Super Bowl Sunday...empty churches and friends gathered around the TV. Way to go America! (Actually we had a good crowd at our church today - thanks FBC/NBCC for caring more about God than a bunch of large men in their distinctively colored costumes.)
We're not big football fans, so we decided to go home after church, have lunch, get some rest, and go grocery shopping after the big game started. (It's not just churches that see a decline in attendance on the afternoon of SB forty whatever it is. What I like best about the big game is nobody in line for the cash registers.)
I'm not interested in football, my wife is not interested in football, but somehow we managed to create a monster: a teenager that DOES like football. (Patriots, if you care, but since they're not playing this year, he likes the Packers: Go Pack!)
He had the TV on when I went to tell him we were leaving. The National Anthem was being sung. And I was disappointed. I'm used to protocol when the Star Spangled Banner is sung. The announcer asks the audience to stand, sometimes he even tell you to take off your hat and put your hand over your heart. People know that they are supposed to stand still, face the flag, and show respect. Less than two minutes and then they can get on with the ball game.
Whoever was working the cameras had a great opportunity to show that Americans are proud of their country, of their flag, and that even in rough economic times that we have some respect. They did show, briefly, a military unit, ready for the game, watching from their station in Afghanistan. But where were the people standing at attention, standing still, hands over their hearts, facing the flag?
I saw a bunch of people dancing around, mugging it up for the cameras, showing a total lack of resepct. And I'm disappointed with the media for giving the clowns face time. A lot of people around the world watch the Super Bowl, and what they learn is that we don't have to show respect, for our flag, our country, even ourselves.
Sure we can blame it on the less than stellar rendition of the National Anthem. Someone posted that people lost their poise as they tried to figure out what was being sung; but the tune is disctinctive and most of us don't know all the words anyway, so that's probably not the case.
There are airmen, soldiers, sailors and marines stationed at places far from home today, stationed all around the world, who are risking their lives to keep our country free. Saluting the flag, standing for the Anthem, saying the pledge of allegiance are little ways that we can tell them how much we appreciate their efforts.
America, it may not be perfect, but it's what we have. It's up to us to make it better. And showing respect is a good place to start.
Do you stand for the National Anthem?
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
put on your coat
This morning as I was driving Nolan to school, I saw a couple of people waiting for the bus. They were shivering - hugging themselves trying to stay warm. It was a brisk 11 degrees, and I really wanted to feel sorry for them. Really.
No, what I really wanted to do was stop and ask them 'really?' I wanted to ask how cold it would have to be before they put their coats on. I wanted to be a parent and ask if they were trying to catch pneumonia. They appeared to be of an age to be in High School, they were nicely dressed, and if it happened to be a balmy day in April, they would have been appropriately dressed for the weather. But it's not balmy April, it's arctic February. And I wanted to ask them what they were thinking and tell them to put on a coat.
And I should be used to it by now, for 16 years I've watched kids wearing shorts, t-shirts, and sandals during Utah winters. I wonder how they stand it, but then who am I to question? After all, I do Polar Bear Plunges. At least they're staying dry.
No, what I really wanted to do was stop and ask them 'really?' I wanted to ask how cold it would have to be before they put their coats on. I wanted to be a parent and ask if they were trying to catch pneumonia. They appeared to be of an age to be in High School, they were nicely dressed, and if it happened to be a balmy day in April, they would have been appropriately dressed for the weather. But it's not balmy April, it's arctic February. And I wanted to ask them what they were thinking and tell them to put on a coat.
And I should be used to it by now, for 16 years I've watched kids wearing shorts, t-shirts, and sandals during Utah winters. I wonder how they stand it, but then who am I to question? After all, I do Polar Bear Plunges. At least they're staying dry.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Thinking About Health Care
There’s been a lot in the news lately about the recently enacted comprehensive health care reform bill or whatever it’s called. The most recent news is that a federal judge has ruled a part of the bill unconstitutional – that part being the requirement that everyone buy health care insurance.
