Image courtesy of the Pizzaonian Art Institute, Abe Straction, curator
Some random thoughts on “love thy neighbor”
It should be clear to all of us who profess to be Christian how we have modified what Jesus had to say to something more convenient. I am sure it had to be done if there were going to more than a handful of Christians rather than the major world religion that Christianity has become.
Let’s start with “love your neighbor as yourself.” What does this actually mean? To ask the question is to evade the obvious answer. Certainly Jesus meant “my neighbor.” This implies someone close to me. How else could you be my neighbor if you did not live close to me or share some common denominator with each other? How many people does this leave out of the equation?
However, in the context of the closed society that Jesus lived in virtually everyone was your neighbor. Where does that leave the rest of us when we define our neighbor in today’s world? I afraid somewhat in a quandary. Does this make me a citizen of the world where everyone is my neighbor? Let’s take it even further – how about my enemies – are they my neighbors too? You can see what a predicament this becomes.
One convenient way that most religions get around this is to proclaim the all-encompassing edict that makes your neighbor only those people who share your faith. If you also happen to believe in the only “true faith” that God recognizes this makes your plight of having to love your neighbor much easier.
Obviously, if God chooses not to accept people of other faiths who am I to question that. While this has a ring of logic to it people of reason have to accept this concept as complete absurdity. What else could it be? Well one thing it can be is convenient to anyone seeking political power. What better way to motivate the masses (just in case there is any confusion, that’s you and me) to your cause than to wrap your selfish ends around the flag of religion.
One has only to hear the news today to see how religion is used to manipulate people of faith to rally around someone’s political objective. Unfortunately, this also means killing those who don’t agree with us if necessary - and all of this because we choose to discriminate as to whom our neighbor really is.
So where does that leave most of us. Unless we are one of the saints, I suspect in real spiritual conflict. Hopefully, we are aware of the duplicity in our actions. Judging from the conflict and violence we see every day in our world many of us are not.
To be aware and fully comprehend the completeness of what Jesus expects from those who choose to follow Him can be overwhelming. It becomes easier to rationalize the message and define our neighbor into something more acceptable. For most of us this is a tribal reaction. Granted the instinctive concept of what defines our tribe is much larger now and has grown to include nations, but that still misses the mark.
For those of us who struggle with this and realize how we miss the mark - what is left? The answer is mercy. Assuming we are still trying to expand our concept of defining who our neighbor is mercy is all we have left. Again the paradox appears – to receive mercy we must first be merciful. The Judgment is certainly going to be interesting.
Frank John Franco, commenting for "The Pizzaonian" a division of the Pizzaonian Newsertainment Network, Diverti Mento, editor
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