Taking Sides

“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe.”
― Elie Wiesel, The Night Trilogy: Night, Dawn, The Accident
 
Dear Northminster,
I had a realization when I got home on Sunday after worship: I may have implied that all people’s suffering is equal in magnitude and importance.  While I whole-heartedly believe that our loving God cares about all of our struggles, the pain of one person’s hurt feelings is not on the same order of magnitude as someone else’s ability to eat or have shelter from the elements.  We do not need to create an official ranking system of who-has-it-the-worst to understand that some people’s pain and suffering needs to be more urgently addressed than others; and as Elie Wiesel so clearly pointed out, to whose pain we pay attention and address is not value-neutral.  I hinted at this when I mentioned that the pain and struggle we would like to focus on do not necessarily map onto who in our world is experiencing the greatest pain and oppression.
 As various political policies increasingly target various demographic groups, who we see as our neighbors and who is deserving of our compassion, empathy, and care becomes increasingly important.  We are being told that we should not have compassion for immigrants (legal or otherwise), Canadians, Mexicans, Chinese, Ukrainians, Palestinians, and LGBTQIA+ folks.  In case you think I am over-reacting, two books were recently published criticizing Christian Empathy: The Sin of Empathy: Compassion and Its Counterfeits and Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion.  These books depict empathy as a tool of the devil to get us to have understanding of people who disagree and have different life experiences than the writers do.  In fact, empathy might just be the first foot in the door for doubt and a person to question their faith in God and the Bible.

There is one more aspect to this discussion that was brought to my attention after worship.  Paul Stunkel challenged my interpretation with another that said that this parable of the Good Samaritan is arranged in a way to make the listener as the person who is attacked, not the person who rendering help.  We lay there on the side of the road as we watch a priest and a Levite pass by.  When the Samaritan approaches, do we allow the Samaritan to be our neighbor as he tends to our wounds and cares for us?   Would we allow the undocumented immigrant to drive us to the hospital?  Would we allow the mom on food stamps to pay for our night in a hotel?  Would we even accept a Band-Aid if a drag queen pulled it out of her purse and gave it to us?

In the end, I fully believe that our scripture guides us to have compassion and empathy for all people. And anything that guides us to hate and despise people is antithetical to the gospels.

Blessings,
Pastor Chris