Who Is Our Neighbor?

[DemocratsForProgress]

Walter Rhett: Who Is Our Neighbor?

The story of the Jericho Road is well-known to many; a man traveling down the dangerous 17-mile old world passage that climbs between Jericho and Jerusalem; it is winding, steep, remote. Historically known as the Bloody Pass; in the one biblical story from the Gospels, a man is jumped by a gang of marauders and falls injured, unable to help himself. Several men of supposed good will—including a priest—pass him without offering aid. They see him and ignore him. Who knows why? One thing is clear: the victim is not their neighbor.

Not only in the sense of a person who is not of their community or one whose identity is unknown, but also in the sense of ethical action—a willingness to offer a hand to someone in need in times when danger threatens even good intent.

The ethical will which fails or is abandoned has a political and social side. Ethical choices have powerful consequences that quickly grow complicated and cover a broad range of actions. Immediate reflection shows the idea of the neighbor is at the center of our domestic politics. And the idea of the neighbor and ethical action is a paired “who and what” that underscores the immigration crisis that carried tens of thousands of children to our borders, our school lunch programs and the fight against obesity, the school-prison pipeline (middle school children in handcuffs taken out of school), our support for affordable healthcare (ethical actions of costs, coverage and value) and violence against women (perpetrator and societal victim blaming). The answer to “who” identifies the persons and communities, the victims we are ethically tasked to love and help, to take risks ourselves in order to render aid, to challenge the inherent dangers by our actions. As our national resolve weakens or gives in to hate and fear, the list of ”who” grows short.

Who we see as our neighbor positions us on the political spectrum. It often determines the laws we support and social action we engage in (California communities illegally stopping government buses of immigrants from entering government facilities weren’t met with militarized policing as has been seen in protests elsewhere). Who we see as our neighbor often shapes the attitudes that are the milieu of society and define the bottom line of survival. It determines who we look up to and down on, the level of anger and respect we have for individuals and institutions. It separates us into friends and enemies...

More at: http://www.democratsforprogress.com/2014/09/10/who-is-our-neighbor/

[swilton]

1. Our neighbors

are those not just existing at geographic distances of space but also those in distances of time....that is why protecting the environment for (future) generations is consistent with ethics of many of the world's religions.

[jwirr]

2. Was listening to a sermon on the radio as I drove with my daughter. That was the topic of the

sermon and the answer was that anyone who we saw who needed help was our neighbor. The minister suggested that we should look at the end of our elbow to seek those in need - my elbow just happened to be resting on my severely disabled daughters knee as I drove. From that day I have worked with the disabled in any capacity that I could find to help.

I include this story from my life in full agreement with the OP.

[Uncle Joe]

3. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, DemocratsForProgress.