Dear Thoughtful Pastor: I’ve noticed a lot of “vote shaming” posts in social media lately aimed at Trump voters. This does not seem to be a loving response to individuals. HOWEVER, there are consequences to actions, and the fate of our country is a serious concern for many of us. What would Jesus Do?
A woman walks up to Jesus and says, “What do I have to do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus answers, “Love God with everything you’ve got and love your neighbor as yourself.”
She responds, “I feed the hungry, offer help to the refugees from war-torn countries and advocate for health care for those who can’t get it. I’ve fought to raise the minimum wage and work tirelessly to eliminate corruption in our government. Don’t you think I’ve got the “love God, love your neighbor” thing covered?”
Jesus’s answer:
One day, a group gathered at a local home to strategize how to stop Trump from turning the US into his personal profit center while eliminating free speech and civil liberties, shredding the societal safety net, and selling the US soul to Russia. They were drawing up action plans, drafting letters and assigning committee memberships.
Suddenly the door slammed open and a white man walked in carrying a sign that said. “I voted for him–get over it b*******.” His t-shirt proclaimed, “Lock her up!” on one side and displayed a Nazi symbol on the other side.
He sauntered up to a woman wearing hijab, the traditional head-covering for many Muslim women, and yanked it off her head, screaming, “You got a bomb in there?”
Standing toe-to-toe with a Latino man and well-known attorney, he spewed spittle, “I’m going to toss you over that wall and keep you out.”
The hostess stood nearby holding a tray of canapes. He smashed the tray away, pushed her up against a wall and whispered. “Your p**** is now mine, and don’t you forget it.”
Then he stomped out, flipping the bird at the horrified people, got into his Confederate flag-covered truck and peeled off.
Several gathered around the Muslim woman as tears of shame streamed down her face. One phoned the police to complain. Another ran out the door to grab a photo of the man’s license plate, planning to hunt him down for a bit of private revenge.
Suddenly, they heard the sickening sound of squealing tires. They spilled out onto the street. Half a block away they could see smoke rising from the truck.
A quiet message of “He deserved it” was passed from eye to eye. A few smirked. One called 911 but was put on hold and couldn’t get through.
Suddenly the Black housemaid raced out and ran down the street. She yanked open the driver’s side door and pulled the by-then unconscious driver out. While others watched and yelled at her to get back, she dragged him to the side of the street. Moments later, the car burst into flames.
She pulled off her scarf and wrapped it around the bleeding man’s head, gently dabbing the blood away with a clean handkerchief from her uniform pocket. When the ambulance appeared and loaded him for transport to the local hospital, she followed.
The man didn’t have health insurance. His family had left him and he had just been kicked out of his apartment for non-payment of rent. He had been laid off from his factory job five months previously and had been unable to find work again.
The hospital bandaged him and discharged him quickly, telling him he had suffered a major concussion along with several broken ribs and needed much rest to recover.
The housemaid took him to her house, still displaying “Clinton/Kaine” signs, and installed him on the living room couch.
She had to return to her cleaning job but called on some elderly widows from her church to keep a watch on him and to fix nourishing food. She also arranged for her daughters to stay with relatives for a while.
The community nursed him tenderly until he was back on his feet. Someone found a beater car for him and a local mechanic got it in running condition. Ten days later, he snuck out in the night, smashed the remaining Clinton/Kaine signs and left without a “thank you” or “goodbye.”
Then Jesus turned to the questioner and said, “Have you got a better handle on what I mean by ‘loving your neighbor’ now?”
The person who asked the question said, “So I’m supposed to show mercy on someone who genuinely hates me?”
Jesus said, “Do you want mercy shown to you? If so, you’ve got to start the cycle instead of waiting for someone else to do it. Go, continue to stand up to oppression and live faithfully. Absolutely. But you still must offer mercy to those who differ from you. This is the only way to love God with everything you have.”
Author Commentary
For the biblically literate, it is obvious that this column is an attempt at a contemporary re-write of the Luke 10 “Good Samaritan” story. When Jesus told that story, his original listeners would have been shocked to their core to hear the hated Samaritan praised.
I also went for the “shock value” here in my caricature of the Trump voter. The intruder I portrayed here was hardly the norm among Trump voters, but he represents the extreme enemy of the housemaid. She is the one who shows mercy here and dramatically widens the definition of “neighbor” just as the Samaritan did in Jesus’ story.
I do not know how we are going to heal as a nation from this election. I have many fears of the future under our President-elect, with his autocratic tendencies, his lack of constitutional awareness, his unwillingness to listen to experts (for example, he is refusing to hear the daily classified intelligence briefings) his decision to surround himself with advisors who promote conspiracy theories and his ongoing infatuation with all things Putin. I foresee a country where the “survival of the fittest” becomes our ruling principle and where the hallmarks of real civilization and real religion i.e., care for the most vulnerable and helpless, disappear.
But I also know that someone has to make the first move here. Those of us who opposed, and still oppose, a Trump regime also have a responsibility to treat others who differ with us in a manner that reflects our own love for Jesus and our own hope for a better world.
It is possible that this type of leadership will energize our economy and that is important. Many of those who voted for Trump did so because of economic reasons. If this happens, we need to celebrate it–and still keep our eyes wide open and stand firm against actions that are discriminatory, criminal and, among other things, will end up crowning Trump as dictator for life ending this 250-year experiment in democracy. I do not think such a possibility is an exaggerated concern.
[Note: a version of this column was scheduled to run in the Dec 2, 2016, edition of the Denton Record-Chronicle but the paper chose not to run it. The Thoughtful Pastor, AKA Christy Thomas, welcomes all questions for the column. Although the questioner will not be identified, I do need a name and verifiable contact information in case the newspaper editor has need of it. You may use this link to email questions.]
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