Pilate makes a show of being innocent, but he is not.
Pilate wants to believe that he is not responsible, but he is.
I wonder about the parallels in our lives. What do we see, and dismiss as something which does not concern us?
University Lutheran begins our partnership with Family Promise, a ministry to provide shelter for homeless families. We want to see ourselves as partners in the effort to attend to their needs, but are we prepared to examine the culturally acceptable behaviors and policies which have resulted in so many becoming homeless?
We watch the news of atrocities in places like Syria and Iraq and ask what is wrong with those people? It was former President Jimmy Carter who, in commenting on the September 11 attacks encouraged his fellow citizens to set aside the question "Who are these people that hate us?" and ask, "Why do these people hate us?" Are we capable of believing their might be (as Confucius suggests) "a kernel of truth in the critique of my enemy"?
As the college year begins, most universities have responded to the renewed attention to sexual assault on campus. The most successful approaches are those which expose presumed underlying assumptions about being a college student. Can we openly discuss our thoughts on these topics?
Maybe it is our cultural value of presumed innocence which contributes to an attitude of pretend innocence.
We can wash our hands all we want - the truth of the situation remains.
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