A Modern Parable

An interesting thing happened in church on Sunday. The pastor was reading the Gospel for the day. It was John 9:1 – 41. This Gospel is the story of how Jesus made a blind man see. After his sight was restored the man went to the temple to talk to the Pharisees. The Pharisees asked the man several times how his sight was restored. Each time, the man said Jesus had restored his sight. The Pharisees asked the man’s parents if he was their son and how he got his sight back. Eventually the Pharisees threw the man out of the temple because the Pharisees wouldn’t accept that the man was sin free.
The story reminded of the events that lead up to the current war in Iraq. Iraq plays the part of the Blind Man. Jesus is played by the United Nations. George Bush plays the Pharisees. The Rest of the World plays the Blind Man’s Parents.

Pharises: Where are your weapons of mass destruction?

Blind Man: I don’t have any weapons of mass destruction. I got rid of them long ago.

Pharisee: I know you have weapons of mass destruction. You have not been truthful with us.

Blind Man: Really. I don’t have any. Ask Jesus.

Jesus: I have been with the man for 10 years. I have found no weapons of mass destruction.

Pharisee: I don’t believe you. My intelligence people tell me you have weapons of mass destruction.

Blind Man: You can ask my Parents. I don’t have weapons of mass destruction.

Pharisee: Parents, how can the Blind Man not have weapons of mass destruction? I know he is lying and hiding the weapons. Will you help me find the hidden weapons?

Parents: No, we will not help. We do not believe that he has any. Jesus has told us the blind man does not have weapons. Jesus has searched and he hasn’t found any weapons.

Pharisee: I do not believe you or the Blind Man. If the Blind Man does not let me search his house, and if the Blind Man does not show me where he is hiding the weapons of mass destruction, I will throw him out of the temple and take over his land.

Blind Man: Please, I beg you, do not throw me out. I don’t have any weapons.

Pharisee: I know you are lying. My spies know you have hidden your weapons of mass destruction. You will not get another warning. Let me in and show me your weapons or we will force our way in.

Parents: You cannot do that. It is against the law.

Pharisee: I can do whatever I want. I know the Blind Man has broken the law and I have proof he is hiding weapons of mass destruction. I don’t care what Jesus says or what his parents say. I will find his weapons of mass destruction.

Parents: Show us the proof.

Pharisee: After I have broken into his house and found the weapons, I will show them to you.

Parents: We will not help you. What you are doing is illegal.

Blind Man: Please don’t do this. I have no weapons of mass destruction. Jesus has been here and he has seen my house. He knows I have no weapons. You must believe him.

Pharisee: I do not believe him. I do not trust him. You are lying. You are hiding your weapons. I will not warn you again. Your time has run out.

And so, the Pharisee and his zealots broke into the Blind Man’s house. They searched and searched and searched for the weapons of mass destruction. After about 2 years of searching for the weapons, the Pharisee had to admit that he was no longer looking for weapons of mass destruction because they couldn’t find any. The Pharisee said the real reason for breaking into the Blind Man’s house was to throw him out because he was a bad man and that his parents are better off without him.

Isn’t it a little ironic that the President, who professes to follow the teachings of Jesus and to be a Christian, chooses instead to act like the Pharisees?