Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted, clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts: 1

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The parable of the "Good Samaritan" is an ancient example of Israeli racism / bigotry (lemmy.sdf.org)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/showerthoughts

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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.

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[–] Rhynoplaz 26 points 1 week ago (1 children)

No, you're exactly right. The whole point of the story was to find goodness in the most unlikely places. "If one of those horrid Samaritans could help a Jew in need, then certainly you can find it in your heart to do the same."

If the opposite but equivalent existed: The phrase would be "the generous Jew", and it would be in regards to an old tale about a poor Samaritan beggar who gets a new start on life thanks to an unlikely gift from a Jewish banker. And the moral of the story would be that if the greedy Jew could help a beggar, so can you.

Of course, that's a racist stereotype that I do not personally believe or support, but again, that's the whole point of the original story.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 week ago

Right. It's basically Jesus (or whoever the story teller is from the other perspective) saying, "I know you all are racist. Stop it. Anyone can be a good person. Do better."

A guess a slightly less charitable interpretation could be: 'even this evil person can do good once in a while, why aren't you?' but aligning with a lot of the other parables I feel like it's more than likely to be the first one.