Love Thy Neighbor In The 21st Century
This is such a simple phrase, but one that is extremely powerful. Such a simple phrase and yet whole books can be written on the topic. What does it mean? How did Jesus apply this teaching in his ministry. How do we apply it in the modern time? How do we apply it during the outbreak.
The verse is found in Matthew Chapter 22, verse 36 through 40. A teacher of the law asked Jesus of which of the commandments is the greatest of them all. Jesus responds “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”. One has to reread that sentence multiple time when reading from King James. In the NIV translation, it basically means “Love God with all your heart, all you soul, and all your mind”. This is the first and greatest commandment of them all. Jesus continues “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”. All of God’s Commandments are based on these two teachings. You can’t have none without these two. You can’t live by God if you ignore either one of these commands.
In Chapter 22, Jesus was speaking in parables and the Pharisees gathered around him to ask questions. There intentions weren’t good though. Many of those who profess God won’t come with good intentions either. The Pharisees wanted to trap Jesus. Earlier in Chapter 22, they asked Jesus whether they should pay tribute to Caesar or not, wanting an answer that would give then an excuse to turn him over to the Romans. Being shown a coin that had the face of Caesar, Jesus declared that everything that belongs to Caesar is rendered back to him while everything that belongs to God gets rendered back to him. Later in the day, the Sadducee asked him about the validity of the resurrection in there own attempts to discredit him. This is where they asked Jesus what would happen to a woman who had seven husbands who died , along with her eventually. Which husband would she be the wife to. This is where Jesus blasted them for not knowing there own scripture. The woman and her husbands descend into heaven as angels, thus there isn’t a heavenly concept of marriage. They would all be among God and equal among themselves in Heaven. The powers at be just won’t give Jesus a break. Jesus made the Sadducee look like idiots. This was not a hard thing for Jesus to do.
Jesus would expand on the idea of loving they neighbor with the parable of the Good Samaritan. Who was the neighbor to the man in the story. It wasn't the Levite. It wasn't the pious, self-righteous individual who claimed to uphold God’s law to the fullest. Maybe he didn’t want to get his Levis dirty. Religious code and doctrine was more important than rendering aid to the one who was left for dead by the side of the road. The neighbor was the Samaritan who rushed and rendered aid. There could be a situation in a person’s life where they might get aid from the one least expected. At least if that person has embraced the Golden Rule as well. The teachings of the Golden Rule, Good Samaritan, and loving thy neighbor all tie-in together.
Who were the neighbors in Jesus’s day? Jerusalem was something of a melting pot of various cultures. Jerusalem was the capital and holy city for the ancient Kingdom of Israel. This city was actually quiet for most of the year, except for the major religious holidays. Many Jews from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East would descend onto the city. They would have definitely been neighbors. The ethnic tribes outside of Israel, like the Assyrians and Samaritans would have been neighbors as well. Egypt would have been an neighbor. There would have been many Greeks who would have populated the city as well. They would have originally arrived during the conquest of Alexander The Great. They still would been in the city in somewhat significant numbers as they embraced many philosophical ideas. Of course, there was also the 800-pound elephant in the room, the Romans.
The Romans were people that you did not want to have as an enemy during a time of war. Rome’s reputation existed for a reason. However, when the empire wasn't at war and the taxes were collected, Rome was actually very benign. While they would have wanted there money, they were generally laid back and let the locals in the area handle the administration. There was a high amount of autonomy while customs and traditions continued largely uninterrupted.
Despite this, many prejudices continued. The Israelites didn’t like the Samaritans. The Greeks and Egyptians didn’t like the Israelites. Nobody liked the Romans, except the Romans. Ethnic, racial, and cultural hostility was the norm. Life wasn't easy. Back then, as now, one doesn't need to invent boogeymen because life itself is harsh enough without them. Cultural prejudices defined the era.
