Kathy Sheridan
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
The message in church last week was The Good Samaritan. While I listened, I thought of the asylum seekers at the southern border. I’ve often thought of the crisis in terms of Matthew 25:35 (I was a stranger and you took Me in) and Matthew 25:44-45 (when did we not minister to You?…as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me).
Now, The Good Samaritan story: a priest came upon the poor victim of the vicious beating and robbery and passed by on the other side of the road. Then a Levite, who were scribes and assistants to the priests in the temple, passed by on the other side of the road. At the time of Jesus, Samaritans were considered unclean because they were racially mixed Jews and worshipped idols. And yet, this man, looked down upon by his Jewish brethren, was the one who stopped to help the wounded man and gave of his own money to see to his needs.
Now, consider that in today’s terms. The president, whom some evangelicals consider placed in his position by the grace of God, has called immigrants rapists and criminals who come from “s-hole” countries. Is he the priest? Are the Levites the MAGAists who cheer him on? Or the Border Patrol officers who dump the water left by Samaritans in the desert and tell them to drink from toilets? Our “Christian” vice president spent 90 seconds in the detention center and called them “very clean.” This is an embarrassing example of Christianity.
These families are so afraid of the countries of their birth that they leave the only home they’ve ever known and their extended family, taking only what they can carry to travel hundreds of miles to a country known for dedication to freedom, the American Dream and the “Lamp beside the open door.”
For some time, I’ve wondered: When will the UN send in human rights investigators to look into our inhumane treatment of these asylum seekers?
Let me be clear, no one is for open borders. We all want a sensible immigration policy. To say otherwise is an inflammatory untruth that does nothing to solve the problem. We are better than this. Christianity is better than this. If this an example that Christians set, the Church is in big trouble. There’s a knock at the door.