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TechnoratiThe report is replete with documentation about the very disturbing practices of some of America's best known insurance companies. These companies built their businesses by cultivating the public's trust. Now, however, that trust is being betrayed as the companies put profits over their obligations to policy holders.
People in quest of a just society should decry business practices that are rooted in fraud or trickery or deceit. The doctrine of caveat emptor ("let the buyer beware") does not justify lying, cheating, or dissembling. And certainly those who call themselves Christians cannot justify such practices. The writer of Proverbs warns against unscrupulous conduct: "A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, with perverted heart devises evil…." (Proverbs 6:12-15 ESV) His fate, the writer warns, will be sudden "calamity" (Proverbs 6:15 ESV), for the Lord hates and finds abominable "a lying tongue," "a heart that devises wicked plans," and "a false witness who breathes out lies." (Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV)
Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther admonished his parishioners, "Everyone should conduct his trade, craft and business in such a way that he overcharges no one, cheats no one with false wares, is satisfied with a fair profit, and gives people something worthwhile for their penny." How different America's insurance industry would look today if its CEO's heeded the venerable preacher's advice.
Ken Connor is Chairman of the Center for a Just Society in Washington, DC and a nationally recognized trial lawyer who represented Governor Jeb Bush in the Terri Schiavo case. Connor was formally President of the Family Research Council, Chairman of the Board of CareNet, and Vice Chairman of Americans United for Life. For more articles and resources from Mr. Connor and the Center for a Just Society, go to www.ajustsociety.org. Your feedback is welcome; please email info@ajustsociety.org.
