The war in Syria rages.
Out of that war IS emerges as a large, organized terrorist
operation. They believe that anyone who
is not with them must die so they have no reluctance taking human non-Sunni
lives. They just did so in Paris.
But the Paris attacks, as awful and horrendous and inhumane
as they were, demonstrates clearly why so many are leaving their homes in Syria
and Iraq and elsewhere close by and are fleeing wherever they can go to be
safe.
27 Governors in the US have now announced that their states
will not allow any Syrian refugees to flee to them. More than half our states. I am so deeply sad that my state is one of
the 27. Of the 27 governors, only one is
a Democrat.
It is my hunch that these governors campaigned on family
values, Christianity in particular. None
of these governors claimed to be atheists or Muslim. And I wonder if those most fundamental of
Christians have in fact read the New Testament and understood the big picture.
If states are fools, do we not have a county or a city who
will stand and say let them come unto us and we will give them peace? We will not sort by religion. We will not sort by ethnicity. If we follow the notion of only allowing
people succor who are “good”, who will ever qualify for admission?
There are candidates for the Presidency who would rather
bomb IS knowing they will kill innocent people.
There are candidates who would send American troops to the region, or at
least Iraq. Have we learned nothing from
Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq, and Afghanistan? Are
we not yet beyond an eye for an eye and international bullying? No air strike will return the dead in
Paris. Will we ever be able to turn the
other cheek and respond rationally?
My Christian heritage taught me it is the Samaritan who is
blessed. The enemy who responds to
another human who is suffering and in need is the model to emulate.
Have we no more Samaritans?
Are they now extinct? Do we have
a new interpretation of the New Testament that requires service to self and
safety first and no obligation to our fellow humans?
I find that cowardly and blasphemous.
I remember hearing a pastor, I think it may have been Dr. Gerald Mann, who recently passed away, talking about the idea that most Samaritans, in Biblical times, were not "good". In fact they had very strict, fundamental views of religion and were despised by the Jews. I believe the feeling was mutual.
ReplyDeleteYou have probably heard this idea, but I was an adult until I fully understood that parable and it is the perfect example of the situation today. " Love your neighbor as yourself" was part of Old Testament law ( Leviticus 19:18) and sacred to the Jews, but many people thought a " neighbor" meant only their fellow Jews.
One day a lawyer asked Jesus, " And just who is my neighbor?" Jesus told the Parable of the Good Samaritan to answer his question. Only the " good" Samaritan came to the aide of the robbed and injured Jewish victim in the road after fellow Jews, a priest and a Levite, had passed by him without rendering aide.
Jesus said, " Now which of the three men that passed by was a neighbor to the injured man?"
The lawyer was forced to admit that it was the Samaritan who treated the injured man as a neighbor, not his fellow Jews who did nothing to help. Jesus then said, " Yes, now go and do the same!" If a Samaritan could be a neighbor to a Jew, then All of God's people must be our neighbors and we must love them as the Samaritan did.
I suppose we are finding out who the " good" Republicans really are! I understand that there may be some " bad " Democrats.
Maybe we need to find out who the " good " Christians are, as well. Oh right, Jeb Bush says that we could use a " test" to determine if the Syrian refugees are true Christians. What would that be? Should he take it himself ? Could it be that they wear a gaudy cross around their necks or have Ichthys symbols on their backpacks?
Do people who already live here need to take the " TEST"??
Evidently in the years before WWII, Jews escaping Germany were denied entry into our kind country.
All of these things worry me and make me really wonder about the new Samaritans. Nothing good about them.
I worry too. My expectations for the behavior of America and Americans are much higher than are currently being displayed. Thanks, Dinah.
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