One has to learn humility when realizing that we are in the same boat. The struggles that the Israelites, Greeks, Samaritans, and Egyptians were all the same. The Romans faced many of the same struggles as well. They would encounter hostility as they knew that the Israelites wanted them gone. The Romans knew that the Israelites painted them as the regional boogeymen. Often this isn’t all that different from today. We often resort to harsh caricatures if we encounter something that is different than what we know. We are quick to demonize what we don’t understand. We often conform to preconceived biases and stereotypes. We don’t form opinions based on facts, but on prejudices. Cultural hostility accomplishes nothing. Being self-righteous and very pious, even God’s chosen people were not any better than the Romans. They were sinners just like them. A very self-righteous attitude gets in the way when one thinks that they're better than everybody else around them, despite them often being in the same situation. The Israelites were often dismissive of the struggles that others have gone through. The struggles that one goes through in similar as suffering knows no gender, cultural, ethnic, political, or religious affiliations. This is why we love our neighbor. We are one and the same in the same struggles and issues. We are not really that different when we think about it.
The Outbreak
The outbreak is a perfect example where many Christians lived by that phrase while many others were quite dismissive of there duty. Loving thy neighbor means showing upmost respect for people who want to remain safe. This virus shows no discrimination. As such, loving thy neighbor means wearing that mask as often as possible to respect those who don’t want to get sick from the virus. You don’t know if your actions will inadvertently get others sick. You don’t know if your actions will even result in there deaths.
Many Christians have been dismissive of there duty. Several saw the virus is an overblown conspiracy. Thus, they showed complete disregard for the safety and well-being of there neighbors. They didn’t take the outbreak seriously. As a result, when some refused to wear the mask, they thought that they were making some grand statement of defiance when in reality, there were demonstrating how selfish and self-righteous that they are. They were showing complete contempt for the safety and well-being of others as well as themselves.
Instead of exercising caution, many took unnecessary risk so they could claim quote “faith” by testing God. This is the equivalent of telling God “You love me don’t you. As a result, you will protect me and others around me even if I choose to speed down a road through red lights and heavy traffic. You won’t let anything happen to me as I’m one of your children!”. This is playing with fate.
Sure, there might be a chance that nothing might happen as you break various traffic laws and speed through red lights like the out-of-control maniac. However, there is also a possibility that the person in question might kill someone or get themselves killed in the process.Even if nothing happens, that Christian showed complete contempt for everyone around him/her because they choose to do something very dangerous without the regard of others around them. That’s not faith, but the abuse of it for personal reasons.
This is also the complete opposite of loving thy neighbor. Many of these individuals will use the word “Christian” as an label to hide behind when others call out there selfish actions. Many of these self-righteous Christians see the sacrifice of wearing the mask for health and safety as persecution. When one resorts to this, did they ever take Jesus’s teachings seriously or only embraced them at face-value? Did they ever take there own spirituality seriously.
Wearing that mask means that you show respect for the safety of your neighbor. Wearing that mask means you acknowledge both your health and that of others. The wearing of the mask is also a sign of solidarity that we're all in this boat together regardless of our backgrounds.
When Race Enters The Picture
Often, many Christians can often be there own worst enemy when it comes to this topic. Everybody is our neighbor. Our neighbors can be very different. They could come from a different cultural background or are of a different race. From a humanist point of view, a person’s relationship shouldn’t be determined by that person’s skin color. Skin color isn’t even determined by DNA. Despite that, race can be a very big factor in how we approach people.
God doesn’t see race. Jesus doesn’t see race either. Many of us who claim to uphold Jesus’s teachings to the highest do see race though. Many Christians have upheld the idea of loving thy neighbor, but many other failed. Those who failed did so because they didn’t take the struggles of there neighbor seriously. We become apathetic. Why am I bring this up? The Golden Rule kicks in. If one is dismissive and apathetic of one person’s struggles, then that person will be dismissive of your struggle. If we want all lives to matter, then we have to start acting like all lives matter, and not cherry pick what’s important or not.
We can’t dismiss the whole topic of racial violence just because we don’t like the slogan used. The struggles are real. The statistics confirm it. God has done his part. Jesus has done his part as well. We need to do our part to uphold the civic rights of our neighbors because God compels us too. If we want all lives to matter, than we need to uphold that idea and hold it dear to our hearts. We can’t just say that “all lives matter”, and then pretend that racial violence isn’t a problem. We wouldn’t be doing our neighbors a favor when we do this.
