Ideology, Philosophy , Complementarianism, Chauvinism, Christian Egalitarianism...?

Democrat or Republican? Progressive or Conservative? Radical or Moderate?

I always grew up hearing the term Conservative Christian, yet was unsure of the terms meaning. Conservatism is the belief that traditional institutions work best and that society should avoid radical change. The root word is Latin and means, “to preserve”.
A religious conservative seeks to apply the teachings of particular ideologies to politics. Ideally for the Conservative Christian, this would be the ideology of Jesus Christ. It’s important to note there exists a distinction between religious conservatism and its more radical extension. Radical religious conservatism generally sees the status quo as corrupted by abuses, corruption, or heresy. Similar phenomena have arisen in a large percentage of the world's religions today. The modern Western society that has inadvertadly pushed it’s value system has triggered many violent cultural collisions with traditional societies in question for the past 500 years.

Sometimes religious conservatism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatism#Religious_conservatism) may find itself at odds with today’s culture. This is often a good thing. However, not all firmly held beliefs should be maintained. For instance, some would have been called conservative Christians were against the freedom of slaves. For such people this was a Progressive act. Progressivism is often viewed in opposition to conservative. Progressivism is a political attitude favoring or advocating changes or reform. The Progressive movement began in cities with settlement workers and reformers who were interested in helping those facing harsh conditions at home and at work. The reformers spoke out about the need for laws regulating tenement housing and child labor. They also called for better working condition for women. Typically today the term is associated with left wing politics. “In the late 19th century into the 20th century in reference to a more general response to the vast changes brought by industrialization: an alternative to both the traditional conservative response to social and economic issues and to the various more radical streams of socialism and anarchism which opposed them.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressivism)

I have hence learned that I too am a Conservative Christian in the sense that I seek a partial return to the way things were in the Body of Christ. In part, because I wish we had the social message and radical ideology, the unwavering faith and call to the broken that existed in the Way (early Christian Sect, not to be confused with current organization). I seek the action and reaction, the vibrancy and activity that existed in the early church. However, I don’t wish a return to the difficulties of roman persecution and lack of religious freedom, nor do I wish to reencounter the rampant heresy that existed.

Revisiting the research on Health Care...

I've drawn understanding from the writings of Randy Barnett, a Georgetown University professor who wrote a article for the Washington post Is health care reform unconstitutional?.
When asked how a bill making people purchase health insurance or suffer fines could be constitutional, he suggested that

the most strongly pressed argument will be that this is a "tax" from which you can be exempted if you buy private health insurance. Courts have been very deferential to tax measures.

I was able to deduce from Randy's Blogg post He is not a proponent of the bill. He suggest that Judicial rulings have expanded the power of Congress beyond those given in the Constitution, and that mandating insurance by means of a fine labeled a "tax" is another example of this.

Some other major points of the bill are listed below:
What does bill accomplish: demands health coverage for all
Who buys insurance: A better question is who doesn't. Exceptions include certain people with religious exceptions, American Indians and people in prison.
Who gets subsidized: That Is determined by the Department of Health and Human Services. Those who make less than3x or 4x the poverty level pay about 10 percent of their income for a decent health insurance package. Those who make $14,000 would pay 3 to 4 percent of income on insurance If your flat broke, you enrolled in the Medicaid program.
Who pays for it: New taxes, fees on industries involved in health care, and cuts in projected spending growth for existing government health efforts, primarily Medicare. The bill cost about $940 billion over its first 10 year, plus 40 billion worth of tax credits for small business.
How can you get it: The bill will set up non profit or government administered Health Option exchanges, which is basically a a number of small business and individuals banded together to allow for the breaks that big corporations can negotiate for with their employees.

Health care, a step towards socialism?

This bill does represent a step towards Egalitarianism. Opponents of the bill outcry communism or socialism, probably because both philosophies stem from the egalitarian philosophy. The root of the word is French and means equal. The political doctrine suggest all people should be treated as equals and have the same political, economic, social, and civil rights. The philosophy advocates for the removal of economic inequalities among people. I think most people today in the United States will suggest they believe this, until it cost them something.

