This post from Brian McLaren's blog says exactly what I've been thinking. Thanks Brian.If you want to read more of what he has to say,his blog is on my blog list.
"I don't really like proof-texting - pulling a verse out of context to try to prove a point. I'm not even a big fan of the fact that the Bible is divided up into chapters and verses. It wasn't always that way - our modern schema of chapters and verses is a relatively late addition to the Bible, having evolved since the 13th Century. Chapter-and-versification allows people to kidnap a quote out of its context in a longer narrative and apply it in potentially irresponsible and harmful ways, as if the Bible were a legal constitution and its verses were articles, sections, subsections, and amendments in a legal code.
But I'm about to engage in chapter-and-versing, consciously and intentionally - and with regard to context, because in this case, the ancient text applies powerfully to our own situation in America today. Consider Exodus 23:9:
"Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt."
The command was originally for ancient Jewish people. After a famine, they became refugees in Egypt and eventually were enslaved for generations by Pharoah's regime. But according to the Bible, God isn't on the side of the oppressors; God sides with the oppressed, and so God liberated them from slavery. God then led them through the wilderness and ultimately provided them a place to live. The oppressed became the blessed. (continued after the jump)
But being blessed by God gave them no excuse to oppress others, so they were commanded to never forget - never forget what it's like to be oppressed, so you never become complicit in the oppression of others. The command is repeated often, and even strengthened, as in Leviticus 19:33-34:
When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
You find a similar strengthening of the command in Deuteronomy (10:19):
[The LORD] defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.
Lately I've been thinking about Exodus 23:9 and its companion verses in relation to the current controversy about a group of Muslim citizens - full American citizens in a democracy, not even aliens! - seeking to build a mosque in Manhattan. Among others, Sarah Palin has called for peace-loving Muslims to "refudiate" the mosque, calling it a provocation and saying that it stabs the hearts of people in the heartland. But I wonder if people in the heartland have forgotten that they are only a few generations away from ancestors who were also immigrants, who came to the United States in many cases to experience freedom of religion.
Shouldn't it stab the hearts of caring Americans like you and me to imagine forbidding Muslims to experience the same freedom of religion in their new homeland that our own ancestors sought here in the past? Shouldn't we remember how it feels to be seen as aliens, and shouldn't we love our Muslim neighbors as ourselves, wanting the same religious freedom for them that we cherish?
That's why I think it's valid to bring Exodus 23:9 and its companion verses into the equation at times like these. We Christians - and Jews too - should enthusiastically support Muslims in their desire to build a center devoted to peaceful religion near the site of an atrocity committed in the name of violent religion. We are not called to mistreatment, prejudice, oppression, or even to mere tolerance - we are called to something far higher: to empathy, to generosity, to hospitality, and to love, fueled by empathy and memory. To violate those values should truly stab the heart of all Christians everywhere.
Knowing that Sarah Palin respects the Scriptures, I think if she gives it a second and prayerful thought, she couldn't help but change her mind."
La Liga là gì? Lịch sử hình thành giải đấu
11 months ago
2 comments:
I agree...and because it makes us better people...as for Sarah Palin....I honestly don't think there is much hope for her, sadly.
My thought is that if those who are intent on building this mosque are Full American citizens,then they are not aliens and therefore the verses in Exodus and Leviticus do not apply to these individuals. To lay the claim that they do apply, even those these folks are native born citizens, is to set forth the idea that America is a Christian nation and that those of other religions are aliens and are somehow less "American" than those who are native born citizens and believers in Christianity.
Secondly, the property that is being used is not at Ground Zero in Manhattan but rather two blocks away. So statements made of building a mosque "at ground zero" are misleading at best, and somewhat deceptive. I would not support the building of a mosque at ground zero and nor would I support the building of a Christian church at the same site. Ground Zero is a place of mourning for people from many different beliefs and backgrounds and those of one particular belief system have no right to assume ownership of this land which would preclude or interfere with the right of others to mourn for their losses in the way in which they believe.
But since this mosque is not AT Ground Zero, the issue becomes one of sensitivity and prudence. Is it right and prudent to build a Muslim mosque nearly on the verge of the site where 3000 individuals were murdered by those who hold to the same belief system, whether they be radicals or not? Compassion says that it is not. As a white man in today's society, I had nothing to do with the enslavement or mistreatment of any one of the millions of blacks who suffered in our country's history. But, in my associations with a black man or woman of today, if I am to promote and encourage reconciliation between our races, I must be considerate of the fact that atrocities occurred and that there are some today who still carry those scars, physically and emotionally as well.
If Islam is truly a "peaceful" religion, than Muslims need to be considerate as well.
The building of this mosque is not an act of reconciliation nor one of consideration.
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