Monday, July 16, 2007

The parable of the Good Samaritan, retold

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what
must I do to inherit eternal life?"

He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?"

He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your
mind; and your neighbor as yourself."

And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you
will live."

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

Jesus replied, "An openly gay man was going down from Jerusalem to
Jericho, and fell into the hands of homophobes, who stripped him, beat
him, and went away, leaving him half dead.

"Now by chance an Anglican priest was going down that road; and when
he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

"So likewise a vestry member, when he came to the place and saw him,
passed by on the other side.

"But a certain Nigerian archbishop with known homophobic views, who
had pressed for legislation in his country criminalizing
homosexuality, while traveling came near him. When he saw the man, he
knew the man was gay.

And yet, he realized that his hateful words towards gay people had
enabled this crime, and that in fact, no one deserved to be
discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or gender
identity.

"He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on
them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and
took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to
the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I
will repay you whatever more you spend.'

And the Nigerian archbishop came to staunchly oppose the
criminalization of homosexuality, and advocated instead for
comprehensive hate crimes and anti-discrimination laws covering sexual
orientation and gender identity.

"Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who
fell into the hands of the robbers?'

He said, 'The one who showed him mercy.' Jesus said to him, 'Go and do
likewise.'

Luke 10:25-37, NRSV with some alterations

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