Which of these was neighbor unto him?

The Good Samaritan copyright © by Dean Cornwell.

Most anyone who was raised as a Christian in America knows the story of the Good Samaritan. A man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho is set upon by thieves who rob him, take even his clothes, and leave him half-dead along the side of the road. A priest comes by a while later but passes right by and doesn't help. A bit later, a Levite comes by and also passes him by. Finally, a Samaritan comes along and tends to his wounds, places the wounded man on his own animal, and takes him to an inn, where he gives the innkeeper money to take care of him, promising to pay the innkeeper more money the next time he sees him, if what he left wasn't enough to cover the expenses.

For many Americans, this simple tale is a part of our culture. The Good Sam Club, an RVer's organization with over one million members, derives it's name from the tale of the Good Samaritan. Many states have Good Samaritan laws that require the first person on the scene of a traffic accident to render assistance and provides certain protections from liability suits. The Good Samaritan Society is America's largest non-profit long-term care organization. And there are Good Samaritan Hospitals all across America, from Puyallup, Washington, to Miami, Florida and from Los Angeles, California to Bangor, Maine.

The concept from the story about helping others comes across crystal clear to most people, including many people who aren't Christians. I think many people who know the tale, though, miss two of the critical messages of the story, which are about tolerance and assumptions.

The priest passing by is, IMO. a reference to those who preach one thing but do another in their own lives. Both the priest and the Levite represent officials of the same religion as the injured man but neither stop to help. There are myriad possible reasons why they didn't stop to help this injured man. This particular road was infamous for it's muggers and thieves, perhaps they felt it was too dangerous. Perhaps they didn't feel it was their place to get involved. Perhaps they thought he was dead and were simply following their priestly prohibitions against touching the bodies of the dead. Or perhaps they were simply hypocrites who didn't put their own professed belief system into play in their own lives. In examining politicians and some religious leaders across this great land of America, I can find many, many examples of people whose stated beliefs don't jive with their actions. It is clear that one of the points of the story is that the priest and the Levite should have stopped to help the injured man. I leave it to you to determine for yourself which of our politicians and religious leaders aren't stopping by the side of the road to help those who most need the help.

Of special note is that the person who does stop to help is a Samaritan. In the time and location in which the story is set, Samaritans were considered to be outsiders, outcasts, heretics, and even worse, by their fellow Jews. Their reasons were generally motivated by differences in race and in religion. For example, some Rabbis of those days taught that it was a sin to help a Samaritan woman give birth because it was evil to help bring another heretic into the world. And yet, it is the Samaritan, a man who was culturally and religiously different from the injured man, who stopped to help.

So what does this mean to us in this day and age? Well, one context to me is as a model for relations between American Christians and Arab Muslims. The racial, religious and cultural differences between ancient Jews and Samaritans certainly seem to have been as different as the differences between American Christians and Arab Muslims today. So if those differences are of the same nature, then surely the message should apply to us as well. Plainly stated, we should love each other as we love ourselves.

The parable also raises some interesting questions; to which I have my own answers. Are all Samaritans good? No, I don't think so. Are all Priests and Levites bad? No, very unlikely. Are all Arabs terrorists? No. Are all Arabs Muslim? No. Are all Arab Muslims violent extremists? No. Are all Americans war-mongers? No. Are all Americans Christians? No. Are all American Christians right-wing conservative fundamentalists? No. And so it goes.

I think that people are as different in other cultures and societies as we are here in America. So it is important to me that I treat other people based on their character, not their race, their religion, their culture, and so forth. Lumping Arabs and/or Muslims together into gigantic groups and treating them as if they are all the same is no more fair or accurate than saying that Jerry Falwell and David Koresh are the same since they are/were fundamentalist Christians.

Being a Good Samaritan means more than just helping out those who are like you; it also means helping those who are very different from you.

Do you Feel a Draft?

There has been a lot of discussion in America lately about the possibility of the draft being reinstated by the Bush administration. I personally don't think anything is imminent but it's an interesting issue and since I grew up during the Viet Nam war, I certainly have an opinion on the matter.

I'm not opposed to a draft in principle but I have a strong opinion about what it takes to justify the draft. Defending America from foreign invaders is a pretty good justification for the draft. Perhaps the only justification that works for me. I certainly don't see anything going on in the world today that would justify a draft. I do see things going on that will cause some politicians, especially those of the neo-conservative bent, to consider and eventually propose that America reinstate the draft, though.

Armed forces recruiting has failed to meet their goals for the second consecutive month; the first time that has happened in ten years. Recruiting of African-Americans continues it's five-year slide, having dropped 41 percent since 2000. There is a lot of speculation as to why recruiting has fallen off but I don't think it's rocket science. I think there are simply not enough people who feel personally committed to the president's war to risk their lives participating in it. There are far more people who "support" this war than are actually willing to place their lives on the line for it. If even ten percent of the people who claim they support this war were to trot on down to their local recruiting center, there wouldn't be any problem meeting recruiting goals.

If recruiting continues to be a problem and especially if it gets worse, pressure to reinstate the draft will grow, in my opinion. Modern American politicians are renowned for their moral flexibility and their willingness to change their position based on their perception of the need of the day, regardless of the stand they may have taken in the past. It is this flexibility and adaptive reasoning that makes me believe that the issue of the draft could heat up and become a sad reality in the blink of an eye. The government has ensured that the Selective Service Administration is well-oiled and ready to rock once they throw the switch. And the Bush administration has certainly shown their propensity for making things happen so quickly that there's not time for opposition to get going. All of which is why I believe we should be debating the matter now and not wait until the government tells us its too important to take the time to debate it.

