Heal The Sick

"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes … known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.… No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."

-James Madison, Political Observations, 1795



I find it ironic that the world's largest "Christian" nation is also the nation that outspends every other country in this world in terms of its military budget. As shown by this graph below (provided by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, March 1, 2009), the United States' military budget is far larger than even it's closest rival.

(The red is the US, those tiny slivers at the bottom are our closest competitors)

The United States budgeted nearly $700 billion of tax revenue in 2008 to go to our military forces around the globe (Center for Arms Control and Non-Poliferation) and President Obama in recent months approved of yet another increase in the military budget for the upcoming fiscal year (The Washington Independent, Feb 18, 2009). For a nation facing hard economic times, it's nice to know that some people aren't biting the bullet.

These facts bring to the forefront an interesting question. How is it that a country that can spend hundreds of billions of dollars trying to kill people half-way around the globe not figure out how to fix its current health care system?

Well, it quite frankly comes down to what Americans value more; the ability to kill or the ability to heal. The United States has been blessed with prosperity, and has the ability to be great at either one. We could, if we wanted to, make sure that every US citizen would be provided with the best medical care possible, without bankrupting families and destorying lives. Instead, we choose to develope nuclear weapons that can destroy all of life on this planet, make faster, deadlier tanks, and create cruise missles that can kill from over a hundred of miles away.

It comes down to what we, as a people, make our priority. I have a feeling I know what the Oily One's priorities are.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:14,18)

The Kingdom is at Hand...