"We are builders of that city. All our joys and all our groans help to rear its shining ramparts; all our lives are building stones."1
Here's a confession: When we sing hymn lyrics like these, a cynical voice rises in me. It says: here we go again, idealistic liberals, ex-hippies even, borrowing iconic Puritan imagery, singing songs about building utopian societies and golden cities where justice reigns supreme, where everyone is righteous and all evil is banished. The voice asks: This is naïve, isn't it? We sing these songs proclaiming these wonderful visions, but are we really building a golden city? Are we being realistic? Are we being honest about what is possible, about what we're capable of achieving?
This has been a great week for cynicism. Two of President Obama's nominees for high level government appointments, including former Senator Tom Daschle, nominated for Secretary of Health and Human Services, stepped aside due to tax violations. Debate over the federal economic stimulus bill looked disappointingly familiar to a public exhausted from partisanship bickering. In our own state we witnessed a governor trying to balance budgets on the backs of our poorest, most vulnerable citizens-seniors, the poor, college students and the working uninsured-without any willingness to ask what the richest people and corporations in our state might be able to sacrifice. The mayor of our capitol city and a city contractor were arrested on bribery charges. Golden city, golden state, golden country my foot. At least that's what the voice says.
Confession over. That cynical voice? Not mine. It is nothing more than a toxin. It builds up in me and I suspect it builds up in you over time as we witness corruption, political partisanship, unacknowledged and unfettered privilege, callousness and greed, and the multifaceted and widespread impacts of this recession on our well-being and the well-being of our communities. Maybe the lyrics to the hymn are outdated, but their spirit isn't. When all else fails, the spirit that urges us to hail the glorious golden city; the spirit that calls us to build the beloved community, to feel the fire of commitment, to stand on the side of love-when all else fails, I prefer to align myself with that spirit.
Last Sunday I preached about the ways we heal and the substance of health and wholeness. I used the metaphor of lighting the fire within. Today I want to extend that fire outwards by asking how we can participate in bringing healing in the form of universal health care to our state.
The toxin of cynicism will squelch this flame faster than anything. "The state can't afford it." "The insurance companies will never allow it." "Big corporations won't support it." "The legislature doesn't have the will." "The governor will veto it." "We're in the middle of a recession." Maybe all this is true. But I prefer to align myself with the spirit that says "hail the glorious golden city." When I pause to consider that more than 300,000 people in our state-most of them working-don't have health insurance, I prefer to align myself with the spirit that says, "build the beloved community." When I pause to consider that the number of uninsured people in the United States is approaching 50 million, I prefer to align myself with the spirit that says, "Stand on the side of love."
Martin Luther King said "there are some things in our social system to which all of us ought to be maladjusted." Our immoral health care system is one such thing. Frederick Douglas said, "find out what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice which will be imposed upon them." I prefer to align myself with the spirit that says "let us no longer submit to this sinful health care system."
I want to help create a new health care culture in our state. Despite the presence of world class health care institutions, despite the presence of sufficient resources; despite the recognition of most of Connecticut's citizens that all people have a right to quality, affordable, accessible health care, we have tolerated for too long a culture that accepts health care "haves" and "have-nots." We have tolerated for too long a culture that accepts race and class-based health care disparities. We have tolerated for too long a "fend for yourself" health care culture. And because such a significant portion of our citizens don't have health insurance, and because many of those who have health insurance still don't have access to quality health care, we have tolerated for too long a culture of health care stress, anxiety and fear. Facing illness is stressful enough. It is so much harder to heal when you have added stress, anxiety and fear from contemplating mountains of medical debt, calls from collection agencies and questions such as, "Will this impact my credit rating?" "Will the doctors take me seriously if I can't pay?" "I'm healthy now, but what if I get sick?" "What if I have to use my retirement savings to pay my medical bills?" "What if I need to go out of network for specialized care and the insurance company won't pay for it?" "What if I have to choose between feeding myself and my children and purchasing prescription drugs?"
People face these questions and deal with this stress every day. We don't have decent answers for them because we've tolerated for too long a health care culture that for far too many people doesn't result in health. I want to be part of a creating a new culture-one that prioritizes the health of all citizens; one that "gets it" that a healthy citizenry is an economic asset; that a healthy citizenry is more productive; that a healthy citizenry actually lowers the cost of health care for everyone! I will not allow the toxin of cynicism to poison my resolve. I align myself with the spirit that says "hail the glorious golden city" and "stand on the side of love."
The call for universal health care is not new to Unitarian Universalism. At our 1992 General Assembly we passed a resolution calling on the UUA to "express its moral indignation" [at the lack of healthcare for what was then 37 million people in the United States] and to "affirm that comprehensive health care is a basic human right and demand the development of a system which guarantees quality heath care to every individual in the United States." At our 1998 General we passed a resolution decrying "a system where the values of the medical and insurance marketplace and the pursuit of profits in the guise of managed care conspire to deprive United States citizens of basic health care." That resolution called on "Unitarian Universalist congregations . to urge members of Congress and the Administration to proceed toward creation of a comprehensive health care system that will guarantee affordable medical, hospital, and mental health care . to all persons regardless of age, place of employment, or personal financial circumstances."
