On Saturday, 9 February 2013, at a rough 6.55 a.m. at a pedestrian’s traffic-light stop along Tampines Street 81, opposite the heartland market centre, a motorcyclist rammed a woman dead.
These are the bare facts. Nothing is known about the motorcyclist. Nothing is known about the incident, how the poor woman was killed. A sign at the corner appealed for witnesses. I saw it yesterday. This means the police still looks for witnesses. I suppose no one turned up.
I mentioned it to mama last night. Housewife rumour claimed the woman crossed the street at red light. A motorcycle raced past a van, beat the red, and bulldozed the woman. The rumour’s logic was that both parties were blind-spotted by the van. I cannot be certain. These are hearsay. But if coffee shop talk is rooted in some truth, where are the eyewitnesses? Why aren’t they reporting to the police?
Mama expressed it so clearly. And damningly. To her and most of the post-WWII Singapore generation, one better mind one’s business and not invite more “problems” by helping others. The only good thing about witnessing a bloody accident is to divine a lottery number out of it. And nothing good comes out of trying to be a good neighbour. Mama said when Ah Gong handed in an iPhone he found on a public bench to the police, he spent slightly more than an hour to complete the documentation. Mama apparently found it a waste of time. So do many Singaporeans of her generation.
I am ashamed I did not reprimand mama. I should have. If one were among the deceased woman’s kin, an hour is nothing to the remaining years trying to make sense of the personal loss. Her husband would beg to know what really happened that morning. It is unconscionable to witness a public accident and not help the police. It is unconscionable to witness a crime in progress and not do anything. Singaporeans can be very skilled at pretending blindness.
A follower of the way of Jesus will love his or her neighbour. It is the greatest imperative of the christian ethic. In fact, Jesus encourages and instructs his followers to love even their enemies! A megachurch senior pastor who passes by an injured person to be “on time” for his sermon is no follower of Jesus. A Charismatic conference worship leader who ignores a crime in progress to be “on time” for his session is no follower of Jesus. A Christian who attends regularly church services, cell groups, prayer meetings, bible studies, bible conferences and mission trips but ignores the poor and the needy in his or her own backyard is no follower of Jesus. Such do not obey the greatest commandment.
But a transgender person with a live-in homosexual partner who sees an injured person, pities him and decides to stop and help follows Jesus. He follows the Way because he loves his neighbour. This is what the parable of the good Samaritan is all about. Jesus does not compliment the religious folks for their excuses. He rejoices in the marginalised for their social justice.
Some evangelicals and fundamentalist christians may be offended by my including a transgender person in the story. How can a queer who is living a “sinful” and “evil” lifestyle be a Jesus follower?
This is precisely Jesus’s point. He offends the Jewish throng when he tells the Samaritan parable. To the Jewish, the Samaritan, like the practising homosexual, cannot and can never be “good”! It just cannot be! The Samaritans are heretics! They worship the wrong god because they worship from the wrong place. They are not “real” followers of Jesus.
Oh Rob Bell is not a real christian because he does not believe in an eternal hell. Oh John Shelby Spong is not a real christian because he does not affirm all the traditional dogma of the church. Oh Jay Bakker is not a real christian because he affirms gay rights. Oh Doug Pagitt is not a real christian because he affirms yoga. Oh Rowan Williams is not a real christian because he affirms evolutionary biology. Oh the Episcopal Church in the US is apostate and evil because they encompass all of the above.
Oh the Samaritans are evil because…
*******
Filed under: christian theology, contemporary affairs, religious fundamentalism, society Tagged: 9 February 2013, a follower of the way of Jesus, a good neighbour, a Jesus follower, a motorcyclist rammed a woman dead along Tampines Street 81 on 9 February 2013, Benjamin Chew, Benjamin Chew blog, Benjamin Chew Hong Jie, Benjamin Chew Hong Jie Blog, bible conferences, bible studies, cell groups, Chew Hong Jie, Chew Hong Jie blog, Christian theology, church services, Contemporary affairs, current affairs, Doug Pagitt, eternal hell, evangelicals, evolutionary biology, eyewitness, eyewitnesses, follow the way of Jesus, fundamentalist christians, gay rights, help others, helping others, Jay Bakker, Jesus, John Shelby Spong, love one's enemies, love one's neighbour, love your neighbour, mama, megachurch, mind one's own business, mission trips, not a real christian, pedestrian's traffic light, prayer meetings, red light, religious fundamentalism, Rob Bell, Rowan Williams, senior pastor, Singapore, Singapore society, social justice, society, Sparrows and Sandcastles, Sparrows and Sandcastles blog, Sparrows and Sandcastles blog by Benjamin Chew, Sparrows and Sandcastles blog by Chew Hong Jie, Tampines, Tampines Street 81, the christian ethic, the Episcopal church, the Good Samaritan, the greatest commandment, The Parable of the Good Samaritan, the police, the Samaritan, the Samaritans are evil, the Way of Jesus, traditional dogma, traffic light, transgender, transgender people, transgendered, worship leader 
