6-26-22 Big Government, Big Medicine, and Big Church

Big Government, Big Medicine, and Big Church :: By Jennifer Laufenberg Published on: February 27, 2022 by RRadmin7 Category:General Articles A New Elitist Alliance? “Leaning, leaning, / safe and secure from all alarms; / leaning, leaning, / leaning on the everlasting arms.” — “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” E. A Hoffman, 1887 The word which is used here (φαρμακεία pharmakeia, whence our word “pharmacy,” from φάρμακον pharmakon, a medicine, poison, magic potion) means, properly, the preparing and giving of medicine. Then it means also poisoning, and also magic art or enchantment; because in savage nations, pharmacy or medicine consisted much in magical incantations. Thence it means sorcery or enchantment, and it is so used uniformly in the New Testament. It is used only in Gal 5:20; Rev 9:21; Rev 18:23; Rev 21:8. — Albert Barnes on the meaning of “witchcraft” in Galatians 5:20. [1] When Peter healed Aeneas at Lydda, he said, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole” (Acts 9:34, emphasis mine). Interestingly, the word whole is used when Jesus heals or speaks of healings he has performed (see Matthew 15:31, John 5:6; 7:23). In the Greek, “whole” means sound, whole, in health. To be brought to wholeness implies that a person once lacked or suffered a deficiency that had to be rectified or brought back into balance for true restoration. By His blood we are made whole spiritually, and by and according to His will, we can be made whole physically. Not all ill health is a result of sin, as Jesus assured in John 9:1-3, but all healing—wholeness—is a result of God’s divine power and will. This has always been the case. The Old Testament laws on diet and hygiene were for the health of the people. The law also gave instructions on how to avoid physical curses. The Levitical priests were integral in healing, as part of their duties included diagnosing and declaring a person healed, as well as using oils for cleansing and healing. Prophets also played a role in healings (see Leviticus 13, Deuteronomy 27:18, and 2 Kings 20:7). In the New Testament, the twelve apostles anointed the sick with oil and healed them (Mark 6:13). James instructed the church to call the elders and pray and anoint the sick “with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:14). Healing—wholeness—is bound with God, not with man. As we approach the end of the church age, like many aspects of our society, God has been cut off from most of our medical system. This may not have been as apparent pre-Covid, but it should be now, as this has become not just a failure to acknowledge God as the healer, but a decision to shut out Yahweh Rapha: the Lord who heals (Exodus 15:26). As with the elimination of God from the educational system, the choice to exile God from medicine does not come without consequences, for even if we are not in a diseased state ourselves, we are in the midst of a possibly new and very large diseased alliance. Consider the Complete Lives System (CLS). Co-authored by Ezekiel Emanuel, former president Obama’s health advisor and key player in building the Affordable Care Act, the CLS is a way to determine the allocation of scarce medical resources. Systems for the allocation of medical care in emergencies are not new. However, Dr. Emanuel’s system is different, as laid out in the 2009 article in the Lancet, “Principles for Allocation of Scarce Medical Interventions,” in that it allows for a “just allocation of scarce medical interventions” (emphasis mine). The authors contend that in the event of a medical emergency, such as a pandemic, this new system would distribute resources in a manner that would meet the four generally used ethical criteria: treating people equally, favoring the worst off, maximizing total benefits (this concerns the number of people saved), and promoting and rewarding social usefulness. Furthermore, the authors are clear that “when implemented,” this system “produces a priority curve on which individuals aged between 15 and 40 get the most substantial chance, whereas the youngest and oldest people get chances that are attenuated.” (Click here to access the graph showing the age distribution.) Attenuated means “rationed, restricted, or denied medical care that commonly leads to premature death.” In the pre-Covid world of 2009, Betsy McCaughey wrote an editorial entitled “Obama’s Health Rationer-in-Chief,” in which she explained that Dr. Emanuel’s beliefs on medical care reflect a doctor’s focus on “the greater good of society instead of focusing only on a patient’s needs.” McCaughey also pointed to a 2008 article in the Journal of the Medical Association in which Dr. Emanuel criticized part of the Hippocratic oath “as an imperative to do everything for the patient regardless of cost or effect on others.” In their 2009 Lancet article, Dr. Emanuel and