In the March 16 Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Rev. Joanna Adams reminded us in her guestcolumn a wonderful parable from the New Testament in which Jesus Christ answers the question, “Who is my neighbor ?”
The question arose from Jesus’ explanation of the greatest commandments in the law— to love God and to love one’s neighbor as oneself. And thus came the answer in the story of the Good Samaritan: Everyone is your neighbor.
Rev. Adams speculates that Good Samaritan may have left the inn where he left the injured traveler and “headed back to Jerusalem, the place where public policies and priorities were set.” Rev. Adams ties the need to do something about bandits on Jericho Road to “our responsibility as citizens to speak up” on behalf of, among others, “the most vulnerable among us,” including the poor, elderly, disabled, and children. “Isn’t good policy … compassion gone public ?”
I was surprised that the story of the Good Samaritan triggered thoughts of government solutions. This parable reminds us, in my view, of our personal obligation as Christians to love and care for our neighbors. Won’t judgment day be deeply personal, like an open-book final exam in which the open book will be the life we have led: Did you feed the hungry? Clothe the naked? Visit the imprisoned? Care for the sick?
The question won’t be: Did you lobby your government for programs — and taxes to pay, at least partially, for the services that would do these things? What virtue is there in paying taxes? If you fail to pay your taxes, you go to prison. We Christians look to Mother Theresa and Dorothy Day, not K Street suits, for examples of compassion.
We need sensible safety-net programs like Social Security and Medicare. Our country is too large and varied to rely entirely on individual compassion and private charities to help the most vulnerable. Government should be one of our last options in dealing with social ills, not our first. Rev. Adams alludes to some of government’s deficiencies, but she is much too kind. Food stamps, for example, were designed for the truly poor, not for graduate students.
In “Who Really Cares,” author Arthur Brooks analyzes American generosity and statistically establishes strong positive correlations between generosity (time, talent and treasure) on the one hand, and four forces in modern American life on the other: strong religious faith and practices; strong family values and relationships; self-reliance and personal entrepreneurialism; and skepticism about the role of government in economic life.
Americans with conservative values are more generous, on average, than Americans with liberal or progressive values. I hope my progressive friends will accept that for the challenge it is.
“Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” President John F. Kennedy did not have lobbying for a larger government in mind. He had in mind the parable of the Good Samaritan and Jesus’ answer, that compassion begins here and now with each of us.
