Pork Soup and Selective Compassion
Be sure to come back every day this week as PastorDave leads in the celebration of Hog Week. Each day will be a new and interesting post having something to do with swine. And we are giving away, to some lucky T-blogger, a Grow-Your-Own-Hog. Check Sunday's post for details!
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Interesting little article here about how the Conservative Party in France is choosing to selectively help the hungry:
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0" title="http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0" target="_blank"http://service.spiegel.de/cac...,1518,397249,00.html
It is a noble idea to give soup to the homeless. Of course, much more could be done, but soup is a good thing. Why not chicken noodle or vegetable beef? Why not Pea Soup Anderson’s Split-Pea, a favourite of mine when visiting relatives in California? Because many of the homeless and needy in France are Muslim immigrants, even illegal, and the Conservative Party wants only to help law abiding, genuine French citizens who look like themselves. They know most of these hungry illegals are quite serious about their faith, and would rather starve than eat pork. And that would be alright.
We have a challenge with an influx of illegal immigrants in my state, with an estimate of over two million and probably more. They do not look like us or speak our language. And they are taxing the system, much because it is presumed they pay no taxes. They drive recklessly and often with no license. They crowd the transit system. The schools are burdened with children who cannot learn because they and their parents cannot speak the language. And some give the impression they are not interested in learning the language or the culture. Personally I cringe at the prospect of having to utilize the emergency room of the local hospital, because it will be literally bloated with immigrants and their children, accessing health care on the state dollar.
What are we to do…come up with the American equivalent of pork soup?
Borrowing from the shtick of Surrogate, I can imagine a conversation with Jesus on the Day of Judgment:
Jesus: “Dave, tell me about how you loved others.”
Dave: “I gave my money to the missions programs at church so someone could tell the little African kids about you.”
Jesus: “Go on.”
Dave: “And,…I prayed for our church missionary in Libya, that she could share the gospel with those lost folk.”
Jesus: “Anything else?
Dave: “Uh. Uh. I know! I donated to the local food bank. Lots of food. Including soup, so the hungry could be fed.”
Jesus: “What kind of soup?”
Dave: “What kind of soup; why does that matter? <awkward silence> Pork soup.”
Jesus: “That’s not my favourite.”
Dave: “Well, Jesus, you have got to understand….. Why are you just looking at me like that?.... Some of those folk are Muslims! They don’t even believe in you….. Were they hungry? Well, yes, but they were illegals, and they were Muslims!
Jesus: “I think I understand this matter quite well. And I think I understand your heart.”
Dave: “Yes, Lord?”
Jesus: “Get out of here!”
Compassion is inseparably tied to Christianity, but not exclusively. For America to be special, it must be part of our very fibre. When we cease being compassionate, we lose our soul.
