Last summer I had the chance to travel the country with my wife to interview influential thinkers and actors in the areas of the social gospel and Christian humanitarianism.  On one occasion I sat down with Tony Campolo, one such influential thinker and author of Red Letter Christians, in his office outside of Philadelphia. 

Our conversation touched on numerous topics that didn’t make the final cut for the book (Humanitarian Jesus).  One of those topics was health care reform.  What follows is a rather un-edited snippet of the interview on that topic:

There’s no perfect plan – there I said it. At least some people though are trying to find a plan. I’m sick to death of politics and even more tired of one sentence Facebook comments that start debates where people say things they would never say face to face or don’t understand.

Congress and Facebook have a lot in common.  There is a lot of time spent on things that should not occupy that much of our attention and not enough time spent on issues that need our utmost commitment, awareness, and dedication. We have all but forgotten to work together.

One politician took to his blog this week rallying the Republicans to bring Obama down with his healthcare plan: “Go for the kill,” he said.  Enough already. Why not invest your energy into a bipartisan plan instead of spewing venomous words that further cut into an already deeply divided nation? Why don’t we write letters to our representatives asking them to put down their paper and electronic swords and start working together – aren’t we on the same team? Maybe then our nation could stand firm on something again that is meaningful because right now all of the pundit and bobblehead chatter are cracking the foundation.