Wednesday, June 13, 2012

The Actuality of Conservatives

When asked what would happen to our nations's elderly and disabled if Congress cut social programs, a Conservative answered me by saying "Families can take care of them with help from the churches they attend". Mind you, this was said to me by the daughter of my 93 year old client who continually rescheduled doctors appointments because she can't deal with the stress of driving. These cancellations resulted in a pneumonia relapse which wouldn't have happened had she seen the doctor. He would have heard the fluid in her lungs. Apparently the client hadn't taken (she forgot) the antibiotics prescribed upon her release the first time.

I was tempted to point out that "family" hadn't done too awful much to help their Mom up to this point. The son, who is on SS disability at 55 because he's obese, received his Mom's car for Christmas. He can't drive the 50 miles to visit Mom but he can wax enthusiastically about how much his wife loves that car when he calls his dear Mother once a week. My client gave the car away because she'd become too frail to drive it.

The son she sees on holidays, that 50 miles is a long trip you know? The daughter is too stressed to drive, lives 5 miles away and sees her Mom when her husband picks his Mom-in-law up to bring her to their house. I give him credit. He stops to see her frequently on his way home from his law office. He was the one that managed the second round of antibiotics by talking to the doctor, finding out how far apart she had to take them. He then called her every morning to remind her to get up for long enough to take a pill. He saw to it that his daughter stopped after school to remind her for that one and he called again before going to bed for the third dose.

When he stops he's not there very long, but that's better than the nothing she was receiving before. Her two hospital stays gave a doctor time enough to see that there were issues with her cognition. He notified her primary care and our office finally received a diagnosis of Dementia. Since the primary care had been canceled so often, he didn't catch it. All but the 2 appointments needed for authorization to continue providing care for her were skipped. At this point, it doesn't really matter. I'm fairly certain she won't be here much longer. She's losing weight because she isn't eating.

The gastroenterologist has her on a lactose free diet to control her nasty diarrhea. Personally? I know she hasn't been eating right and drinking large volumes of Ensure daily. She told the doctor it was only one or two a day, but she was going through a case of 24 bottles every week. Ensure, due to it's high fat, carbohydrate and protein levels can cause the kind of diarrhea she was suffering from. When asked how I knew she was drinking too much of it since I'm only there 2 times a week, I told them it's the 13 gallon trash bag of Ensure bottles that was my clue. It was there EVERY Monday for me to take to the curb for disposal. They stopped buying the Ensure, and she still isn't eating. When asked she'll say that people who live alone have no appetite.

This is how families are taking care of their elderly. The highlight of her week, so she tells me, is the lay minister from her church who comes to administer Communion to her every Thursday. She's old style Catholic, and this means something special to her. However, I'd like to see the churches become more involved with services to the elderly. I'd also like to ask why, since they aren't already doing very much for the poor and infirm, do Conservatives think they will provide when the government saves them all those tax dollars by cutting programs.

There are over 1300 mega churches in the United States alone. All with tax exempt statuses who don't seem able to do much by way of aid where needed. In order to be designated a mega church they must regularly have 2000 members come for Sunday services. They rake in MILLIONS of dollars which enrich the pastors, but I don't ever hear of any of them helping the poor or elderly with things like medical bills. How about maybe rides to doctor's appointments, or helping people pay for necessary equipment to keep a loved one at home?

All I know is that if families and the churches were a viable option to replace the social welfare programs in place now, they'd already be hard at work doing the work that Jesus did instead of telling us how Christian they are.


17 comments:

  1. Sherry,
    They can talk the talk but when it comes to walking the walk ...

    I don't know if my brother and younger sister got the message, but I am thankful every day that my "older younger" sister is living with my mom and providing her with both care and companionship.

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    1. It's called denial. I really wish I could say I didn't do that to my Mom, but I'm sure there were times when I did. I wanted to bring my Mom home to take care of her, but she had issues requiring care that were beyond my skill set. She was only there for rehab when she went, unfortunately she didn't improve enough the last time and before we could make arrangements, she died.

      However, caring for Mom when I did, and for my Mom-in-law gave me the ability to recognize when things aren't right with cognitive issues and I know how to get around some of them.

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  2. Disability for being obese? Geez!
    I'm not usually moved by posts but this one has me feeling rather angry inside and most of all, disgusted with this family. I really wish we would tax the churches and for that matter, the rich.

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    1. If your job is done away with and your weight has become a health issue, you can get SS disability for obesity. And it helps if your Bro-in-law is a disability lawyer who deals with SS refusals every day. On the other hand, the same amount of time spent fighting for your disability could be spent losing the weight and becoming healthier so you won't need it.

      If a small church is preaching the word of Jesus, AND doing what it can for it's poorer members, I think they should be exempt. Not the mega churches that use their money overseas to create more converts, or enrich their pastors and board members. That is an entertainment business and should be taxed accordingly.

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  3. A guy I know, his wife is the book keeper for a mega church. He said she writes checks totaling at least $750,000 every 2 weeks. These things are a money machine. As far as I know they do very little for the poor here.

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    1. Much like the Billy Graham Crusades, these churches spend their Charitable monies overseas. Mostly in places like Ghana where they can create more Christians to glorify God. Americans having problems with enough food for their children? Oh....let the govt handle that, or let them starve.

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    1. Amazing how much of that one sees in the very place where we're supposed to be able to worship Christ. My Bible says he was the opposite, funny how that works.

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  5. The real measure of a society is in how it treats it's young and old. The United States fairs badly.

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    1. I heard that someplace before. And I agreed with it then. :D

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  6. Sherry:

    You are right! Families can't expect to get much help from churches, especially the megachurches. One has just been completed in our area, a palace on a hill with over 6000 members. It includes a massive auditorium where the church charges $25 per person to see the plays it sponsors. Guess who the first guest speaker was? Glenn Beck.

    We should end tax breaks for any church that involves itself in any way with politics. We need fewer palaces and more Christians out there in the public square acting like Christians.

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    1. There are small churches where Christianity still lives. The problem is that they aren't possessors of large congregations so money is tight. However, they do very well in feeding the poor through small food banks, and members volunteer to take needy people to their doctor appointments. One such pastor took a gay man I know to Syracuse for heart catheterization. There are still those little glimmers of hope.

      I was going to take time off work to do it Bry mentioned how grateful to me he was and the pastor stepped in and relieved me of losing a days wages. An offer we took gladly.

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  7. Sherry - amen, amen, amen - and don't forget the church's primary duty -

    'lord you keep them scared - and we'll keep them broke'

    ice

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    1. There are churches that do their level best to help the impoverished, unfortunately they aren't the ones with enough money to really make a difference.

      Makes me wonder, if they really read the Bible, how today's Christians can justify their own behavior.

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  8. Well said, Sherry. I find the worst about the conservative viewpoint is that they promise their churches will care for the weak and infirm.

    Bullshit. Their brand of Christianity is alien to me. Most modern American Christian churches are profit centers, not houses of worship.

    My own mother holds this right-wing position and then bitches when her church provides food and clothing to a family she doesn't like.

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    1. We have small churches here that actually do the best they can with charitable works. In the interest of offending Mother Johnson, or at least getting under her skin a bit, the pastor of one of these small churches took my friend Brian the 50 miles to Syracuse so he could have heart catheterization. Stayed with him at the hospital, brought him home and stayed until he was sure Brian wouldn't begin bleeding. Brian is very, very GAY!

      Next time someone tells you the family and the churches will care for the weak and infirm, ask them why they aren't doing it already? Seems to me that if they were, the government wouldn't have to.

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