Gordon Bonnyman is right to focus on the moral factor in the health care reform debate ("Religious Right: Wrong on Health Care," June 1994), and certainly universal coverage is the central issue.
It is ironic that his editorial is facing one discussing culture, because he demonstrates a capitulation to the prevailing anti-democratic political culture. He says "voters have been relegated to the role of bewildered spectators." This thinking is both false and damaging. No doubt the media and the insurance industry would like us to be bewildered spectators. We do not need to be passive accomplices, however.
Perhaps Bonnyman is himself a "bewildered spectator," for he seems unaware that there is in addition to the Clinton plan another which is much more in line with biblical ethics. It is the Mac-Dermott-Wellstone ap-proach, generally called "single payer," and resembles the Canadian system, which is more popular with its people than the system of any other country. It covers everyone for less money with progressive financing and provides better choices. It is supported by public health groups, Consumers Union, the disabled, and churches concerned for justice.
Karl Hess, M.D.
Cleveland, Ohio
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