Clergy, faithful lead vigil to support reform
By Bill McCleery
bill.mccleery@indystar.com
A faith-based vigil Saturday night included several hundred Christians, Jews and Muslims uniting for a common cause -- making health care available to all Americans regardless of income.
The interfaith gathering at the Indiana Convention Center featured prayer, testimonies and music, with most participants professing the belief that health-care reform has moral and spiritual dimensions.
"Our leaders need to get over partisan politics and have a dialogue that produces a health-care system that works for everyone," said Rev. Linda Hanna Walling, 58, Shaker Heights, Ohio. She is a Christian Church-Disciples of Christ minister who organized the health-care vigil.
The principle of universal health care is "grounded in our sacred scriptures," she said.
Though representing various beliefs, everyone at the vigil seemed to favor greater governmental involvement in health care. Few seemed concerned that might diminish quality of care by stifling competition and incentive in the industry.
One minister said that's because health care is more than a business commodity.
"Being a man of the gospel, I know that God gives us life," said the Rev. Mmoja Ajabu, 60, Indianapolis, a program minister at Light of the World Christian Church.
"But life is not really living if you can't sustain life. . . . It will be a dark day in America if they do not pass affordable health care for everybody. It's not just for the rich. The poor need health care, too. If we don't look out for the least of these, then what are we doing?"
Folk-rock musician Phoebe Spier, 27, provided much of the music at Saturday's vigil. An Indianapolis native who now lives in Portland, Ore., Spier said the health-care debate has personal meaning for her.
"My father has Parkinson's disease," she said. "He's on medication, and all things considered, he's doing OK. But not everyone has access to health care. (Expanding access) is a great cause, and I'm so glad it's something that's come to the forefront and that it's something we're all thinking about."
Wealth should not determine who gets quality medical care, said the Rev. Pam Mason, 60, Tipton, a Christian Church-Disciples of Christ minister.
"It's disgraceful that there are children and elders who don't get the health care they need just because they don't have the financial means," Mason said. "Everyone should have a right to basic health care."
source: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009908020402
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