Perspectives on Social Issues
(April 2004)
Creating a Dialogue to Transform Health Care
"[W]hat practical steps can social justice advocates take to help create [a higher-level change in health care reform]? [In a series of conversations among concerned groups], we identified three potential starting points.
- First, we need to expand the conversation. Much of the deliberation around health care reform seems to be limited to an elite group of experts. Missing are forums where diverse groups of citizens can gather to talk about health care in a way that invites and respects differing opinions....
- Second, we need to deepen the conversation. We have learned when people begin conversations on health care by first identifying their values, they seem to have a sharper eye for the inadequacies of the current system and a more positive assessment of reforms that could meet the basic health care needs of all.
- Third, we need to find ways to reframe the issue of health care reform.... [R]esearch suggests that when reform advocates focus attention on the uninsured it often elicits 'Us versus them' thinking. Conversely, when advocates focus attention on situations in which people may find themselves, such as losing a job, it usually elicits more 'we're-all-in-this together' thinking."
"A National Dialogue on Transforming Health Care" by Michael Culliton and Ann Neale, Network Connection, Mar/Ap 2004.
Churches Silent about Family Violence
"[On] the issue of family violence in the United States, which has a devastating impact on the lives of millions of children and adults, the leaders within the peace and justice community, and our churches, are mostly silent.... The victims of family violence live among us wearing the masks of Sunday school teacher, committee member, co-worker, elderly neighbor, nursery school child, youth group member. Their wounds are not visible like those inflicted by guns. Nor do they heal as quickly. The likelihood that a victim of sexual assault will develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is greater than that for soldiers serving in combat.
At least one in four girls, and one in six boys, is sexually abused before the age of 18. The majority is abused within the circle of 'family and friends.' One in three women is battered by an intimate partner. Clergy in middle-class suburban congregations often refuse to believe that these statistics are reflected in their parish. There is a prevailing myth that incest primarily happens within poor or obviously dysfunctional families. The truth is that children are sexually abused by parents who are doctors, teachers, and clergy.... Family violence is no respecter of race, class, or religion."
"A War at Home: Why Are our Churches Silent about Family Violence?", Commentary, Sojourners Magazine, Ap 2004.
Reducing Students' Exposure to Air Pollution
"Student exposure to air pollution from diesel school buses can be cut by 90 percent if school districts use ultra low sulfur fuel and add soot traps. That's a preliminary finding from a diesel school bus study conducted by the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago. The study measured the diesel exhaust students are exposed to on a conventional school bus compared to a bus using ultra low-sulfur fuel and retrofitted with emission-reduction equipment. On a typical bus ride, researchers found children are exposed to up to five times as many diesel emissions as they would encounter on a retrofit bus.... Particulate matter -- a major component of diesel exhaust -- has been linked to a wide variety of serious health issues from upper and lower respiratory infections, asthma attacks and possible asthma onset, to heart attacks and premature death."
"Low-Sulfur Fuel Key to Lower Bus Emissions," Science for the People, From the Ground Up, Ecology Center, Jan/Feb 2004.
"The L.R.A. (Lord's Resistance Army) is a cult-like group that came into existence in 1986 in the north of Uganda when the current president, Yoweri Museveni, took power.... The L.R.A specializes in the slaughter of innocent people.... Abduction of children is the most depressing and horrifying tactic of the L.R.A. In the past 17 years, the number has approached 20,000. These child 'recruits' are forced into submission and made to carry weapons; and almost immediately after they have been abducted, they are terrorized into committing their own atrocities. These can involve beating one of their classmates to death -- the alternative is to be bludgeoned to death themselves -- or being forced to plunder their own village and kill relatives, so that they will have no place to which they might return.
The girls are given to L.R.A commanders as sex slaves. Many who escape their abductors come back with unwanted children and a host of sexually transmitted diseases. As the months pass, the abducted children lose track of their personal lives, their family culture and any kind of moral code. They learn indifference and brutality. Children are transformed into killers."
"Child Soldiers and the Lord's Resistance Army" by Gary Smith, America, Mar 29, 2004.
Health Disparities of Minorities
"Recently the Center far Disease Control Prevention Office officials held a briefing to call attention to health disparities of minorities. Although trends in Health Care Indicators show that rates for most racial/ethic groups have improved, not all groups have benefited equally. Far many racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, good health is elusive and access to health promotion and prevention programs and appropriate health care are often relative to economic status, race or ethnicity, gender, education, disability, geographic location, or sexual orientation. Groups experiencing poor health status in the country are expected to grow in proportion with the total population.... According to the CDC, better efforts to prevent disease, promotion of good health and delivery of appropriate care are needed to eliminate these racial and ethnic disparities. This will involve identifying and removing the conditions that allow disparities between minorities and others to exist -- including discrimination, differences in access to quality health care, socioeconomic barriers, language and cultural barriers, and improved access for all to the resources that influence health."
"American Indian/Alaska Natives Health Disparities Alarming," Honor Digest, Jan/Feb 2004.
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Gratitude to the Institute for Peace and Justice
for use of their Pope Paul VIth graphic. |
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