Just What the Doctor Ordered

(This article originally appeared on One Flew Over the Church)

A bright spot. Well, sort of. I have recently been able to exchange correspondence with someone that I find completely fascinating. I have seen a movie about and have even sought out some of the real-life facts about a man that is, in my humble opinion, an excellent example of the works that we learn about in James 2:19 & 20 "19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?"

The man I am referring to has some of the most unorthodox methods of medicine you can imagine. He believes that "healing should be a loving human interchange, not a business transaction" and with this belief backed with works, he provided free medical care for 15,000 patients between 1971 and 1983. His belief is that his institute is "an experiment in holism with a medical focus based on the belief that one cannot separate the health of the individual from the health of the family, the community, and the world. (It) is a sociopolitical act that grows out of a deep concern for the quality of people's lives in a world dominated by the values inherent in greed and power." I thought this sounded a lot like the descriptions we at One Flew have sought for church and faith, including treating people as people and not as checks or numbers.

So, seeing works and wondering about the impact such methods could have on the Christian faith, I sent off a letter to Dr. Patch Adams. I asked him for advice on how his philosophies and approach to medicine could be translated to use in ministry and what roles Christianity could play in reforming our health care system And shortly thereafter, I received the following response, handwritten in the margins of a photocopied magazine article that helped answer a lot of the questions I was asking myself.

Dear Sam, Thank you for your inquiry. Actually never in my life have I had a religious or god thought. I am very well read (my library is 28,000 books - all important - no John Grisham) and can speak of the massive murder and injustice done in their name to have an aversion to it. I have seen a level of hypocrisy all my life, to tell a "Christian" audience it would be nice if you were. I met a (sorry couldn't make out the word) Christian (Buddhist, Muslim, etc) that actually lives their faith and am tickled to meet them. Politically, Christ was a communist (acts) and I like to let Christians know. Bush said he was a Christian and to me he was a fascist mass murderer.

Christ's mandate is get off your ass and serve humanity. If you have any excess, use it to help others. I'm motivated by my love of humanity that I got from my mother. There are religious people in our work - we like it all - if your presentation of self is happy, funny, loving, cooperative, creative and thoughtful.

If one loves Christ, they must work for peace and justice or they are not Christians.

I love Walt Whitman, Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, Virginia Woolf, Faulkner, Dickens and a thousand more. I am a nerd. I've never read about or discussed with anyone that help me make any sense of god. It makes only sense as an invention of men (I think to ease their fears and for social control).

I don't use computers. I am happy for you to put what I say on your website. Please discourage people from writing to convert me. I am totally clean.

In peace, Patch

Now, to say that I agree with what Patch said word for word would be a bit of a stretch. But I have learned a valuable lesson in the last few years. If you don't immediately dismiss people who have an opinion different than your own, you just might learn something. So I looked past the man's religious beliefs (or lack thereof) and looked at his works. I can't say that anyone in my (former) denominational circle has provided free medical care for 15 people, much less 15,000. I have a lot of evidence that shows that there is a staunch belief that "eternity is all that matters" - make converts and get them in here. I have seen that influence is relative to giving potential and not spiritual maturity or works. Excess is rarely focused on the needs of the community or even the less profitable members of the congregation. Instead, any excess is spent on bigger, newer buildings or other amenities for converts. I want to honor Patch's wishes and discourage "Patch-centered evangelism" by saying that this man has works that are a reflection of his beliefs and considering how lacking the modern American church is of these works, let's not ruin his passion and hard work by trying to make him like us.

So, what is a dissident to do?

I can continue to stand in the street and scream about the injustice and inhumanity of the modern church or I can, as Patch so eloquently put it, "get off my ass and serve humanity". Since I don't color inside the lines, I'll choose both. So, now that my platform is back, I'll be "doing unto the least of these" as I try my best to fight for justice and peace in an organization that is supposed to be a model of those traits. And until it does, I guess I'll look to atheists to demonstrate some of the standards that should be embraced by believers.