“And we’ll guard each one’s dignity and save each one’s pride.” –Peter Scholtes, They’ll Know We are Christians By Our Love

As many readers of this blog know, I have been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a condition on the Autistic Spectrum. The condition affects my communication and social skills, causes me to be very sensitive to sensory stimuli, and makes it difficult for me to adapt to change and the unexpected.

For a Christian, these can be hard challenges to discipleship:  My neurology is ill-suited to welcoming strangers, to caring for the poor, and to be in community with other Jesus-followers. Yet, I am called to do so anyway.  So I try to work with, and sometimes against, my challenges in order to follow this path.

One of the most helpful things for me in coping with my autistic spectrum disorder symptoms is the theological value/doctrine of imago dei: I believe that human beings were created with an inherent dignity that ought not be compromised. Thus, I have decided that my inherent dignity is going to be the guideline for my behavior and social interactions. For example:

• I will not engage in behavior that humiliates or embarasses me. No matter how stressed or overloaded I get, I will not have a meltdown in public. I will guard my tongue.
• I will not tolerate ill-treatment from others.
• I will not compromise the inherent dignity of others by treating them badly, humiliating them, or putting them in a bad position with my own bad behavior.
• I will not compromise the inherent dignity of others even if they are compromising their own dignity or attempting to compromise mine.

My development of what I call the “dignity baseline for personal conduct” as a way of addressing my own problems has also informed other aspects of my thinking, particularly my views on social ethics and politics.

Like healthcare, for instance.

Mental and physical health are important, when either is compromised, we experience that dysfunction keenly:  We hate the way we look and feel when we are sick, we often can’t function effectively in our vocations when we don’t feel well, and we are compromised in our ability to be in authentic community with others.

Healthcare must be a priority for Christians (and historically, it has been, in the development of hospitals and medical missions). We uphold our dignity in caring for our own health, and we extend that dignity when we care for the health of others, particularly the most vulnerable among us.

(In fact, preserving the dignity of the vulnerable (and the sick are particularly vulnerable) is a pointed (and non-negotiable) charge given to the people of God throughout scripture.)

Yet under our current healthcare system, here in the United States, I have witnessed the following dignity-robbing scenarios:

• I’ve seen an elderly woman crying in a drugstore  because she couldn’t afford to pay for her much-needed medication.
• I’ve known seniors who have had to consider divorcing their disabled spouse so that spouse could get the nursing home care that he or she needed.
• I’ve known people with abscessed teeth and festering sores who have spent months in agony, oftentimes battling infections, who could not pay for the simple procedure that might end their pain and prevent further compromising of their health.

I am well-aware of the concerns regarding “socialized healthcare” and the argument that government cannot solve everyone’s problems. However, I would note that the Church has not managed to stop assaults on human dignity such as those that I have described above.

Why is this? And given this situation, why are some Christians convinced that their “right” to avoid taxation in order to provide healthcare to others trumps their obligation  to care for the vulnerable?

Just wondering.

This post is a belated contribution to the August Sychroblog. Other synchroblog posts are listed below:

When I began pondering the “politics of God” for this month’s Synchroblog, I decided that I’d have a look at the etymology of the word “politics”. What I learned is that “politics” is related to a Greek word that implies “citizenship”.

So when we talk about God’s politics, we are really talking about God’s citizenship: How God participates and operates in the civil affairs of where he resides.

This brings up several important questions:

In what nation does God hold citizenship?

If nations believe that God is “on their side” in times of war, are they saying that God is somehow a citizen of their country?

Where does God hold residency?

Does he get to vote?

Is he subject to government authorities where he holds citizenship?

And how do we determine where his citizenship lies?

Sounds pretty silly, doesn’t it? God being a citizen of his own creation? Or perhaps his Kingdom (and as Steve Hayes notes, God is a monarch) really isn’t of this world, and the notion that God forms political alliances with earthly governments is ridiculous?

So let’s take this a step further: When we speak of “Christian Politics” (be they left or right), we are talking about Christian citizenship. And where, pray tell, do Christians have their citizenship? Perhaps in God’s non-earthly kingdom, where strategies and compromises and deals don’t have to be formulated and made?

Do we kid ourselves when we believe that our political canvassing and maneuvering makes a real difference?

Can a Christian hold duel citizenship? And if we could, what would this accomplish?

More questions than answers, to be sure. But I can’t help but wonder whether we, in our efforts to rightly define what our “politics” ought to be, are forgetting where our true citizenship lies. When we vote for the lesser of two evils at the polls, are we selling ourselves short? Are we selling God short? Why do we fear remembering the existence of the treasure of the kingdom that lies beyond all borders, freely offered to all who thirst for it?

Other Synchrobloggers:

Phil Wyman rants about The Talking Points of Presumption
Lainie Petersen considers Questioning the Citizen Diety
Jonathan Brink enters The Political Fray
Adam Gonnerman explains The Living Christ’s Present Reign
Sonja Andrews Won’t Get Fooled Again
Mike Bursell at Mike’s Musings
Sally Coleman at Eternal Echoes
Steve Hayes on God’s Politics
Matthew Stone at Matt Stone Journeys in Between
Steve Hollinghurst at On Earth as in Heaven
KW Leslie tells us about God’s Politics
Julie Clawson at One Hand Clapping
Dan Stone at The Tense Before
Alan Knox asks Is God Red, Blue, or Purple?
Beth Patterson writes about Learners inheriting the earth: the politics of God
Erin Word discusses Hanging Chad Theology