Guest post written by Virginia Castor Early
The following blog by an intern provides some insight into how she felt working on the health bill in Washington D.C. I think you’ll enjoy the passion and understanding this intern has.
In many ways, I was exactly like every other college student in Washington, D.C., last summer. I interned on behalf of a cause that I care strongly about.
But unlike many other interns thronging the halls of the House and Senate office buildings, I didn’t work for an elected official or an agency, but rather for my church.
Why intern for my church on Capitol Hill, you might ask? What role does my Christian Science faith have in what is happening there?
I jumped at the opportunity to join a team of dedicated, visionary workers when I realized that the new health care law would profoundly affect me and countless others. We often found ourselves one of the few champions for any kind of alternative health care in health care reform.
Christian Science teaches a proven method of spiritual healing which has been time-tested and found to be effective by individuals from all walks of life. In recognition of this fact, it has been accommodated by the federal government in every major health care legislation for over 50 years, with the exception of the most recent health care law.
Christian Science healing is based on understanding of an all-powerful, all-knowing God who is good and only good. In the past, when I have really understood God this way and myself as created perfect by Him, I have experienced freedom from sickness.
This spiritual approach has been very effective for me on all fronts, healing everything from a broken jaw to difficult relationships. It has also been proven effective for countless Christian Scientists and others who have never even stepped foot in a Christian Science church. This efficacy is well documented and often confirmed by medical doctors.
Growing up attending First Church of Christ, Scientist in Ridgefield, I blossomed under the loving support of my local church community. Though I’ve never been to a doctor in my life, this is not forbidden; it was just never needed. Every concern has been met promptly through prayer as taught in Christian Science.
In the new health care law, there is no accommodation for this system of healing which I have successfully used my entire life. Many lifelong Christian Scientists who have never bought medical health insurance in the past will be required to do so even though it does not provide the kind of health care they depend on.
In other words, Christian Scientists and others who rely on spiritual care will neither be “in” nor “out” of the mandated system. I believe this is a gross injustice impacting not just Christian Scientists but anybody who thinks that there might be more factors to health than physicality.
Spiritual health care is a viable alternative option that I believe deserves to be part of a “universal” health care law.
Many we met with on Capitol Hill did not realize the deep impact that this legislation would have on our underrepresented minority. I was honored to be able to bring our predicament to the attention of those that could do something about it.
I believe this predicament is, at its root, a fundamental issue of fairness. If the universal health care law is truly meant to bring affordable health care to all, regardless of socio-economic background, shouldn’t it also bring health care that works for all, regardless of religious background?
Link to Virginia Early’s article at NewsTimes.com
About the author
Thank you Virginia! You are so right and your passion for justice and acknowledgement of the power of prayer is heart warming. You deserve a loving hug!
Virginia, your thoughts are most effectively expressed and I can say ditto to almost everything you wrote as being my experience. But how can these thoughts go beyond those few that totally agree with you. Our Supreme Court will be receiving briefs and later oral arguments in the Spring and early Summer of this year that address the viability of this so-called health care law. Congress is faced with the need to cut spending. Various states are struggling with enacting new laws that deal with the federal health care law. What can we do in each of these areas to help protect our inherited Chirstian Science benefits in view of these pending items? Public outcry can bring change. Organized human work can be beneficial. Hopefully your above thoughts can prompt good prayer that will open the right way.
Thank you Virginia for having the love and commitment to sharing the concern and necessity for having the health care law accommodate scientific prayer as a viable method for health care. I appreciate your work in being a voice for the Christian Science community in sharing and enlightening our legislative folks in Washington to the need to include spiritual prayer as a proven health care system. Thanks for being a “light source” on this issue which many were not aware of I am sure. This work can only help open up thought and pave the way for progress. It will bless us all.
Virginia, I so appreciate your article and your work for our religious healthcare rights. Thank you for this article. I also have relied on Christian Science for my healthcare, in raising two kids, And even having a Christian Science nurse at the time of my baby deliveries. Depending on God has been my first choice! what a blessing it has been.
Thank you Virginia for your dedicated efforts on behalf of all Christian Scientist to have their perferred choice of health care be included in the new health care law. Much appreciated! I’m sure our continued prayers and any human footsteps they may impel, will bring about a satisfactory solution. (= Keep up the good work!
The way you expressed your dedication and passion for this worthy cause jumped right off the page and into the reader’s heart. Thank you for caring and for standing up.
“Showers of blessing” to you.
The cost of a practitioner is minimal when compared to any traditional medical means of health. I have personally used both systems. We aren’t talking a lot of money, but in the long run reinmbursing practitioners is a very cost effective solution to a hard budget year problem. If you want more bang for the buck try God.
Thank you Virginia! So inspiring!!
Thank you, Virginia – this issue is so vital in this coming national election, thanks for rousing thought where it is most effective.
Louise – Torrance. CA
Dear Virginia,
Thank you for explaining this issue so clearly and beautifully. I have also used Christian Science prayer for healing in my own life and in raising my two children. Our problems were healed quickly and permanently through my own prayers or through the prayers of Christian Science Practitioners. Even our pets were healed of incurable diseases diagnosed by veterinarians. Christian Science is a reliable method of healing that not only heals our physical ills, but brings us closer to God in the process.
Thank you for your efforts in your work on Capital Hill. I hope that all who read of them are inspired to remember that we can trust this all-powerful, all-knowing God who is good and good only, that you refer to, and His law of adjustment to effect the needed change.
Virginia, thank you for your courageous stand with those on Capitol Hill. You spoke for many of us who are concerned about Christian Science care being excluded from the new laws and the concerns and demands put on individual Christian Scientist. The pending Health Care Bills have already affected some of the HMOs. The primary care doctors, who are concerned for the rights of Christian Scientists, are warning of different challenges if there is unexpected hospitalization or emergency care services. Protecting our Christian Science rights is one of the many things we do share with Doctors who see drastic changes in their practices— especially, their individual right to make their professional decisions with their individual patients. Many are giving up their practices or retiring early leaving a great concern for the public at large because of the lack of services in the medical professiions. We seem to be in this together.
Ann Botts, Banning, CA
Medi-share may seem like, pardon the pun, a gift from God. A faith-based community of strangers banding together to help one another cover their medical costs, but enrollment does come with a hitch. Those who wish to become members must be able to prove their faith in the following ways:
Regularly attend services and actively support a ministry
Complete a Statement of Faith and have a verifiable testimony of a relationship with the Lord
Believe biblical doctrines that view the body as a pure entity and treat it as such
Not engage in sexual intercourse outside of a Christian marriage
Not use tobacco or abuse drugs or alcohol
Medi-share is indeed a unique program for providing assistance with medical care, but unlike health insurance programs this route uses blatant discrimination to prevent certain individuals from benefiting from its service. Mychristiancare.org specifically points out that only those engaging in sexual intercourse within a “Christian” marriage are allowed to join. This immediately eliminates gay, lesbian, and transgender individuals from enrolling in Medi-share. The program also places limits on services it covers based upon religious beliefs and states specifically that abortions will not be covered under any circumstance. this is where i got the info http://www.newsonhealthcare.com/medi-share-its-not-insurance-its-a-caring-health-ministry/