Opponents to the bill should also be reminded of the two basic principles of democracy: equality and freedom. Ideally all citizens under our political government have equal access to power, inherent freedoms spelled out in our constitution, and quality before the law. Do these rights not include health care? I've heard the outcry before that were rewarding the lazy. If our institutions were true to Meritocracy then that would be the case (as if a meritocracy could actually exist since it merely serves to justify the status quot). Meritocracy is a system of government where responsibilities are assigned to individuals based on demonstrated talent and ability. However, our society reflects a mesh of democracy, plutocracy, nepotism and cronyism. We are not all born in a wealthy loving home with equal opportunity. The truth is some of us are born into better situations then others.
As a proponent of biblical equality, I believe that human persons are equal in fundamental worth and moral status. While this idea enjoys wide support amongst intellectuals in many countries, is is debatable whether any of these ideas have significantly implemented in practice. This seemingly egalitarian attempt may fail as did previous, but that does not remove our call to action. Inequality is correlated strongly with social problems, and social problems present a price paid by the middle class too. Therefore, if we are not willing to assist others, at least let us help ourselves.
Alright, I'm officially fed up with writing and reading about the health care.

Facts vs. Fiction in the Health Care Bill

My research revealed myths and half truths about the health care bill. For those who cry communism or socialism, the new health care plan does not involve government taking over health care like in Britain. The government intends to help people buy health insurance from private companies, not pay their bills like the Canadian system does. However, these fears of socialism intrigued me. Here are portions of the bill that may reinforce such fears.
For instance, Medicaid will now cover all poor adults indiscriminately. Low income people who qualify for new credits to buy insurance would see the biggest drops in insurance premiums.Plus, If your against government involvement then your probably upset that those who can financially afford insurance and don't will see a minimum fine of $695. Insurance companies will also be regulated heavily.

Barack Obama suggest premiums will go down, but actually most people won't see a significant decline in premiums. In fact, people who buy insurance on their own and are not qualified for government subsidies may see a 13 percent rise in premiums due to expanded coverage. Obama also suggested that the plan will save more than $1 trillion in the second 10 years. That estimate according to the CBO is highly speculative. While the plan is supposed to reduce the cost on health care spending, the plan will cost $940 billion over 10 years. It is actually the new taxes, penalties and cost savings that would offset that spending.
I see a philosophical divide among the American people towards this bill. On one side are those who think having health care human right regardless of ones economic condition. The other side feel health care it is a privilege that people provide for themselves rather than Uncle Sam. I'm sure everyone would say that those who need healthcare should be able to get it, but it is a different matter when the cost directly effects us.

Heath Care Reform Passes March 21, 2010

The recent health care bill passing prompted hours of research on my end on the bill and the underlying philosophy behind it. The amount of data was overwhelming and I was provided with a plethora of topics to cover. Therefore I decided to break up the topic of health care into a posting each day till I run out of material or get tired of writing about health care- whichever comes first.

It's true that health care reform passed, bringing about the most tremendous sweeping change in national domestic policy in a generation...and some people are pissed. Now that in itself isn't anything new. Political discourse has reached the point to which we distrust politicians and expect the process to be debased and inherently flawed. I'm not bashing emotional appeals, but they should impact real issues. We should be able to clearly see the substance behind an argument. Hence, I've taken some time to better familiarize myself with the two sides of the debate. First, I looked into why a large majority is angered by this bill.
Opponents to the bill suggest that preventing insurance companies from denying coverage means policies will have to spread their investment further, making
rates rise and reducing access. The Virginia Attorney General claimed that the proposed Health Care Reform violates the 9th and 10th amendment to the constitution. The reality is the the constitution is vague in this matter, and for the constitution to apply on this (and other matters) requires judicial interpretation (Randy calls this judicial construction).

Another outcry against health care reform is that it is against the will of the people. This argument hits the heart of a democratic society, which is ruled based upon the popularity of people. However, the reality is that there are proponents of the bill. A majority of individuals have entrusted those in place to represent our state and to represent us. Recent American history tells us that politicians are not deaf to a majority of people, especially since their popularity effects their reelection. If we can then assume that politicians votes reflect the population, then a little more than half the people are for the bill. The difficulty we face is not a government ignoring its people, but rather a will divided.

Facebook...and what the man is doing behind the mask.

Maybe your like me and you hate Facebook quizes. Then again, maybe your one of the people that send them to my wall. There is only one thing I dislike more than facebook quizes, and that is status updates from the stupid facebook games people play. Well, there is a reason for both of us to hate them. First, to truly understand the veracity of this violation, click here and go to this cute little quiz by selecting "run application".

Ok... so I am assuming you did that. Obviously what you want to do now is go to your privacy settings and chance what applications have access too... it is kind of scary that corporations are getting information by using programs like these on Facebook. You don't even have to be using the program like Farmville or Mafia on Facebook for corporations to get your information. If one of your Facebook friends plays the game,that sends both yours and their personal information to the application provider.