his co-authors are clear that there is indeed a cost to their system: the CLS “prioritizes younger people who have not yet lived a complete life and will be unlikely to do so without aid.” Hence, the priority curve. Four years later in 2013, when CLS was largely regarded as speculation, fear, conspiracy, Dr. Lawrence Hunton wrote an editorial entitled “The Complete Lives System: Socialism in Medicine,” in which he detailed a “lexicon of socialism” used on “an unspeaking public” to avoid the real issues being discussed—that is, socialized medicine; the rationing of medical care. As Dr. Lawrence foresaw, the description of CLS as one of “just allocation” is noteworthy for being another socialist window dressing term, like distributive justice, allocative local justice, and social justice. Such terms, including just allocation, are veneers for a socialist system. Seven years later, the pandemic was just gearing up. A large construction sign erected at a Highway 85 exchange connecting Greeley and Denver read “STAY HOME: Save Lives.” As the sign became emblematic of Governor Jared Polis’s virtue signaling, the state of Colorado quietly published a very abbreviated version of its crisis standards of care. In other words—their rationing plan. The plans posted in 2020 are no longer available online, but below is a cursory overview of the most current plan (updated 11/29/21). There are four tiers, but for the sake of brevity, I’m only highlighting tiers two and three. All four are described in Section VIII: Multi-tiered Approach to Scarce Resource Allocation. (You can access the executive summary of their updated plan here.) Tier Two: Evaluation at this tier begins if the patients are determined to be in the same clinical shape. Thus, a multi-pronged evaluation would begin. Two groups are given preference here. First mentioned (though not necessarily endorsed as given preference over the second group) are pediatric patients, defined as being between the ages of 1 and 17. It is stipulated that “neonatal patients are a separate special consideration, and consultation with a neonatal critical care specialist should guide any neonatal ICU triage decision.” The second group mentioned are healthcare workers and first responders who have “a role in the COVID-19 response.” The state recommends that such healthcare workers be defined as those with a “direct role in caring for patients with COVID-19 in a healthcare setting.” Furthermore, the state stipulates that “healthcare workers and first responders with a role in the COVID-19 response should be prioritized for scarce resources over other individuals if all have equivalent clinical considerations” based on their one. Presumably, this means that healthcare workers and first responders with a role in the Covid-19 response would be prioritized over pediatric patients. Tier Three: This tier lists four special considerations, if the individuals are still judged as being equal after tiers one and two. Essential workers, pregnancy, life-years saved, and multiplier effect (being the sole caregiver to a dependent child or adult) are listed here. The state emphasizes an essential worker be defined as one who has “direct interaction with the public … or who work in high-density environments with evidence of high transmission rates ….” In footnote, the state has, “Essential workers who do not interact with the public (e.g., those that can work remotely or work in a private office setting) should not receive prioritization.” Also of note is the following regarding essential workers: “There is also ample evidence that front-line essential workers have over-representation of members of communities of color which exacerbates healthcare inequities experienced in this pandemic. Therefore, these front-line workers should receive some consideration as a Tier Three tie-breaker from the perspective of reciprocity and equity” (emphasis mine). We are left to surmise to what extent this would impact the other special considerations, but it appears that race and/or ethnicity will impact who gets life-saving care at the tier three level. I would be remiss to admit that as I read the plans back in 2020, I became dizzy and nauseous. At the time, I could not understand why, as I am saved and believe that when God says it’s time, it’s time. Later on, however, I realized what sickened me so. Staring back at me was not the fear of death, for what fear is there in being forever home with Jesus? Rather, it was the cold hard truth: however hard I had tried to live and give my best, my life, as decided by some hierarchy and ranking system, tabulated the tiers and determined that I was of insufficient value. This is medical socialism. Fast forward to 2022, and whistleblowers, medical powers-of-attorney, and grieving family members from across our nation are speaking out about hospital abuses that have been occurring, particularly with older Covid-19 patients. Reports are that patients are being denied their preferred medical treatment(s) and denied a transfer or discharge, while powers of attorney are being denied records and requests on behalf of the patient in favor of the hospital’s government protocol for Covid-19 treatment. In the case of Veronica Wolski in Chicago, her medical power of attorney was escorted out of the hospital. Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet, president and chief executive officer of Truth for Health Foundation, has written and talked about the implementation of the CLS in our Covid-world. In “Biden’s Bounty on Your Life: Hospitals’ Incentive Payments for Covid-19,” Dr. Vliet and Ali Schultz explain that both the CLS and the CARES Act generously reward hospitals following the government’s treatment plan for Covid-19: remdesivir and mechanical ventilation. Attorney Thomas Renz, who represents Covid-19 whistleblowers, estimates that hospitals may be receiving $100,000 per Covid patient—and this is not for a recovered patient. Dr. Vliet and Ali Schultz cite a 2021 report from the National Library of Medicine of more than 57,000 patients. Of those put on ventilators (for which US hospitals receive bonus payments under the CARES Act), 45% died. That mortality statistic increased to 84% in older patients. Similarly, Renz and other analysts believe that in excess of 800,000 individuals have died in American hospitals because hospitals have restricted “fluids, nutrition, antibiotics, effective antivirals, anti-inflammatories, and therapeutic doses of anti-coagulants.” Is it any wonder that commentators on alternative news sites recommend staying out of the hospitals? Clearly, the hospitals are handsomely rewarded for Covid patients. This begs another question, how are they rewarded for treating unvaccinated patients? In “Don’t Get Sick in a Blue State,” Steve Feinstein details his own experience dealing with Covid while suffering from a serious flare-up of multiple sclerosis and that of a lady given the pseudonym Beth D. Both live in Massachusetts, a heavily vaccinated area. Both are unvaccinated. Extremely ill, Beth was refused treatment from local physicians and hospitals because of her unvaccinated status. Her treatment came from an out-of-state doctor who refused to follow the government protocols. Mr. Feinstein’s primary care doctor was horrified at learning of his patient’s unvaccinated status, declaring that if Mr. Feinstein were to get ill, he wouldn’t prescribe cheaper treatments like ivermectin or the hydroxychloroquine. “No, I wouldn’t give you those. We’re not allowed. Besides, I don’t believe in them. It’s not an option” (emphasis mine). As it turned out, Mr. Feinstein was seriously ill, and though he did manage to recover, it was not because of his physician’s profound adherence to the Hippocratic Oath, as that doctor had warned Mr. Feinstein: “I wouldn’t let you in my house being unvaccinated.” Where then was Mr. Feinstein to go? Where is the unvaccinated Christian to go when an illness takes a severe turn? If we skip the hospital, the primary care physician, and follow James 5:14 and head to the church leadership, what kind of response will we get today? In her recent editorial “How the Federal Government Used Evangelical Leaders to Spread Covid Propaganda to Churches,” Megan Basham explains how former National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins teamed with prominent church leaders to promote masks and vaccines. “I want to exhort pastors once again to try to use your credibility with your flock to put forward the public health measures that we know can work,” Collins unabashedly exclaimed on one of Ed Stetzer’s podcasts. Stetzer is not the only one to give Collins a mic, though. Among the others that partnered with the government narrative are Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), Tim Keller, and Rick Warren. As Basham points out, the subject of these discussions with Collins included the danger of conspiracy theories (or alternate views) regarding Covid-19. During Rick Warren and Francis Collins’s interview, Warren admonished “the priests and pastors and rabbis and other faith leaders … to deal with these conspiracy issues and things like that … One of the responsibilities of faith leaders is to tell the people to … trust the science. They’re not going to put out a vaccine that’s going to hurt people” (emphasis mine). Jesus didn’t trust the science: He is the real science. Thus, while Jesus’s healing miracles testified to Him being the Messiah (Luke 4:18), the healings also showed that as concerned as Christ is for our spiritual well-being, He also cares for our physical health. God told the prophet Isaiah regarding King Hezekiah, “Tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee” (2 Kings 20:5). God restored Job’s health and Elijah’s mental health when the prophet despaired of life (1 Kings 19:4). In addition to healing, God is the source of all knowledge regarding our body and health. When the disciples sought to understand why they could not cure a man’s son of epilepsy, Jesus instructed them: “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:15). It is important to remember that in the ancient world, medicine often involved occult practices, obviously forbidden under Mosaic Law, and this remains the case in the New Testament. Such practices not only involve the demonic realm but also detract from God as the ultimate source of healing. Today, our modern medical system has, as Dr. David Stewart says in his book Healing Oils of the Bible, become “atheistic medicine” as establishment medicine has subverted God’s omniscience and omnipotence for its own glory. [2] Why, then, does it seem unfathomable that a system as CLS could become enmeshed in secular medicine? One explanation is that our society has generally held the medical profession as a whole in high esteem—perhaps so high that today we are like King Asa, who, when he was suffering from a disease in his feet (perhaps gout or some other swelling that progressively worsened), “sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians” (2 Chronicles 16:12). In his commentary on this verse, John Gill, an 18th century English Baptist pastor and theologian, believes that King Asa’s real spiritual problem stemmed from his failure to seek the Lord, of which Gill writes, “he ought to have sought [God} in the first place.” [3] Interestingly, Gill notes the likelihood that the king had sought help from pagan physicians, as the Jews did not possess a good opinion of medical practitioners. This is seen throughout the Bible, where, unlike today, physicians are not viewed favorably. This unfavorable outlook is evident in the New Testament when we learn the back story of the woman with the bleeding issue of whom Jesus “healed of that plague” (Mark 5:29). In his analysis of verses 25-26, Marvin Vincent explains that the literal meaning of “of many physicians” is under the hands of physicians, underscoring that this woman had not just undergone treatments but had suffered as a result. [4] In his commentary on what he terms “this piteous case of this poor woman,” Matthew Henry explains that the physicians continued taking this woman’s money until she was bankrupt and then cast her off as incurable. [5] In Matthew Henry’s opinion, the physicians became worse than the disease. The prophet Jeremiah asked, “Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” (8:22). Of course, the questions are rhetorical and highlight the spiritual state of the people. Gilead was renowned for its balm, and hence, physicians would have likely been there. There is also another type of “physician” referred to here, and that is the spiritual healers who John Gill says operate “in a moral and spiritual sense, [as] instruments of healing of men, by showing them their evil, calling them to repentance, and directing where to go for healing or pardon of sin; namely, to Christ, the alone physician, and to his precious blood, shed for the remission of sins.” [6] Today, there are many balms and a cabal. It appears that big government, big medicine, and big religion are presenting their own balms like remdesivir and the vaccine. So far, as Vasko Kohlmayer reported in his article “The Global Covid Vaccination Campaign Is Courting Catastrophe,” that 4.7 billion people in the world have received one dose and “tens of millions” up to four doses for what Dr. Deane Waldman said “is simply a new flu” and that to compare it “to the bubonic plague is ludicrous medical hyperbole.” As born-again Christians, we should ask, Who do we believe is the real heart and mind of science? Why does Paul warn Timothy, and thereby us, of “science falsely so-called” (1 Timothy 6:20)? Would science really only have us take something that is safe and effective, as some prominent Christian leaders have attested? Kohlmayer calculated the amount of time it would take to truly declare the vaccine safe and effective. The earliest is April 2024. That’s over two years away. Send us, Yahweh Rapha, send to us Lord Jesus, that He will rapture us home, that He will judge this wicked, sin-filled world; for in this world here, there shall be found no tree of life with leaves for the healing of nations. earnestlycontend.net earnestlycontend@yahoo.com [1] Barnes, Albert, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible. 2021. e-Sword X. [2] Stewart David, Healing Oils of the Bible [Marble Hill: Care Publications] 36. [3] Gill, John, John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible. 2021. e-Sword X. [4] Vincent, Marvin. Word Studies in the New Testament. 2021. e-Sword X. [5] Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible. 2021. e-Sword X. [6] John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible. 2021. e-Sword X.