I try not to get into partisan politics in this blog, although it's often inevitable. After all, the Democrats have not extricated themselves from the influence of money much more than have Republicans. Both major parties are beholden to so many monied interests that I'm astonished when any good legislation is passed. Until all money is removed from the electoral process, I don't believe this will change. And yet, when only 1 Republican out of 177 in the House voted in favor of a Health Care Reform bill, no matter how flawed, I have trouble und3rstanding how Republicans can so blatantly embrace Christianity in other contexts. Have any of them read the lengthy section of the Gospel of Matthew known as the Sermon on the Mount? Or the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matt 25:31-46) that embodies the heart of Christian compassion for the less fortunate? So I was intrigued to learn more about the lone Republican who apparently had not only read the Gospel, but taken it to heart, and voted in favor of health care. His name is Anh "Jospeh" Cao of Louisiana (photo by Brady Fontenot).
A first-term congressman from New Orleans, Cao is the first Vietnamese-American elected to Congress. He was born in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), where his father was an officer with the South Vietnamese Army who was later imprisoned by the Communist government. At the age of eight, Cao escaped to America with two of his siblings, and worked his way up. He was asked by Deborah Solomon of the New York Times why he bucked his party leadership in this instance. His response is so revealing I'll repeat it verbatim:
"This is a personal position of mine. I do believe that we need health care reform. I do believe that we as a government have a duty to help those who are in need but who cannot help themselves.
So you're saying you voted out of personal conviction, not politics?
Correct. I spent six years in the Society of Jesus, training to be a priest. I always adhere to what I call "the politics of the Gospel." You have to take care of the poor, take care of the widows, visit the sick, help those who cannot help themselves.
Why did you become a Republican?
Because of their strong pro-life stance. That alone.
In essence, Cao apparently embraces "the consistent ethic of life" articulated by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, the late Archbishop of Chicago, who was opposed not only to abortion but also to the death penalty and to nuclear war and euthanasia, and linked all those issues to social justice, destruction of the environment, and unjust distribution of resources. So I wasn't surprised to find that Rep. Cao was trained by the Jesuits, only that a Vietnamese American could find a home in the GOP at all.
Arlo Guthrie recently announced that sometime during the second George W Bush administration he becme a registered Republican to be able to influence the party from within, "because to have a successful democracy you have to have at least two parties, and one of them was failing miserably. We had enough good Democrats. We needed a few more good Republicans. We needed a loyal opposition."
During a recent interview on NPR, Arlo espoused the same principles of compassion from the Gospel of Matthew (without quoting by name) that I referred to at the beginning of this post. So between Arlo Guthrie and Joe Cao, there may be hope for actual Christian principles to seep into the political landscape in this country.
"This is a personal position of mine. I do believe that we need health care reform. I do believe that we as a government have a duty to help those who are in need but who cannot help themselves.
So you're saying you voted out of personal conviction, not politics?
Correct. I spent six years in the Society of Jesus, training to be a priest. I always adhere to what I call "the politics of the Gospel." You have to take care of the poor, take care of the widows, visit the sick, help those who cannot help themselves.
Why did you become a Republican?
Because of their strong pro-life stance. That alone.
In essence, Cao apparently embraces "the consistent ethic of life" articulated by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, the late Archbishop of Chicago, who was opposed not only to abortion but also to the death penalty and to nuclear war and euthanasia, and linked all those issues to social justice, destruction of the environment, and unjust distribution of resources. So I wasn't surprised to find that Rep. Cao was trained by the Jesuits, only that a Vietnamese American could find a home in the GOP at all.
Arlo Guthrie recently announced that sometime during the second George W Bush administration he becme a registered Republican to be able to influence the party from within, "because to have a successful democracy you have to have at least two parties, and one of them was failing miserably. We had enough good Democrats. We needed a few more good Republicans. We needed a loyal opposition."
During a recent interview on NPR, Arlo espoused the same principles of compassion from the Gospel of Matthew (without quoting by name) that I referred to at the beginning of this post. So between Arlo Guthrie and Joe Cao, there may be hope for actual Christian principles to seep into the political landscape in this country.
Well done, Peter! I shall share this with my friends who are both Christian and Republican.
"After all, the Democrats have not extricated themselves from the influence of money much more than have Republicans."
You really have to be kidding Peter! Have you forgotten the 12 years of Bush Regimes, clearly in bed with the oil companies. And Cheyney and Haliburton?
You say you don't like to get into partisan politics; that's as partisan - and ill-informed as I could imagine! John
John,
Thanks for your comment. In fact, I was being relatively non-partisan in saying that Congressional Democrats have also fallen prey to big money, although perhaps not as uniformly as the GOP. Don't forget how Max Baucus held up and helped water down the health insurance reform bill, and that he was one of the biggest recipients of contributions from the insurance, healthcare, and pharmaceutical industries, and that a large number of his former aides have become lobbyists for same. For evidence of the former, please check out this link: http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?type=C&cid=n00004643&newMem=N&cycle=2010#cont
We are now watching the financial reform bill also getting watered down in a Democratic-controlled Congress, many of whose members, like Chuck Schumer, are big recipients of Wall St. contributions. There may be differences of degree, and I would never say that Barney Frank, Pelosi and Obama are equivalent to Bush, Cheney, and Grassley. But I repeat: Until all money is removed from the electoral process through fully publicly funded elections, we will continue to allow the corporations to run this country.
Peter