So What's New?

President Obama has recognized the rights of same-sex partners to be with their spouses in hospitals that are supported by Medicare and Medicaid.  Thankfully, this order covers most of hospitals in the US, though not all.  A few years ago, if one were to arrive at an emergency room without official paperwork (or sometimes, even with it), he/she would not be allowed to be with an hospitalized patient; I know because it happened to me here in Winston Salem, NC.

After I had a huge confrontation  in front of the other "spouses" who had not been asked for "legal paperwork"  I was finally allowed to visit my partner in the ED.  But none of the other opposite-sex couples had been asked the same questions; if they were asked any questions at all, and said they were fiances, or partners, or spouses, they were allowed to see their partners on the strength of their statements as opposite sex couples, not because they had to bring any actual paperwork. 

And even with paperwork, some same-sex spouses have not been allowed visitations because hospitals did not believe that their governing groups supported gay rights.  Thank goodness the world is changing...Thank goodness, too, that President Obama has made this change to address a problem that is all too common among LGBT couples, particularly those with children.

Values

The individuals trapped in the recent explosions in West Virginia coal mines are perhaps earning as much as $60,000 per year, which might sound like a lot of money  in these economically difficult times.  However, coal miners work in extremely difficult work situations, falling somewhere within the top 10 most deadly professions.

Meanwhile, we have white collar executives running transnational corporations who regularly bring home millions - if not billions - of dollars in salaries, even if the companies are economically challenged as many have been during our recent recession/depression.

So help me with this question.  Why should people who hold very safe jobs, like corporate executives, earn many times more in salary and benefits than people who work in the deadliest of jobs?  Surely if we really paid people based upon their value to society, we would argue that producing an energy resource would be more valuable than producing earnings for shareholders in a corporation, yet that's not how we value work.

Our capitalist values dictate that people who earn money for others are more valuable than people who create goods that sustain peoples' lives.  Hmmm...what's wrong with that picture?

We should look to Jesus' example, in that he did not focus his time and attention on building up wealth for himself or anyone else.  Instead, he focused his attention on teaching us that we are to take care of those who do not have what we have - the least of these. 

America, which some call a Christian nation, has lost its way if its focus is on protecting so-called "wealth managers" at the expense of coal miners, fishermen, teachers, or any other group asked to work in difficult positions for wages that represent a fraction of what corporate CEOs are making, often at the expense of all of us taxpayers. 

God, help us wake up to the economic disparities of this world, and work to change policies so that all who labor are equitably rewarded for their contributions.  Amen.