Ok, folks I apologize for the expletive in my PG-13 title but at the moment it is the only word I can think of. Eugene Peterson once noted that cursing was once holy language before it degenerated into mere profanity. I am not using mere profanity however. But I am upset!
I was crusin' through MSNBC reading the latest headlines and came across "Woman dies in ER lobby as 911 refuses help." The story is dated 7:43 am, June 13, 2007. Here is a link: HERE
Edith Rodriguez was in the emergency room in the inner-city of Los Angeles, she was in obvious pain and was bleeding from the mouth. The doctors, nurses and staff of Martin Luther King, Jr-Harbor Hospital let this woman, one of God's creatures, die. Her boyfriend/husband even called 911 from within the ER! They refused to help. Later a second call to 911 came from the same ER from a total stranger seeking aid for this poor woman. They still refused to help her. When they finally got the nearby Police officers to "assist," they decided to arrest her for a parole violation! Edith Rodriguez died as the Police were taking her out of the hospital.
Folks there is something screwed up in this land. We worry our little hearts that Paris Hilton might be exposed to a staff infection because she has to go to a jail session and yet we simply could care less about a woman who is bleeding to death in the ER. How is it possible that trained doctors and nurses could be so devoid of humanity?
The head of the county Department of Health Services said this was "fundamentally a failure of caring" ... but it is "getting better." What a bunch of baloney. What happened in that ER was more than a failure to care ... it was a failure to even give a damn!!!!! The Doctors, the nurses, the staff in that ER are responsible for the death of an innocent woman who simply had the misfortune of being at an inner-city hospital. I am going out on a limb here but is this not simply corporate murder? If it was Paris Hilton in that ER she would have been rushed through so they could x-ray her broken fingernail.
This is America, the United States, the richest, by far the most powerful nation on the planet, how could this happen? It happens because our national values are simply and utterly screwed up. We will spend almost 600 billion dollars on weapons this year ... but a poor woman gets arrested in the ER rather than the care of a fellow human being.
Though speaking explicitly of pay, James 5 speaks prophetically to our situation. I have altered the wording only slightly:
"Look! The care you failed to give the poor who mowed your lawns is crying out against you. The cries of the maid have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent people, who were not your enemies" (Stoned Campbell paraphrase of James 5.4-6).
Dear God of the Oppressed ... have mercy upon us. Father help us to care.
Shalom,
Bobby Valentine
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