Protestantism

» Brian Tubbs - Time in the Past

Migisi and Jeff, I am much more in sympathy with what you say than you might think. However, many people are so quick to focus on the present and the future that they completely ignore the past. The mindset being: "What's the point of learning about history? Those people are dead and gone. Their time is done. It's our time now." I think that is a DANGEROUS philosophy, and that is why it SEEMS I spend so much time in the past - because it takes time to combat that dangerous philosophy.

The past is valuable for a number of reasons - not the least of which is that we can LEARN LESSONS from it. And hopefully avoid repeating some of our mistakes.

In the case of health care, for example, what lessons can we learn from the past to help us with the future? AND...

What values and principles is our society committed to (from its heritage) that we can use to GUIDE our decision-making? For example, anyone familiar with the Hippocratic Oath? For centuries, THAT was one of the preeminent moral compasses of the health care field. Not so anymore, I'm afraid.