills. During a short-period of knee-jerking response, John sells everything he owns, and still did not make any hope of saving his son. In a final act of desperation, he took the emergency room hostage.

This movie portrays a loving but desperate father standing up to the system, fighting for the odds to save his son. During one crying moment, John Q. yells, “I don’t want to bury my son; I want my son to bury me… You leave a father no options; you leave him no choice.” Towards the end, John Q. finds a solution to this thousand-year-old, moral dilemma: he was going to shoot himself in the head, give his heart to his son, so that the son may live.

This was the only solution an average, honest-working American could find to meet both of his moral obligations to his God: “thy shall not steal”; and “if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” John Q. answered this ancient moral dilemma with his life.

Today, living in the [most] wealthiest nation in the world, I say there has got to be better way. What if today, we offer our citizens a life where no one will ever have to face this ancient, moral tragedy that John Q. went through? The founder of our modern economics, Adam Smith once said, the Wealth of Nations depends upon the individual freedom, ambitions, and the will to fight for their own happiness. Life is hard, Smith says, however, the will to fight in this world is everything!

I want to say that’s true…

However, I also want to humbly assert this: give some of the people a chance to fight!

I say give full healthcare coverage to all of our citizens so they have a chance to fight in-spite of life’s unpredictable tragedies, so that they never have to walk in the shoes of John Q. I believe in America, life is not just a privilege for the rich, the powerful, the smart, and the beautiful people who have everything together.

I say, for this new millennium, give our people the most ambitious promise that has ever been written down, 400 years ago, by 55 heroic rebels trying to claim a new country, a new way of life, and a new way of thinking that believes all men are created equal before God. In a constitution that promised “life, liberty, and [the pursuit of one’s] happiness”, I say give the chance for a full life to all of our citizens: to the poor; to the old; to the handicapped; and to our fellow country men who simply needs a little help, like John Q.

I say we support the vote of confidence for our country’s 2009 Universal Health Care Bill and give our fellow Americans the long-waited, constitutional promise of life!

Author: Charles L. Wang

I lived a good life - a hard one, but I sleep peacefully at night knowing that I have made a difference in someone's life... Oh by the way, I'm from China: Downtown, China... Read my full bio.