Middle East

“I had to admit I harbored the rudiments of racism, an unconscious attitude that I fight daily, but that none of us can totally escape,” writes Mary Pipher in her book The Middle of Everywhere. How true! As refugee committees we discuss who to sponsor even though in our mission statement we express the desire to help anyone from anywhere. We worry if our country will stay ‘Christian’ and be trouble free. We stereotype and show our fear of strangers especially those coming from Muslim nations, I would argue, because of their aptitude for violence and their notorious low value on females.

"They said to me, 'Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.' When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said:

The road to Jericho beckons me in much the same way as it beckons the priest, the Levite, the Samaritan, and the expert in the law to whom Jesus speaks. It begs the question: “Who is my neighbour?”