What is it about people – us – that causes us to target particular groups of other people? It must be something more than simply trying to identify with “our own,” whatever that means. Although we in New Jersey often pride ourselves as being the most diverse of states, with Lady Liberty in the harbor as a sign of welcome, we have as a state, and as a Nation, targeted certain groups as worthy of derision, even hate.
It’s more than just politics, although that certainly plays a role. The rise of anti-Semitic groups such as we saw in the Charlottesville Unite the Right march with its “Jews will not replace us” cry is but one example. The fact that someone could harass a woman on a Teaneck street because she is Jewish is but another.
As a people we have become angrier – over what seems hard to pin down, but there’s no question that our preoccupation with money plays a part. We have become cruder, a quality enhanced by voices in national leadership. These qualities stand in sharp contrast to the life and call of Jesus of Nazareth, the One we are supposed to follow. In this Season of Lent, hearing people who tout their faith join in exclusionist and hateful language is more than disturbing and belies what they claim to be.
Prayer for the Day
Born the same, yet different, as human beings,
We ask, O God, how are we different, one from another?
Fingers, hearts, and hands reach out for welcome,
Yet shunned for language, color, or culture.
Teach us, O Creator, to embrace as you embrace us,
And hold us to seeing your life in all around us.
In the name of the One who embraces all,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without getting the facts
E.B. White, American writer (1899-1985)
Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and makes the present inaccessible.
Maya Angelou, American poet (1928-2014)
For there is no longer Jew or Greek,
There is no longer slave or free,
There is no longer male and female;
For all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
Paul in the Letter to the Galatians 3: 28