Jesus and politics, 2020 edition

Sometimes, we think that the way to fix the world is through politics. Jesus didn’t try that. There were lots of poor people, but He didn’t campaign for higher taxes on the rich to help them. The illegal aliens were running the country, but He didn’t try to get rid of them. Abortion may have been practiced in Israel, and perhaps infanticide was, too -- it seems to have been common among the Greeks and Romans. There's not a Biblical record of Jesus mentioning either of these practices. There weren’t any Muslims yet, but there were Samaritans, and He got one of them to be an evangelist to her village, and told a story, to a Jewish audience, about the goodness of another Samaritan. The Romans had open carry, but the Jews didn’t. There was slavery, and women were second-class citizens. He didn’t try a political solution for any of these things. He helped individuals that He came across, lived a sinless life, and died and rose for our sins. That, plus training the disciples, was His way of attacking the problems around Him.

Note: Apparently, sometimes God calls a person to become politically active. Wilberforce’s crusade against slavery seems to have been a case of this.

John 18:36a Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I wouldn’t be delivered to the Jews. But now my Kingdom is not from here.” (World English Bible, public domain)

Thanks for reading!

 

Sunspots 683

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: A Christianity Today editorial on immigration.

Christianity Today also reports that multi-ethnic Protestant congregations are becoming more common, especially among evangelicals.


Computing: Gizmodo discusses the frequent failure of governments web sites, and the causes.

Health: (or something) FiveThirtyEight points out that using a phone hands-free while driving can also be dangerous. And so can the car's complicated controls.

Earther reports that, until now, most plastic waste that's recycled goes to China for such treatment. However, the Chinese are clamping down on importing plastic.

National Public Radio reports that an analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that, US county by county, there is a strong correlation between opioid over use and voting for President Trump in 2016. This does not prove cause. Both phenomena may have been caused by something else, such as the local economy.

An article on the use of superlatives in reports of cancer research. Claiming too much happens a lot.

Politics: Sojourners discusses an analysis of word use in Vice-President Mike Pence's recent speech to the Southern Baptist Convention. He used "President" 61 times, "Trump" 12 times, but "God" 9 times and "Christ" twice. Some Southern Baptists, including leaders, were not happy with his speech.

The Washington Post tells us where President Trump got his figure of 63,000 people killed by illegal immigrants. Someone basically made it up.

Science: ListVerse tells us 10 interesting things about salt.

Gizmodo reports on the real cause of the "drip, drip, drip" sound made by a leaky faucet, and on how to stop that sound quickly and easily.

National Public Radio discusses the advantages of increasing the beaver population of the Western US.

Sports: The Associated Press says that pitchers are throwing fewer fast balls, and why.
Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

How to treat aliens

I have been enjoying the Bible Search on-line tool from the American Bible Society, which allows me to search for a word in nine versions at once, then expand particular verses so that I can see what other translations do with it.

I recently searched for the word, alien, this way. I discovered that that word seems to be more common in the NIV than in other versions, which may use stranger, sojourner, foreigner, and outsider. I take it that each of these words refers to the same thing, namely a non-Israelite living in, or passing through, Israel. The Blueletter Bible indicates that the transliterated Hebrew word is ger.

I wish to quote some of those passages, using the ESV, which allows such extensive quotation on-line.

Exodus 22:21 gives the Israelites the approach that they were to use in dealing with aliens among them: 21 "You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. . . ." Exodus 23:9, Deuteronomy 10:19 and Leviticus 19:33-34 say the same thing. The Leviticus passage indicates that the Jews were to love aliens. I checked, and all nine versions use love. This is all the more remarkable, considering that, for the last part of their sojourn, the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. The command sounds a lot like the Golden Rule.

Leviticus 17:10-16 demonstrates that there were guidelines for aliens, too. This passage says that they were, even though non-Jewish, expected to obey the restrictions on eating blood. There are other passages about the law and aliens. However, my main emphasis is on how the Israelites were to be generous to them.

The Jews were commanded to harvest their crops in such a manner that some would be left for the poor and aliens to pick up, in Leviticus 19:9-10. This is how Ruth, a non-Jew, got food for herself and her mother-in-law.

Do these laws of the ancient Jews have validity for today? Perhaps, perhaps not. But they indicate that some of us might consider whether our indignation at illegal aliens has Biblical justification. Perhaps there are implications for Israeli-Palestinian relations.

Thanks for reading.

Homosexuality and illegal aliens

This is not original with me. I'm taking off on a post by Henry Neufeld.

One of the anti-homosexuality arguments often used is Leviticus 18:22. Neufeld points out that many of those who use this verse as a scriptural argument do not apply Leviticus 19:33-34, which seems to be part of the same discourse by Moses. Here's what it says:
Leviticus 19:33 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. (ESV)

As Neufeld says, all too often, what scripture we think applies to our daily lives is selected on the basis of what we like and don't like, which doesn't work as a good way to live out what the Bible says.

Ouch!

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 202

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Science:
NPR reports on the most recently discovered of Saturn's 60-odd moons -- this one is in one of the rings.

Politics:
Slate argues that claims that Democrats are going to bleed the rich into poverty are wildly exaggerated. Raising taxes a little on people making over $250,000 probably wouldn't be necessary if it were not for some wild spending, and lack of regulation, during the previous eight years.

Computing:
Don't expect Leonard Pitts to Twitter us. As he says:" . . .every new advance in communications from telegraphs to Twitter has been sold as a means of perfecting human relationships, allowing us to interact more easily, understand one another more readily. But it hasn't happened yet."

Christianity:
Henry Neufeld on what Old Testament passages we think apply today, and why. For example, did you know that Leviticus says that aliens living in the land should be well-treated? He's really writing about application of the Bible to our lives, and he continues here .

Image source (public domain)