Conversation Point

International Gossip

While managing a retail furniture store I had the pleasure of working with a woman originally from Moscow. Not Moscow, Idaho, but that grand city in Russia. Svetlana had emigrated to the United States with her mother, Victoria, a few years before we met. The daughter wanted a better life for herself, and the mother couldn't imagine life without her only daughter, despite the fact that she spoke only minimal English. Svetlana and I worked together enough to decide we liked each others company, developing a friendly dialogue on all sorts of topics. She taught me a few Russian words and phrases, shared recipes from her childhood and talked about her prior work experience as both a nurse and a film producer. Her studies here focused on business. What I remember most about Svetlana was her warmth, kindness and generosity.

What was interesting to both of us, in one fascinating exchange, is how each of our countries chose to misrepresent the other during the Cold War. Svetlana's mother survived the Stalinist era and saw her daughter's generation welcome a more open society. As the Berlin wall came down, so did some of our preconceived notions about what life in the former Soviet Union was really like. One day Svetlana, planning a trip back to Russia to visit friends and extended family, asked if I wanted to see her old passport. Of course I said yes and found myself perusing a small relic of a Communist culture that no longer existed. It was then that I told Svetlana that the United States government used to tell us that people in her homeland were cold, uncaring, didn't love their children the was our parents loved us, and that her people didn't value life the way that we did here. She said her government told her people the same things about us.

Clearly, the Cold War was not about people hating each other, but governments participating in a gossip session to end all gossip sessions. While no great surprise, it was a wonderful sort of epiphany to see and experience just how much more we had in common than not.

My favorite Biblical example of this very concept is the story Jesus told, that of the good Samaritan. "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him, and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance, a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back (Luke 10:29-35)."

The fact that Jesus emphasized that this was not just any Samaritan, but a good Samaritan, frames the story in a way that made his listeners sit up and take notice. Jews and Samaritans were not cozy with one another and did everything in their power to avoid dealing with each other. A Samaritan would no more stop to help a Jew than the latter would stop to help the former. It just wasn't done. So Jesus turns the concept of cultural images and societal norms on its head by telling his listeners that this injured man, who was left for dead, was ignored by two leaders of his own community, men who preached the law and the prophets as their life work. The priest and the Levite definitely saw the man in his woundedness, but only acted by turning away and putting themselves at a distance from him physically, emotionally and spiritually. One would assume that these pillars of the community would go out of their way to help a fellow traveler, but clearly that was not the case.

Then, along comes the good Samaritan, someone of whom no one would expect a pleasant courtesy, let alone the magnanimous gesture of kindness that transpired. What the Samaritan did defines going out of one's way to help a stranger. And then Jesus posed a question to a lawyer in the crowd. "Which of the 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 10:36-37)."

The Cold War kept us at a great distance from the people of the former Soviet Union, making us believe these people whom we had never met were Communists at best, and heartless barbarians at worst. Now our former enemies live among us as cordial, productive residents and citizens of our country. Our mutual misconceptions, based on government lies, are all but forgotten.

But a new war has created new Samaritans for us, people we don't really know very well, people about whom our government is spreading new gossip, lies and misinformation. These new Samaritans are those who claim Islam as their faith. Our government would have us believe that there are very few good Muslims, that most are ready to kill us, take our land and take over the world. Emails zoom across the internet, full of fear-based messages that tell us to support immigration laws that prohibit all people from the Middle East entering our country. The Muslims that already live here face suspicion and discrimination. Public prayer by Muslims is considered radical, suspect and dangerous.

Based on our own history and Jesus' story, what do we really think is going on here? Who do you think is going to help you in your time of need? Do you really care, as long as someone is willing to help you at all?

posted by Cory L. Kemp @ 5:01 PM