I Believe in Blog

I hope there is a God, if only to bless the Catholic nuns who are supporting Health Care Reform.  Sister Simone Campbell,  and 59,000 nuns oppose the US Conference of Catholic Bishops on Health Care.  The nuns reject the bishops' concerns that Federal money will fund legal abortions in the Health Care bill.  The nuns say it isn't so.  They have read the bill.

They work in hospitals and community centers which largely serve poor women and children.  They say the bill will provide coverage and support for the uninsured, those denied coverage for pre-existing conditions (pregnancy), and support of pregnant women.  They call the bill "pro life" and are urging a
"life-affirming 'yes' vote."  They say extending health coverage to 30 million people is right.

Sister Simone Campbell, the executive director of Network, an American Catholic lobby group, representing 59, 000 nuns, in a radio interview on As It Happens ( a Canadian broadcast I listened to last night) said she could not speak for the Catholic Bishops' position, other than to say it was a political divide, and not a divide in the church.  She said, My mother always said not to talk about religion or politics....and here I am talking about religion and politics!

I am not from a family of believers.  And, we loved to talk about politics, so it's a little hard to understand the concept.  Maybe, in my family, politics is religion!  I'm also a feminist, who wonders why the men in the Church ( Bishops) oppose Health Care Reform, but the women (Nuns) see the value?  Isn't this a women's issue?   A weaver's blog may be stretching thin to cover this topic, but I'm thinking about all of this while I'm weaving, throw that shuttle, bang that beater!  It doesn't take too much imagination to think of an uninsured 24 yr old woman, pregnant, out of college, working at a restaurant for maybe $8 / hr.  What are her options?

Our Federal tax money supports many, many things I am ideologically opposed to.  War.  The fiasco fence at the Mexican / US border.  The arrest of 300 workers at Postville, Iowa in May, 2008. Those are just the first 3 that come to mind.  Abortion is legal, and should be protected and funded by Federal money, in my opinion.  This bill, unfortunately,  does not do that.  This bill does allow a woman, whose employer does not provide health benefits,  to consider having her baby, with medical care, pre and post natal.  This woman might be my daughter, or yours.

wall marks

On birthdays, or when we finally remembered to do it after your birthday, we marked the height of the birthday person on the dining room wall, balancing a graham cracker or macaroni box on top of its head, steadied against the wall for the true measure.

We kept the record, noting shoes on or off, wondering when Ursula would overtake Mom. (Just for the record, she didn't). Then there were friends and family who we invited to add their height to our wall, after we'd shared a good dinner. It didn't need to be their birthday, just the occasion of our good time together.

Everyone laughed and acted as if it were a big thing, stood straight and tall, but it wasn't such a big thing. Just a pencil mark (or magic marker!) on our dining room wall, proof that you were here with us, on what date, and how tall.