The real issue here is not responsibility, but responsibility v. authority.
Authority says I will take all of your possessions, take your liberty, take your children, in order to punish you for being poor.
Responsibility answers the question "Who is my neighbor?" with the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Authority says there are people undeserving of even our attention. Responsibility says: "Do you see this woman?"
Authority says there is a scarcity of goods and a plenitude of wants, and the only prudent course is to hoard what you have and to turn away the stranger. Responsibility says, so long as you respond with hospitality to the stranger, your own needs will always be met.
Responsibility says, so long as you respond with hospitality to the stranger, your own needs will always be met.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, I'd venture it's why hospitality is so important in the ancient world. It was survival. One day the host may be in need of the same welcome. As we grow more insular it's easy to forget how fragile our security really is.