The classification of a “good” one casts dispersion on all the rest. Very early on, “others” were cast as baddies. It seems like a trend.

Quoting Wikipedia:

Jesus’ target audience, the Jews, hated Samaritans to such a degree that they destroyed the Samaritans’ temple on Mount Gerizim. The Samaritans, reciprocally, hated the Jews.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Good_Samaritan

Quoting Wikipedia [emphasis mine]:

The Samaritans (/səˈmærɪtənz/; Samaritan Hebrew: ࠔࠠࠌࠝࠓࠩࠉࠌ‎ Šā̊merīm; Hebrew: שומרונים Šōmrōnīm; Arabic: السامريون as-Sāmiriyyūn), often preferring to be called Israelite Samaritans, are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of ancient Israel and Judah that comprises the northern half of what is today referred to as the West Bank. They are adherents of Samaritanism, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion that developed alongside Judaism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritans

I dunno. Maybe someone will correct my interpretation. This has been at the edge of my mind for a little while and I’m curious if others agree.

  • @Bacano
    link
    21 day ago

    One of lessons of the Bible (from what I gather anyway) is that all humans are corrupt-able and will err. Therefore, all organizations that wield any power at all are subject to human corruption. Indeed, this is how we think of organizations in a secular light.

    If you’re looking for the religious teachings or church organizations that are free from the sins they denounce, you won’t find them, because human beings cannot keep themselves from temptation indefinitely.