Minister's Inter-faith Blog Page 9
Terrorists
Strike Again?
|
| The Tower of Siloam doesn't figure too
often in Canadian sermons, although it was apparently a favourite text
of fundamentalist preachers in the U.S. after the collapse of the World
Trade center. It was apparently located in the settlement of Kefr
Silwan, to the east of the valley of Kidron, on the west slope of the
Mount of Olives; it may well have been built by the Moabite followers
of King Mesha who had settled just outside the Holy City. One phrase I think I heard in our sermon on this topic was speculation as to whether collapse of the tower was an accident. We often think that things happen "by accident." But the British journal "Injury Prevention" is very clear that there is no such thing as an accident, and indeed it does not allow this word to be used in its articles. The people killed in the collapse of the World Trade center were certainly not victims of an accident- there were clear causes in both U.S. imperial policy and faults of both concept and design in the tower. Likewise, if the tower of Siloam collapsed, there would be underlying reasons- perhaps choice of an unsuitable site so that the Moabites could harass the Jews? Was it undermined by streams running into the pool of Siloam? Certainly, it presents us with the issue of the apparent random selection of victims in some "accidents." If this passage dates back to Jesus, does he know why God permits the innocent to suffer? Is he pointing to the ever-present possibility of sudden, random death, urging us to make better use of the time that we have on this earth? Is he saying that the tower does not choose between Gentiles and Jews as it falls, because they are equal in the eyes of God? Is God giving us the freedom to build battlements that may fall on us or our enemies? Many tragedies will remain beyond our human understanding, but many others have clear antecedents in our folly. Roy Shephard.
|
| Submit
a blog |
Blog Listings |
Minister's Page |
Home Page |