Let's remind ourselves of the parable of the good samaritan. Basically the bible tells us that a wounded man was lying on the side of the road and loads of people passed him by on the other side until a good Christian soul came to his rescue.
Unfortunately, I now have to tell you about the 21st century rewrite of this story, and for my parable I must use the recent Haitian earthquake for by background :
- And so it came to pass that the Lord looked down on the island of Haiti and saw fit to rain upon it a great natural disaster.
- Homes were flattened and many people were killed, the survivors being left injured and without food and shelter.
- And the good people of the Earth rallied round by sending money. But the Haitian people were wise and knew that they could eat or drink money, nor could they make houses from it.
- So the Lord looked down and saw his missionaries in the town, and he said to them "Go to the peoples aid."
- "But Lord," they replied, "we are just humble American missionaries, and we have noticed that the airport is open and there is a plane that can take us away."
- And the Lord said "Be strong and remember the good samaritan."
- "Bugger that" they said and with that they went home to the great land of the free.
Let that be a lesson to all the religious hypocrites of the world, whatever faith they may hold.
BUT --
There is one shining light in all this - and it is not Gordon Brown putting the world to rights for a change - it comes in the form of one ex-president of the USA, namely Bill Clinton - a man who seems to have remembered the original parable and who has gotten his hands dirty shifting aid and doing whatever he can on site. Good on yer, Bill. Maybe there's a glimmer of hope for us all yet?
READ MORE » The Haiti good samaritans
Unfortunately, I now have to tell you about the 21st century rewrite of this story, and for my parable I must use the recent Haitian earthquake for by background :
- And so it came to pass that the Lord looked down on the island of Haiti and saw fit to rain upon it a great natural disaster.
- Homes were flattened and many people were killed, the survivors being left injured and without food and shelter.
- And the good people of the Earth rallied round by sending money. But the Haitian people were wise and knew that they could eat or drink money, nor could they make houses from it.
- So the Lord looked down and saw his missionaries in the town, and he said to them "Go to the peoples aid."
- "But Lord," they replied, "we are just humble American missionaries, and we have noticed that the airport is open and there is a plane that can take us away."
- And the Lord said "Be strong and remember the good samaritan."
- "Bugger that" they said and with that they went home to the great land of the free.
Let that be a lesson to all the religious hypocrites of the world, whatever faith they may hold.
BUT --
There is one shining light in all this - and it is not Gordon Brown putting the world to rights for a change - it comes in the form of one ex-president of the USA, namely Bill Clinton - a man who seems to have remembered the original parable and who has gotten his hands dirty shifting aid and doing whatever he can on site. Good on yer, Bill. Maybe there's a glimmer of hope for us all yet?
