I mentioned a bit about this in a comment on Ghengis' Blog earlier today.  While the religious right is out there doing nasty things about health care, there's another religious side to the debate--several other sides, actually.  I thought I'd share with you an e-mail I received today from Jim Wallis of Sojourners.

As a nation, we are engaged in making decisions about our health care that will impact our families and communities for generations to come.

 

And I must personally share with you that I've had enough of the misinformation and, frankly, misleading statements coming from those who oppose the transformation of a health system that currently renders the best health care to the wealthiest, depletes the savings of solidly middle-class Americans, and leaves 46 million people with no health-care coverage at all.

 

We don't have to fall victim to the naysayers - those seeking to prop up the status quo and sustain the profits of the massive insurance corporations.

 

Business as usual is not what we're about. It's not what change is about. It's certainly not what people of good will from all faiths, who embrace the Golden Rule and seek the common ground of justice and fairness, are about.

 

During the last big national debate on health-care reform in the early 1990s, the religious community mostly stayed out of the discussion. Not this time.

 

A friend of mine recently traveled across several states in the U.S. visiting friends on summer vacation. He told me that, everywhere he went, people asked him to read e-mails they'd received. These e-mails had no author and no citations to support the misleading statements about health-care reform they contained - including the false claim that, if health-care reform passed, it would force families to see doctors and receive care dictated by a government panel. This is not true.

 

At a recent meeting of leading faith groups in Washington, D.C., a leader of a large, national organization said they were receiving calls asking if the elderly would be simply left to die if health-care reform passed. The answer is NO.

 

These egregious and false accusations are being created for only one purpose: to manipulate and instill fear in American citizens.

 

This must stop. We are the ones who can stop it. Together, speaking out, acting out, and joining as one on a mission, we can push back the clouds of misinformation and fear-mongering, and allow the light of truth shine through.

 

Today, right now, let's join together making the health-care debate factual, worthy of our families and communities. Let's put the special interests on notice that we want real health-care reform, not misinformation and fear-mongering.

 

Sojourners has created a rapid response Web site where you will find what you need to fight for the truth: Sojourners' Health Care Reform Resources.

I thought the letter was strong and telling. Those of you with Evangelical relatives probably won't be able to impress them with the kind of resources one finds here, but perhaps a challenge from one of their own may make them  think more than once about the lies they're getting from the other side.   Anyhow.  It might be worth a try--allies are useful things.

update:

This e-mail just came in from the UCC--a Mainstream Protestant Church and Member of the National Council of Churches.

Home: Justice and Witness Ministries Much of the discussion surrounding health care reform has been confused by myths, manipulation and fear. As ministers, lay people and children of God it is our duty to be reflective in understanding this debate and calling for the creation of a just health care system that serves all people. This week we invite you to pray, preach and speak out about the ways in which "God is Still Speaking" about health care reform. JERICHO MARCHES [Joshua 6: 2-5; 10]Now Jericho was shut up inside and out because of the Israelites; no one came out and no one went in.  The Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have handed Jericho over to you, along wit its king and soldiers.  You shall march around the city, all the warriors circling the city once.  Thus you shall do for six days, with seven priest bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark.  On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, the priests blowing the trumpets.  When they make a long blast with the ram's horn, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and all the people shall charge straight ahead.  To the people Joshua gave this command: "You shall not shout or let your voice be heard, nor shall you utter a word, until the day I tell you to shout.  Then you shall shout." [New Revised Standard Version] As the health care debate continues to be violent and filled with misleading statements, myths and in some cases out and out lies, we call upon our UCC congregations to action during the next few weeks.  In addition to continued calls to your representatives and senators [1-888-797-8717] encouraging them to enact legislation that calls for universal quality health care for all, we are asking you to engage in peaceful advocacy and action by conducting Jericho Marches in your Representatives and Senators home district offices. Lean how to plan a Jericho March in your community. In gratitude, because God welcomes us, we are called to make bold stands. Therefore, inspired by God's gift of hospitality, we continue to work for God's welcoming world of love and justice. Let us pray that God will be a redemptive force in our country as we seek to break down the walls between those who have health care and those who do not.

Further Updates as I get them, or perhaps I'll start a new entry if this falls off the page.