Cancers and Cures

Why do we as Americans insist on spending billions of dollars, countless hours, and untold amounts of energy on treating the symptoms of our personal problems and our national evils instead of dealing with the causes? There are sicknesses that no government of any nation has ever and will never be able to fix - heart troubles! However, I am not referring to a cardiovascular medical condition. Contrary to what proponents of government largesse may think or say, massive governmental control is not the answer to the ills of our current national disorders.

If you have ever scoffed at the pharmaceutical industry commercials that tout the latest pill for the most ludicrous ills (and even for the legitimate ones) while they spew out at breakneck speed the plethora of possible side effects, then you know what I am talking about. Why on earth would I want to burden an already overloaded health care provider – not to mention sending the bill to an already broke federal government – for a pill to cure my “itching disease” when I will at the same time be endangering my life with the possible side-effect of death (in rare cases of course)? Does that really make sense?

You have to ask, why do we pay “experts" to sit in front of a camera and peddle their opinions to us on everything from abortion to xenophobia? Have you ever listened to some of them? According to the most popular of them, our problems aren’t our problems; it is those with solutions to our problems, that are our problem. 

The experts say we don’t need to cure the ills of society we just need to take the pills of denial. We don’t need to address the loneliness inside of a young girl’s heart which causes her to seek love and affection outside the home resulting in pregnancy; we just need to kill the unwanted child.

We don’t need to address the seeds of bitterness that grow in a young person’s heart as the result of rejection from the father figure at home causing them to lash out in unspeakable ways. We just need to ban the guns they use to express their uncaged fury. We don’t need to address the issues that cause today’s young people to be rebellious and hurtful to other children, we just need to make the discipline “fair” by not punishing certain children (of color) more than others.

We don’t need to address the reasons why teenagers want to end their lives by the droves; we just need to give them anything they want and placate their deepest needs for love and acceptance. Just give them drugs to help them feel better. Assign them a label (ADD, ADHD etc.) with which to categorize their “disease.”

Addiction is pervasive in our country.  It is estimated that close to 50 million Americans struggle directly with addictions to alcohol, cocaine, heroin, inhalants, LSD, marijuana, ecstasy, methamphetamine, Fentanyl, prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs, steroids, and tobacco - just to name a few.

To some we don’t need to address the greed and covetousness of the heart in times of economic uncertainty which causes some to exploit others, we just need to penalize (through taxes) anyone the government deems “rich.” Accusing people who have an abundant amount of money of being evil is a shallow assessment of the problem. Progressive-leaning big government advocates want us to think that broader government handouts for the poor is the answer to such evils as greed. 

The good news is that it is not too late to address the issues of the heart in our country which cause us to be depressed, angry, lonely, greedy etc. However, the truth is that as a nation we just don’t have the answers anymore. We have chased God out of our schools and public places. We have banned the mention of His name from our civic meetings and halls of government. And then we have the audacity to wonder where He is when we reap the consequences of turning to doctors and pills as the answer to our illnesses. News flash; bandages don’t cure cancer!

Progress?

This addiction to treating the symptoms instead of the causes is promoted by those who believe that we have progressed beyond the need for religion. My take on how much we have progressed? To me, the problem with the ideal of progressivism is that it promotes human beings as the answer to the problems which human beings have created. 

The word progressive itself means gradual. Here are three definitions of progressive from the Encarta dictionary that are particularly telling, and I might even say prophetic. “Progressive: Developing gradually; 1. of (a) progressive political party: ‘belonging to or associated with a political party that calls itself progressive or advocates social reform.’ 2. Progressing gradually: ‘developing gradually over a period of time.’ 3. Becoming more severe: ‘The disease causes progressive deterioration of the nervous system.’” 

If there is a statement that embodies the condition of our country in these times of “progressive” ideals, it is that we have a disease of the nervous system that is gradually becoming more severe. These pills we insist on taking to fix our problems aren’t working and are in fact making the problem worse.

Here is the point; our economy cannot take the weight of treating the symptoms anymore. We have buried ourselves in debt trying to placate ourselves. Billions of dollars could be saved every year if we would actually put more effort into healing our heart conditions than just covering and medicating them. Good doctors follow four principles of sound medical practice, the first of which is to treat causes not symptoms.

In truth, “progressive” ideals only cause a society to “regress” back to a barbaric behavior where the only things that matter are the selfish and self-centered desires that more traditional values help to quell.

Americans are drugging themselves to death by the scores to escape the pain of their hurting hearts. While once upon a time people used to turn to the church for help this is no longer the case. The church of the 20^th century lost its relevance and with it lost its power to “heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives…to set at liberty those who are oppressed…” Luke 4:18 NKJV. However, Jesus is still the answer to every human need. The gospel of Christ is still the “power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Romans 1:16 ASV

What heals a hurting and broken heart better than love, and who better to turn to for this unconditional healing love than the One Who is Love? (See the book of 1 John 4:8,16) There is an approach to life’s difficulties that helps us to face and overcome problems instead of resorting to medications. To achieve our amazing potential, we must be willing to live God’s way of life. This is the answer we need now!