An Opportunity Presents
There is an opportunity to better understand the situations of those around us. Greater understanding builds stronger relations, community bonds, and empathy. It builds a stronger bond with our neighbor.
The Golden Rule applies here too. You love people, and they will love you back. If you uphold there rights, they will uphold your rights. If you dismiss the needs of those around you, then people will dismiss your needs. You can’t demand respect while ignoring the needs of others around you. One of the failures of many Christians today in this country is that many of been very self-centered around there own issues, either real or perceived, but have been dismissive of the struggles of there neighbors.
Within the civic setting, Democracy only works when we uphold the rights of others as well as our own individual rights. In order for the rights of Christians to be upheld, the rights of Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims have to be upheld as well. For several Christian though, being asked to share the red carpet is seen as persecution. For these Christians, that red carpet was for them and them alone. These are the people who simply use the word Christianity as an label and nothing else. These Christians will role there eyes at the very rules that Jesus mandated his followers to embrace. They will only love thy neighbor if that neighbor happened to be another Christian. We can’t pick our neighbors. One can’t scream Christian rights while being dismissive of the rights of everybody else around us. Christians can’t demand red-carpet treatment while pushing there neighbors off that same carpet as well. How is that “loving thy neighbor”?
When Ignorance Gets In the Way Of Solidarity
Often, we fall short when respecting our neighbors when we catch a bad case of self-righteousness. Many Christians become very complacent in there beliefs. They start to think that they transcended beyond humanity. As such, they can’t relate to the problems of the everyman because they’ve perceived themselves to be angels now. They start looking down on there neighbors from there spiritual ivory tower. As such, our pious neighbor no longer thinks that he’s simply different, but better than everybody else around him.
They forgot that they had to seek Salvation like everybody else. Being different doesn’t make that person better. There’s something else too. When a disaster strikes, no discrimination is shown for those afflicted by it. Everybody that is our neighbor is afflicted by suffering, regardless of economic or social status. Political or religious affiliation doesn’t mean anything in the eyes of a hurricane, earthquake, or virus outbreak.
We Are In The Same Boat
Sometimes, we need to rely on help from our neighbors in the face of adversity. Differences are nuance to extremist who see all neighbors as infidels, regardless of there background. When ISIS started there rampage in Syria and Iraq, anybody who wasn't a Sunni Muslim was going to have a very bad day. All the minorities in the region now had big targets on there back. People couldn’t display an dismissive attitude when everything is at stake. Neighbors uniting meant the difference between life and death. Differences among neighbors was meaningless to an enemy who wanted them dead.
Kurds, Christians and the Yazidis ethic group were in the same boat. Women became slaves of draconian measures. Human rights workers were on that hit-list as well. Shia Muslims were on the chopping block. Mass graves were made where thousands were murdered. ISIS Militants embraced Wahabbism, a militant and strict interpretation of Islam. Wahabbism demands that those who are gay to be tossed off of mountains. ISIS militants used very tall buildings as a substitute. Many died. Many of them had to run from there own fathers because they would turn them over if given the chance. Long-established Christians communities in Mosul were destroyed. These atrocities were widely reported around the world by the major news outlets. No one was safe. Everybody was equal recipients to there madness, regardless of there background.
This is why solidity and an interfaith response is demanded when horrible situations arise. Persecution is an universal issue that can happen to anybody, regardless of there religious or political affiliation. There is no differences when all is all stake in this zero sums game. ISIS only knows death.
In China, regardless of whether your Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian, you have a target on your back. Buddhist temples in Tibet and elsewhere in China have been closed in past years. Various Christian churches have been forced to close more recently. 3-million Muslims have been placed in what is essentially prison camps in China. Their crime: being Muslim. If Muslims can be sent to camps in the millions in China, it can easily happen to the Christians there as well. This is why there pain needs to be recognized. Persecution is the same, regardless of those at the receiving end.
