Being A Modern-Day Good Samaritan

Many are familiar with the parable of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10:25-37. The theme of this story illustrates that compassion should be for all people. Everyone, no matter who they are, or what their circumstance, is our neighbor.

This story goes hand in hand with the Scripture in Mark 12:28-31: One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (NIV).

From these two examples set forth by Jesus, it is obvious that we as Christians should love our neighbor.

Voting One’s Conscience

Recently I’ve been contemplating what it means to be a Republican and also what it means to vote one’s conscience. With a number of local, state, and national officials up for election or reelection, I want to make sure that I support and vote for the best candidate. As a member of the Greene County Republican Central Committee, I have given myself to the task of supporting and promoting Republican candidates for office. This is the main task of this local committee. I’m glad to do that, because I agree with all the tenets of the Republican Party as far as I know (although I understand the platform changes slightly as time goes by).

Here are a number of statements from the 2004 Republican Party Platform that I can agree with (along with many other points):

Made in the U.S.A.

Lately, especially in light of the downhill spiral of the U.S. economy, I keep pondering about American-manufactured goods or American-grown products. It seems that these are harder and harder to find, and this is NOT a good sign. I can remember about 35 years ago, when I had a Japanese pen pal. The pen pal would ship me a gift or two in the mail that was definitely Japanese-made and unique. Those items were a thrill to receive, and a treasure. But, when it came time to reciprocate, I really couldn’t do it. I thought of toys and fun items (things that a kid or adolescent would like). About all I came up with were some plastic combs (for a girl), and a Frisbee. Both were made in—you guessed it—Japan! That was really the best I could come up with. These kinds of items were readily available in the store and were considered “American.” The best I could rationalize was that just because these items were manufactured in Japan, does not mean that they were products readily available to the public there. I hoped my presents were well-received, but I never found out if Frisbees and such were an easy to find commodity in Japan.

Still, through all this, I came to realize that a lot of goods in the U.S. are manufactured in other countries and imported here.