Obviously, this is not the woman’s question, but it is a
very curious preface to her impending query.
I find it curious this is her first question after recognizing the
extraordinary man to whom she is speaking is possibly a prophet. She could have
begun this next phase of their conversation any way she wanted, but she chooses
to talk about religious preferences. I
wonder why?
With all the personal stuff she is wrestling with, why bring
up religious differences between people of common descent? It must have been something that had been
gnawing at her for years, maybe most of her life. When did she first realize the schism between
the southern and the northern people?
When did she pick up that her people were considered “less-than” the
people of Judah. Was she ever told the
reasons? Did she understand the
history? Is it just more fogging on her
part? Is it safer for her to talk about
religious strife than personal struggles?
Maybe it is a combination of all these.
I believe these deep-seeded prejudices against her had left
their mark. Religious superiority leaves
scars on both the perpetrators and the victims.
I am a Seventh-day Adventist. I
believe in the sanctity of the Sabbath.
I believe in a literal and visible second coming of Christ. I can recite the list of doctrines that make
my faith significant to me. But does
what I believe become the compound that separates and protects me from other
“less-than” Adventists? Is preference
the definition of superior? What is
evident is that in the times of Jesus the lines of religious demarcation were
already in place. Things haven’t changed
much today. The question has not even
been asked yet, and I am already looking forward to the answer.
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