The draft is, fundamentally, forced servitude. As such, it really should be an instrument of last resort. It should be reserved for desperate times when our nation is at risk of being taken over by foreign powers. I'm talking about real threats here, too. Not perceived threats described in terms of hyperbole by politicians with an agenda. Given the choice of having a draft that could be activated by politicians based on the same sort of nonsense that got us into war with Iraq and not having a draft, I'll take not having a draft.

I'd personally like to see a Constitutional Amendment that very specifically defines the circumstances under which the government can force servitude on us citizens. I even think we should require the government to take a vote before instituting the draft and require at least a two-thirds majority before they can do so. The Constitution is, after all, the contract through which we, the people, give our power to the government. I simply don't trust our elected representatives to do the right thing on such an important issue. History has shown that politicians won't be exposed to the same risks as the rest of us when they use the draft. I think those who lives will be placed on the line should be the ones to decide if it will be allowed or not.

A Constitutional Amendment may be the only way we will ever prevent the government from once again using the draft to force Americans to participate in immoral wars against their will.

Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Head

It seems to me that we have become obsessed with cute little ribbons over the past few years, here in America. In particular, there seem to be a lot of people who believe that all it takes to "Support the Troops" is to place the appropriate yellow ribbon sticker on the rear of their car and viola, they are a supporter. This evening, while discussing politics on one of the message boards where I hang out, it was proposed to me that liberals don't support the troops because only conservatives put yellow ribbon stickers on their car. Leaving aside my doubts about this individual actually having the wherewithal to accurately determine the political leanings of every yellow-ribbon-sticker automobile driver, it rekindled the fires of my anger over the misguided concept some have about what it means to support the troops.

By themselves, yellow ribbons mean doodley-squat. Anyone can slap a sticker on their car and claim that it means they are supporting the troops. But I just don't see it that way. Show me the people who are visiting vets in hospitals, who are giving of their time and money to support the people placed into financial devastation by their sacrifice and service to their nation, who are lobbying their elected representatives to give our veterans the medical and financial help they need, who are finding ways to help homeless and mentally ill vets the rest of America has turned their backs on, who want the military to be held accountable for poisoning our vets with depleted uranium (DU) and I'll show you people who support the troops. Plastering a yellow sticker on a car, bashing liberals, and feeling warm and fuzzy don't cut it. Not by a long shot.

Supporting the troops is a messy business that takes heart, grit, and compassion. Lots of Americans don't seem to want anything to do with really supporting the troops. They just want the cheap feel-good that comes from talking about it. Americans who stick a yellow ribbon on their car and nothing else aren't supporting the troops; in my opinion, they're supporting their own egos and deluding themselves that they are helping our troops.

Wildlife Refuge or Oil Reserves

I was reading an article today about President Bush pushing ahead for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, aka ANWR. I was struck by the justifications he used for drilling in ANWR while simultaneously avoiding the very same reasons for using the oil in the National Oil Reserve to mitigate recent oil price increases. It seems to me that if our oil needs are so urgent that we need to consider violating a wildlife refuge, then perhaps they are so urgent that we should be considering releasing some of the oil in the National Oil Reserves.

But of course President Bush isn't going to release any oil from the National Oil Reserve. That would reduce the cost of oil and eat into the record profits being posted by the oil companies. Despite the fact that this is EXACTLY why the National Oil Reserve was created in the first place. Bush's energy policies favor one segment of our economy, energy, to the detriment of our GDP and the pocket books of the American people.

If you want to know why the American economic recovery is so sluggish, you don't have to look any further than this administration's energy policies. It is a stone cold fact that when oil prices go up, American industrial production goes down. Economic recovery doesn't stand much of a chance when oil prices are rising. There are over 660 million barrels of oil in the National Oil Reserve; releasing as little as 30 million barrels could significantly cut the price of oil. A five percent draw-down of the National Oil Reserve would not pose any threat whatsoever to our national security.

Billions of our tax dollars have been spent pumping oil into the National Reserve. Why do we allow the government to deny us the benefit of the expenditure of our own tax dollars just so the oil companies can continue to make even more obscene profits?

In the choice between doing what is best for the American people and what is best for the oil companies from which his family derives their fortunes, let there be no doubt which way G.W. Bush will always decide.

This could be the start of something...big?

Well, here I go; a new blogger starting a new blog. This is my very first blog so please bear with me while I figure this out. If you have somehow managed to find you way here, welcome. I have set a goal for myself to write something here every day. Only time will tell if I am up to that challenge and only you can tell me if it's worth the effort. :-)

I expect that my main focus here will be in making political commentary; mostly on current events both domestic and international. I make no bones about it that I am a no-holds-barred liberal. I make no excuses for my liberalism nor do I offer any apologies for it. I think that what you will read from me here will reflect that in large part. I completely encourage anyone of any political persuasion to comment freely on what you might find here. Political debate gets boring pretty quick when it is one-sided or is conducted solely by people who all agree with each other. All I ask is a modicum of respect and serious consideration of the ideas and thoughts expressed herein by all.