The National Prayer Breakfast was held in Washington, DC last week Thursday. President Trump took the opportunity to make another overture to the Religious Right in an effort to retain them as part of his base. In the process he will undoubtedly kill many Americans. Think I’m being hyperbolic? Let’s explore and see if you reach the same conclusion after reading the below.  

During his speech at the breakfast Trump announced a new rule that would allow health care workers, insurers and employers to refuse to “participate” in medical services they felt were in conflict with their religious beliefs. The rule is 440 pages long so it is impossible to cover it completely in a few paragraphs. Don’t let that hide its danger to America and American citizens.

With our private, for-profit health insurance system what company that felt its primary obligation was to generate a profit for its shareholders wouldn’t want to avoid paying for some medical procedures? Am I the only one who can see some insurers suddenly getting religion?

With that same profit motive in mind, what greedy employer won’t suddenly get religion when doing so lowers its health care costs?

Now we come to the really dangerous part – health care providers. Very few of us have medical degrees. For example, my degree is in management and I was much more fortunate than many other Americans in the school I was able to earn that degree from. But it was not in medicine and when it comes to specific medical decisions without my health care provider I am operating from a position of ignorance. When I see my health care providers I depend on them to recommend the best courses and alternatives for the treatment of whatever may be ailing me. I expect them to be presenting viable alternatives to me based on science, not their religious beliefs. I really don’t care what, if any, religion they practice. (That is the American way.)

America is not a Christian nation. It is a secular nation where the majority of people just so happen to be Christians. Assuming it is a Christian nation is the mistake a lot of people on the right make. They are wrong; simply read the First Amendment. The same people who will loudly (and incorrectly) proclaim that America is a Christian nation spread false rumors about and fear of Sharia Law. What they are saying is that their religious law is good and rules supreme while someone else’s religious law is bad and dangerous. How does that square with the religious freedom they proclaim to be protecting?

The lack of the best possible medical care does kill people. One, (and there are many more), simple and timely example is vaccinations. If a parent fails to vaccinate their child against a disease the chances of the child contracting that disease increases dramatically. Additionally those around the child are needlessly exposed to the disease. In advanced countries like America we have all but eradicated certain diseases but with the anti-vaxxer movement some are making a comeback. Most of those parents refusing to vaccinate their children claim religious exemptions. Here is the somewhat hidden problem with that: what about the people who for legitimate medical reasons cannot be vaccinated? Their only defense is the population at large not being carriers that will expose them to the disease in the first place.

Many people, including many of my readers, consider Trump to be a smart person. Perhaps exposing one of my many faults, I do not. Trump is looking at this as something insignificant that will placate some voters he needs. (How the Religious Right ignores Trump’s personal history and basic character is another subject for another day.)   Much like in the case of George W. Bush, I cannot view as smart anyone who does not anticipate and consider the consequences of their actions. This is another case where Trump will kill Americans. I guess the best that Americans can hope for is that they and their loved ones are not among the fatalities.

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