We have experienced a long night where we have been brought face-to-face with the staggering inequities pervading our society. No longer are we able to say we didn’t know, for we have seen with our eyes, heard with our ears, witnessed in multiple ways, how those on our margins have been left in Egypt to fend for themselves.
Thus, what I have strongly urged my evangelical Christian missionary friends serving in other countries to do is to lovingly and strongly confront the nationalism of their supporters.
Who would your ‘Samaritan’ be today? A politician? A troll on Twitter? A violent terrorist? A police officer? An anarchist? Someone with a different sexual orientation?
He recounts a vision, like John-the-seer in the book of Revelation. Except his is not a binary vision of heaven’s victory and evil’s defeat, but of nonviolent generosity and mutual respect—one that embodies Jesus’ call to radical peacemaking.
It’s been a long road, and it’s not over, though it does seem to be changing. And we felt we couldn’t let this moment pass without marking it together in some way.
The United States must recognize the harmful effects of its current and historic foreign policy in the Middle East, and begin working toward a better future.