In theory, and at first glance, mandatory health insurance might seem like a good idea; after all, most doctors, physician groups, and hospitals provide the services that they do with the aim of making money. If everyone has health insurance then doctors, clinics and hospitals have a better chance of getting paid.
But our current laws say that sick people have to be treated regardless of ability to pay. I agree that we should show compassion, and sick people should be cared for. But lately a lot of those businesses that provide the care have found it necessary to shut their doors because they can no longer afford to provide services without getting paid. People without insurance might use local emergency rooms for non-life-threatening reasons, and those charges often have to be written off. At some point it doesn’t make sense for for-profit organizations to continue operating at a loss, and so they go out of business, and no one receives the needed care.
There may be a few cold-hearted people out there who would be comfortable with telling someone that there is no medical care available until they show proof of insurance or ability to pay. That wouldn’t be me.
Maybe we could ask people who don’t want to buy health insurance to sign a statement agreeing to not get a disease or have medical problems that cost more than they can afford. Or we could ask them to waive their right to future medical care in lieu of having insurance.
Maybe we could raise taxes to pay for keeping hospitals open, and anyone who could prove they had paid taxes during the previous year would be eligible for medical care.
And a recent article by Calvin Woodward of the Associated Press http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-politics/20110202/US.Health.Care.Curbing.Government/ shows that even our top politicians have trouble making up their minds on how to handle this controversial issue. According to the article, presidential hopeful Barack Obama was against forcing people to get health insurance. But we all know that mandatory insurance is a key feature of the Bill that President Barack Obama recently signed into law.
Even if the politicians want to claim that we’re not a Christian nation, we’re still a nation that claims many Christians as citizens and some of us might appreciate Jesus’ response when he was asked “When did we see you sick or in prison and go visit you?” And the King replied “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
I don’t know what the answer is, but I’m hoping somebody finds it soon, before we all get too sick to debate the issue
What thinkest thou?
In theory, and at first glance, mandatory health insurance might seem like a good idea; after all, most doctors, physician groups, and hospitals provide the services that they do with the aim of making money. If everyone has health insurance then doctors, clinics and hospitals have a better chance of getting paid.
But our current laws say that sick people have to be treated regardless of ability to pay. I agree that we should show compassion, and sick people should be cared for. But lately a lot of those businesses that provide the care have found it necessary to shut their doors because they can no longer afford to provide services without getting paid. People without insurance might use local emergency rooms for non-life-threatening reasons, and those charges often have to be written off. At some point it doesn’t make sense for for-profit organizations to continue operating at a loss, and so they go out of business, and no one receives the needed care.
There may be a few cold-hearted people out there who would be comfortable with telling someone that there is no medical care available until they show proof of insurance or ability to pay. That wouldn’t be me.
Maybe we could ask people who don’t want to buy health insurance to sign a statement agreeing to not get a disease or have medical problems that cost more than they can afford. Or we could ask them to waive their right to future medical care in lieu of having insurance.
Maybe we could raise taxes to pay for keeping hospitals open, and anyone who could prove they had paid taxes during the previous year would be eligible for medical care.
And a recent article by Calvin Woodward of the Associated Press http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-politics/20110202/US.Health.Care.Curbing.Government/ shows that even our top politicians have trouble making up their minds on how to handle this controversial issue. According to the article, presidential hopeful Barack Obama was against forcing people to get health insurance. But we all know that mandatory insurance is a key feature of the Bill that President Barack Obama recently signed into law.
Even if the politicians want to claim that we’re not a Christian nation, we’re still a nation that claims many Christians as citizens and some of us might appreciate Jesus’ response when he was asked “When did we see you sick or in prison and go visit you?” And the King replied “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
I don’t know what the answer is, but I’m hoping somebody finds it soon, before we all get too sick to debate the issue
What thinkest thou?
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