Tuesday, September 5, 2023

The thing about loving thy neighbor is that it's not just a nice cliché that appears in the Bible. A society that doesn't at least hold it up as an ideal is not going to survive, not as anyplace you'd want to live. 

But no political faction favors people loving each other. Quite the opposite, if you look at the most vocal. The idea has no bloc or sponsor. Which is actually often the way in important matters.

2 comments:

susan said...

To love one's neighbor was one of Jesus's two great commands, providing service for others rather than just being nice. The example He used was the story of the good Samaritan as an ideal to follow. Too much time looking at TikTok might not be conducive to reaching that goal.

You're right that political factions are naturally antagonistic. If only everybody could agree to just hate the government all would be well.

Ben said...

Interestingly enough Samaritanism is a small but Ancient Abrahamic faith that worships the Abrahamic God, but Samaritans don't consider themselves Jewish. So Jesus made the good man of his parable someone from outside the tribe, from a people his listeners might not have had much affection for. That may be a lesson for us today as well.

Hating the government? Well, most of us get there eventually but it can take a fair amount of time.