I read an article today - penned on July 6, 2019 by Miriam Adelson (wife of GOP mega donor Sheldon Adelson) in her husband's owned Las Vegas Review-Journal. In the article, she discusses the Bible should include a Book of Trump. I thought I was reading The Onion. Nope. In fact, Trump just honored her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom - the nations highest honor that can be bestowed on a civilian - after she and her husband donated $500,000 to a fund to helps Trump associates with legal fees associated with the Russian interference probe. Naturally, I wrote off the right-wing heresy as idiocy and didn't think on it again until I read the USCCB readings for this Sunday.
For reference, the readings I'm about to discuss are:
- Deuteronomy 30: 10-14
- Luke 10: 25-37 (Parable of the Good Samaritan)
Quick summary: In Deuteronomy, Moses tells his people that they already know the commandments written in the book of the law. The commandments aren't mysterious. Aren't strange. The laws of God are already very near, already in their mouths and hearts, and all they have to do is carry it out.
In Luke, the very popular Parable of the Good Samaritan, a "scholar of the law of Moses" tests Jesus and asks him what he must to to inherit eternal life. Jesus gives him the simple answer: Love God with all your heart, being, strength, and mind. And love your neighbor as yourself. The scholar asks Jesus, "Who is my neighbor"... and this is where things get awesome. As Jesus frequently did, he gave his lesson in the form of a story: A man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho (almost 16 miles) and was stripped, beat, and left for dead by robbers. A priest saw him in the distance and moved to the other side of the road to avoid the man. A Levite (a person who provided assistance to the priests in the worship in the Jewish temple) did the same thing... saw him and avoided him. But a Samaritan saw the beaten man, helped him, and paid for his medical care. Historically, Jews and Samaritans hated each other. So Jesus asks the scholar, "Who of these three was a neighbor to the victim" and the scholar replied, "the one who treated him with mercy". Jesus simply said, "Go and do the same".
These two readings - one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament - complement each other so well in today's current events. The current trump administration has made it their mission to dehumanize immigrants, those people who are trying to avoid being stripped, beat, and left for dead in their home countries in search of a better life. DJT enjoys the comfort of the Evangelical vote and I don't understand how or why. HOW can "Christians" support a man whose every policy represents the the actions of the priest and the Levite - who Jesus himself taught against? To support trump's current immigration policy - America First - kick out all the brown people - no path to citizenship for DACA participants - Or as better said in Karate Kid: "We do not train to be merciful here. Mercy is for the weak. Here, in the streets, in competition: A man confronts you, he is the enemy."
The hypocrisy of Christians who give trump a pass is inexcusable. A good economy is not an excuse for stripping the dignity of brown people. I intentionally use the term brown people because the trump administration wastes no energy or resources on illegal immigration coming from Asia. According to the Pew Research Center, more Asian immigrants (both documented and undocumented) have have come to the United Stats than Latin immigrants since 2010. Trump masquerades his hate for brown people in the form of nationalist sentiment which is the same play Hitler made. Us against them. Division of a country vs. unifying it together.
I have to ask you, as you walk into church tomorrow, ensure your belief is in the right Savior. If you believe in the Bible, if you have it on your nightstand or on your bookshelf, if you wear a cross on a necklace, Trust in Jesus, understand his lesson was to show mercy and kindness. Ask yourself, in terms of immigration policy and beliefs, are you the priest, the Levite, or the Good Samaritan? Will you fight for those who have no voice, the immigrants who were figuratively stripped, beat, and in some cases, literally left for dead? If the answer if no, you may need to change your religious affiliation on Facebook and remove that necklace. Remember we all answer for our beliefs one day, and I wouldn't want to be the one to tell Jesus that his definition of "neighbor" was wrong.
Peace be with you.