This call is not new in our movement, but the question I put to us this morning, including myself, is whether or not we've heard it. Certainly some of us have heard it, but have we heard it together? Have we together contemplated our first principle, "the inherent worth and dignity of every person," and understood how our health care system violates that principle blatantly and with impunity every single day? Have we together contemplated our second principle, "justice, equity and compassion in human relations," and understood, together, how our health care system violates that principle blatantly and with impunity every single day? Have we contemplated, together, the sources of our living tradition, the second source-"words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront structures and powers of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love?" Have we understood, together, that for too many people our health care system is one of injustice, is sinful, and that we are called to challenge it and transform it! And have we together contemplated the fourth source of our living tradition, "Jewish and Christian teachings that call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves?" And have we, together, understood that if it is not we who lack access to affordable, quality health care, then it is surely our neighbors who do, and our fate is intimately tied to our neighbors?
That we do this together is important. Together-as the Unitarian Universalist Society: East, working with other UU congregations, with other faith communities, with medical professionals, business owners, labor unions, politicians and grassroots activists-together we have the power to create a new health care culture in Connecticut.
I've been working recently with the Interfaith Fellowship for Universal Health Care, sponsored by the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut. It was a great honor for me, this past December, to be elected to the Interfaith Fellowship's Steering Committee. The Fellowship is a statewide clergy group with Catholics, Protestants, Pentecostals, Jews, Muslims, Unitarian Universalists, white, black and Hispanic, men and women, old and young, theological liberals and conservatives, social liberals and conservatives. It is one of the most diverse organizations I have ever been part of. On January 13th, we were deeply proud to participate in the unveiling of Sustinet, the Universal Health Care Foundation's proposal for universal health care in Connecticut. From our state motto, Sustinet is Latin for "sustains."
The Universal Health Care Foundation developed Sustinet through a multi-year campaign of listening to the needs not only of those without health insurance, but business owners, employers, doctors, hospital administrators, labor unions, clergy, politicians, service providers and activists. They created Sustinet in collaboration with health insurance experts from the Urban Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. If Sustinet becomes law, it will create a large pool of insured people that competes in the market against other plans. The pool would include state employees and people in HUSKY, Medicaid, and SAGA programs. Employers who currently offer insurance to their employees can choose to buy into Sustinet or keep their current policies depending on which best meets their needs. All uninsured people or people with coverage that doesn't give them access to quality care, would be able to buy into Sustinet on a sliding scale. Sustinet emphasizes the use of state-of-the-art technology for tracking medical records and coordinating patient care. It prioritizes preventive medicine with an eye toward reducing costs to the state over the long run. I would be lying if I told you it isn't complicated. I would be lying if I told you it isn't expensive. But I am convinced it isn't nearly as complicated, and won't be nearly as expensive, as our current health care system. And it would create a system that makes excellent health care available to everyone. Turn to your neighbor and say "EVERYONE."
Some will ask, "How, in this economy, can our state possibly afford to implement universal healthcare?" There are two answers. First, Sustinet would take four years to implement. Costs over the next two years are aimed at building infrastructure for the system and would be relatively minimal. Second, the fact that we're in the midst of a recession in which thousands of people are losing jobs, losing homes, and losing health care should underscore the need for an effective health care system. This is an economic recession. Let it not be a recession of our hearts. Let it not be a recession of our imagination. Let it not be a recession of our ability work together on behalf of the common good. Let it not be a recession of our capacity for moral decision-making.
It is time to respond to the call for universal health care. There are some actions you can take right now. First, read the Sustinet brochure. Become familiar with its basic features. Second, if you haven't done it already, fill out one of the yellow postcards and join the Healthcare4every1 Campaign. By giving the campaign your contact information, you will get regular updates on how to be involved. We're looking for 100,000 people to join this effort.
Third, the Interfaith Fellowship will be holding a press conference at the State Capitol on Thursday, March 5th at 12:30 in support of Sustinet. If you're free during the day, please join us. See me for more information.
Finally, there will be a Sustinet lobby day later in the legislative session. Please watch for news of this event and plan to attend.
Enough is enough. It is time to recognize that together, as Unitarian Universalists and in coalition with other people of faith around the state, we have immense power to wield in the struggle for universal health care in Connecticut. It is time to recognize that, though it may seem a daunting challenge to advocate for this kind of change during a recession, it is precisely because of lost work, lost wages and decimated retirement accounts that universal health care is essential. It is time to recognize that we all suffer in this culture of health care 'haves' and 'have-nots;' we all suffer in this culture of race and class-based health care disparities; we all suffer in this 'fend for yourself' health care culture; we all suffer from this culture of health care stress, anxiety and fear. It is time to create a culture of health. It is time to create a culture of healing. It is time to create a culture of health care accountability, equality and justice. It is time to build the golden city. It is time for standing on the side of love. It is time, in the words we said earlier from the prophet Isaiah, to "satisfy the needs of the afflicted," for in doing so we shall "be like a watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail."2
I leave you with two questions: have we heard the call for universal health care? Do we have the will to engage and bring our collective power to bear? I believe the answer to the first question is yes. I challenge each of us, myself included, to respond to the second question, the question of our will, with a resounding yes! Amen and Blessed Be.
1 Adler, Felix, "Hail the Glorious Golden City" in Singing the Living Tradition (Boston: Beacon Press and Unitarian Universalist Association, 1993) #140.
2 Isaiah 58 in Singing the Living Tradition (Boston: Beacon Press and the Unitarian Universalist Association, 1993) #588.
