Looking for God in the Capitol corridors
By Joe Towalski
Talk about God swirled through the Minnesota House recently. The focus was General Assistance Medical Care, a state-funded health care program for the poorest of the poor that was set to expire April 1.
Lawmakers, who were considering a measure to extend the program for another 16 months, made a number of references to God and whose side God might be on.
It's a topic on which elected officials need to tread carefully. Too often, such God talk is rooted in political expediency instead of a real desire to do what is good and right.
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Jesus, as any clear-minded reading of the Gospels will show, put a special emphasis on caring for the poor and vulnerable. In the Gospel of Matthew, he instructs his followers to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, care for the ill and visit the prisoner. Jesus sums it up this way: "Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me."
Preferential option for the poor is a key theme of Catholic social teaching, and it goes hand in hand with protecting the life and dignity of the human person.
No elected official or political party has a direct pipeline to God to get his opinion on which legislative bills he favors and which he opposes. Instead, those who want to act in light of Jesus' words must educate themselves on policy issues in all their complexity and make well-informed, prudential decisions in light of the Gospels' guiding principles.
That's what Minnesota's bishops did when they wrote state House members calling for a reformed GAMC program that "not only guarantees accessible and quality care to our neighbors with the greatest needs, but does so in a way that safeguards human life and dignity" by excluding abortion coverage. They added: "When we deny health care for any human person, we ignore their human dignity. And when we ignore their human dignity, we fail to recognize and value human life itself."
The bill supported by the bishops was vetoed by the governor, who said that it would spend too much money at a time when the state faces a large budget shortfall and that there were better ways to meet the needs of the poor. What ensued was the God-invoking debate to override the veto -- an effort that eventually failed.
The governor and lawmakers subsequently announced they reached a deal on a less-expensive plan that would continue to provide state-funded coverage for the poorest Minnesotans.
Is it a good solution for the state's poor? That remains to be seen, and the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the social policy voice of the state's bishops, is still examining the proposal to determine if it can support the current plan.
Whose side is God on?
God is on the side of the poor and vulnerable. He's on the side of policies that embody a clear respect for human life and human dignity. He's on the side of those who are focused on the common good, not the next election. And he leaves it to us to enact public policies that meet these principles.
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Joe Towalski is editor of The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. This commentary is adapted from a piece that appeared there.
