During the week covered by this review, we received 2 articles on the following subjects:
Christian Organizations
Political issues
Christian Organizations
The Jerusalem Post, June 21, 2018
Director for the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), Erin Zimmerman, recently released her latest film, To Life: How Israeli Volunteers Are Changing the World. The documentary highlights Israeli organizations involved in humanitarian work. One such organization is IsraAID, whose volunteering doctors – Israeli Jews, Muslims and Christians – spent time treating Syrian refugees arriving by boat to the Island of Lesbos. These are people who under other circumstances would be considered enemies. Zimmerman recalls one of the Jewish doctors saying, “Seventy years ago, this was us. We were on a boat trying to come home and nobody would help us. So it’s our responsibility to help others.” To Life attempts to tell a story about Israel that often goes untold. Zimmerman says that when she asked the people doing this work why they do it, they replied, “We’re supposed to,” or, “God made us this way.”
Political Issues
Haaretz, June 21, 2018
Former first lady, Laura Bush, has recently come out against the Trump administration’s policy of separating children from their parents at the US-Mexico border. Bush argued that this is not an issue of left versus right. There have been reports about some of the deported parents not being allowed to take their children with them. President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have defended this policy, claiming that they are simply acting according to the law. However, there is no law that requires the separation of children from their parents. Sessions further defended the policy by appealing to Romans 13, written by the Apostle Paul. The first eight verses in the chapter require that Christians obey the authorities, since these were appointed by God. This directive can be used to justify any violent dictatorship. The Christian Church in Nazi Germany used these same versus to justify obedience to Nazi authorities. However, these verses need to be read in their original context. They were written for Christians living under Roman rule who were expecting the imminent return of Jesus. Furthermore, later in the chapter the Apostle Paul reminded his readers that their highest obligation is to others, to treat them as they would want to be treated. Paul quoted Hillel almost verbatim, and the verse serves as a foil for blind obedience. Sessions, however, essentially argued that the government is always right. If that is true, Obama was right, Stalin was right, and Angela Merkel is right, too. Sessions’ point is not logically consistent. The writer concludes with the recommendation that we support those Democrats and Republicans who oppose this horrific policy.