Conclusion
Stating that we need to love thy neighbor is the easy part. Living by that teaching is hard. Well…..I should take that back. It’s only hard when you make it so. It can be easy if you want it to be. If you shower your neighbors with respect and kindness, your already one step ahead of the game, not to insinuate that this is an competition. Spirituality is not a game, even though many see it as such. Jesus calls on you to respect your neighbors, regardless of there backgrounds and views. Your entitled to your beliefs and your neighbor his. However, there is room for greater understanding. There’s no room for preconceived biases and prejudices. Life is already hard enough without focusing on petty squabbles. One realizes that there we have far more in common than differences. Nobody is free from adversity and issues, regardless of background. I will end with this. At the end of the day, do as Jesus commanded and love thy neighbor.
Patheos - How a Plague Exposed the “Christian Nation” Myth : https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jaysondbradley/2020/05/how-a-plague-exposed-the-christian-nation-myth/
Wikipedia - Misinformation related to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misinformation_related_to_the_COVID-19_pandemic
Snopes - Coronavirus Is a Breeding Ground for Conspiracy Theories: https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/02/28/coronavirus-is-a-breeding-ground-for-conspiracy-theories/
BBC : 'They want to throw God's wonderful breathing system out' - https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-53174415
BBC : Bayonne: Bus driver left brain dead after being 'attacked over face masks' - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53309424
BBC : Man who believed virus was hoax loses wife to Covid-19 - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53892856
BBC : Coronavirus: Swift and dangerous turn in Texas cases, says governor - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53215501
BBC : Coronavirus: US hits record high in daily cases - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53191287
BBC : 'Hundreds dead' because of Covid-19 misinformation - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-53755067
BBC : Coronavirus: Pastor who decried 'hysteria' dies after attending Mardi Gras - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52157824
NYTimes : Pastor Who Defied Social Distancing Dies After Contracting Covid-19, Church Says - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/us/bishop-gerald-glenn-coronavirus.html
AP : Mormons chided for airport welcoming of missionaries - https://apnews.com/14fc5e1316fb7c74daeb7043f367c19f
Oklahoma News 4 : Louisiana church hosts more than 1,800 people amid COVID-19 outbreak - https://kfor.com/news/louisiana-church-hosts-more-than-1800-people-amid-covid-19-outbreak/
BBC : George Floyd:
How are African-Americans treated under the law? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52877678
ACLU : The War On Marijuana In Black And White (PDF) - https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/1114413-mj-report-rfs-rel1.pdf
ACLU : Racial Profiling Alert (PDF) - https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/images/asset_upload_file664_34572.pdf
ACLU Massachusetts : ENDING RACIST STOP AND FRISK - https://www.aclum.org/en/ending-racist-stop-and-frisk
ACLU : The School-To-Prison Pipeline: Racial Profiling In Traffic Stops - http://riaclu.org/issues/issue/the-school-to-prison-pipeline-racial-profiling-in-traffic-stops
The Philadelphia Inquirer : Patrolling for bias - https://www.inquirer.com/news/inq/racial-profiling-traffic-stop-philadelphia-police-pa-nj-20170705.html
The Washington Post : Police are searching black drivers more often, but finding more illegal stuff with white drivers - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/10/27/police-are-searching-black-drivers-more-often-but-finding-more-illegal-stuff-with-white-drivers-2/
ADL : Murder and Extremism in the United States in 2018 - https://www.adl.org/murder-and-extremism-2018
BBC : Breonna Taylor: Louisville to pay family $12m over police shooting - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54165646
Wikipedia - ISIS : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant
Wikipedia - Wahhabism : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahhabism
Forbes - Growing Religious Persecution In China A Symptom Of Xi's Consolidation Of Power : https://www.forbes.com/sites/oliviaenos/2018/03/28/growing-religious-persecution-in-china-a-symptom-...
Politico Magazine - https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/10/25/china-must-end-its-campaign-of-religious-persecut...
Council on Foreign Relations - Religion in China : https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/religion-china
Comments
Post a Comment