The Samaritans were the “illegal aliens” of the day. They were shunned by the society around the environs of Jerusalem. You would not want your friends to see you talking to one of them. If there had been the likes of Donald Trump around with the authority he has arrogated to himself, you can bet there would have been some iteration of ICE roaming the streets and arresting them for wildly exaggerated offenses. Truly they must have believed the Samaritans were lower class people – if you dared to even publicly consider them to be people.

All of the populace was no doubt convinced that if not for these subhumans in their society, the ills they underwent would disappear; that’s how propaganda works and has worked for as long as there has been “civilization”. It still works remarkably well today. These racist attitudes were precisely why Jesus Christ spoke this particular parable – of one of those dastardly Samaritans performing an unimaginable, impossible act of kindness. This was tantamount to blasphemy! How could this “teacher” dare imply that one of the hated, abhorred social misfit Palestinians – I mean Samaritans – come to be – nay, perform the lead role – in a story of human compassion?

Wasn’t this Jesus aware of all the travails of their society were caused by these Samaritan (Palestinian, Mexican, Arab, etc.) terrorists? Where was His patriotism, His concern for the public good? Why wasn’t He at the fore of some big protest carrying a sign bemoaning all the problems their nation faced because no one was “protecting their borders” and deporting these interlopers instead of speaking parables depicting them as human beings – even human beings with compassion in their hearts for the very people who persecuted them?

Coming from East Texas, I had many opportunities to interact with Latinos as I grew up, but perhaps I learned the most when as an adult, I worked on a construction project in Mississippi several years ago, and as is typical on construction sites, there were several crews of mostly Mexican workers. Some of them even rented units in the same trailer park where I and a couple of my buddies were staying. We got to know some of them, and although most of them couldn’t speak English and we couldn’t speak much of their native Spanish, we nevertheless became good friends. We shared stories of our lives where we came from and generally got to know each other. One of the things that struck me was how personable they were, never a cross word among us. They liked to party on weekends, and every Saturday night without fail, one or more of them would be banging on our door to come over to join their festivities. These guys were for real, not to mention they really knew how to throw down, complete with guitars, great cuisine, and songs we couldn’t understand, but that was never a problem. I remember one of them writing his home address on a piece of paper and telling me I was welcome there if I was ever down there and needed a place to stay – even if he wasn’t home his family would welcome me. He was from Guadalajara and I knew I’d probably never go, but he was being genuine! Samaritans – every one of them!

One of the biggest draws of the Trump campaign was possibly the only thing he promised that he actually tried to do, and that has to do with stopping immigration. The reason it was such an election boon for him is quite simply the rampant racism in America. Never mind this ICE gang that’s running around illegally arresting people – even American citizens – and murdering people or locking them away without due process, the racism in this country is way more out of control than problems caused by immigrants. I’m sorry – no I’m appalled – at how my fellow white Americans act toward people of other skin hues. It’s downright sickening to see and hear otherwise good, sensible people making flimsy arguments to support outright racism. How did we get here? And it’s not just aliens, I’ve been around long enough to have seen this government embark on white vs black racial campaigns every time the public appears to be coming together and challenging TPTB, the Vietnam protests come to mind. Then came the Watts riots – whites and blacks turned on each other like flipping a light switch.

If you doubt what I’m saying, just take a look at each and every situation in this country where the races are turned on each other and you’ll see some issue the government is trying to distract us from; every time. George Floyd, Rodney King, etc. Watch the news – when you start to see a bunch of stories about white cops shooting black people, or one of their favorites, black “thugs” raping a white woman – there’s something going on that the legacy media is not being allowed to talk about. More than that, it’s always something that needs the public to be distracted from, so they play the old race card, and it still works like magic. Same techniques they use with Latino immigrants. They’re all Samaritans – the blacks and Asians too!

We should be ashamed of ourselves for allowing our Satan-inspired government to use us this blatantly. A racist society gives Satan the tools he needs to control it. We have to stop hating on the Samaritans and take a good look at what the power brokers are doing to us. Our problems are not derived from black neighborhoods, from Islamic folks, from south of the border – our problems start right here in our homes. Our problems start when we teach our kids that we are somehow better than people with a different skin color or folks who come here from another country. They start when we teach our kids and our fellow travelers that we need to fear and/or hate other people. There’s nothing our corrupt government fears more than a backyard bar-b-que gathering with more than one color of people in the crowd! They hate stories of white cops befriending some black fellow who needs a hand. Think of Jesus speaking well of that Samaritan! These things portend a nation that is evolving beyond something that so profound a weapon as racism is becoming of less and less effect.

I’m going to relate a short version of the story of the good Samaritan as it is narrated in the Bible, but as the parable progresses, since we are in modern-day America, think of the protagonist as a Latino, or if you rather, a black man in a white neighborhood, but as you imagine a modern scenario, remember this is probably just how those folks back then regarded the Samaritan.

Jesus tells a narrative [Luke 10:30-37] of a man, most likely a native Israeli (just consider him to be a white American man) traveling through an area which was predominantly Hebrew (think white) who was attacked by robbers who beat him up and took his clothes. He didn’t get into the ethnicity of the robbers, maybe since doing so might incite the racism of the listeners. The man lay in pain and distress as a priest (think Texas evangelical preacher) passed him by, even going to the other side of the road so as not to directly encounter him. Another fellow, a Levite (the family of the priesthood) saw him and did the same thing – purposefully dodging the guy. Finally, a Samaritan (illegal alien, black man, whatever) came upon the hapless fellow and instead of going out of his way to avoid eye contact, the Samaritan had compassion and helped him. He bandaged up the guy’s wounds and allowed him to ride on his own animal and rented him a room and ensured he was attended. Needless to say, that nasty Samaritan alien turned out to be the good guy.

Jesus told this parable to warn people to avoid the very attitude that got Donald Trump elected! Our nation has strayed from what we were taught in or own Bibles and it’s shameful. The Bible says the whole world belongs to God and everything in it. [1 Corinthians 10:26] Whoever is in possession of property is only allowed stewardship of whatever he sits on in this world and its resources and the Lord expects us to share it with our fellow travelers, no matter where they are from. [Malachi 3:5]

And I will come near you for judgment;
I will be a swift witness
Against sorcerers,
Against adulterers,
Against perjurers,
Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans,
And against those who turn away an alien—
Because they do not fear Me,”
Says the Lord of hosts.

At this moment in time, it seems that Anglo Americans have overwhelming stewardship of God’s country we call America, but that does not an any way mean that it belongs to us or that we are justified in expelling or persecuting others. I’m an old white man who grew up in a very racist South, but God has opened my eyes to a serious failure of my kind, and we have to allow the wisdom of Jesus Christ (in this very parable) to take us beyond racist inclinations. We have a lot of voters in this country who voted for a man BECAUSE of his racism, and that ain’t speaking good for us.

To all my black, Latino, Asian, Arab, etc., brothers – hang in there, pray for the Lord to open more eyes – His purpose will be done.

May the blessings of the Almighty Father find and keep us.

MK