Christine Bryant
Paris Saint Germain won the European Football Cup on May 31.
Gardener maintains Parc des Princes Field in Paris. Photo: TBD Traveller, pexels.com
The next two nights there were riots in France. In Le Monde on June 2, the editorial asked: Why do hundreds of young men, mostly aged 15-25, think these are appropriate actions to celebrate a football match? Why do they have little respect for the property and livelihood of others? Why are they so disengaged from the norms of society?
On June 18, Le Monde reported the speech of King Abdullah of Jordan to the European Parliament. He addressed the same questions in a geo-political context. He stressed that at the end of World War II, Europe made a conscious decision to live together differently, in peace and harmony – to talk through problems in a freely-elected forum and resolve differences by non-violent means. Now 27 diverse nations have committed to living in a climate of respect for each other’s cultures and world views.
The purpose of the king’s address was to warn that values we prize are in danger of unravelling. The example he gave related to the attacks on Gaza’s hospitals. “Twenty months ago,” he said, “the world reacted in horror at the first incident of Israel bombing a hospital”. In the 20 months since, the World Health Organisation has documented 700 strikes on Gaza’s medical facilities. This now doesn’t even raise a collective eyebrow. “How”, asked King Abdullah, “have people whose history is the Judeo-Christian-Muslim ethic – Love your neighbour; do good to those who would harm you – become inured to such inhumane conduct?”
King Abdullah is not wrong. We see daily the spectacle of world leaders who cannot tolerate criticism, neglect basic courtesies in their responses to questions and have no respect for alternative views.
Even though less than half of our population identifies as Christian, New Zealand has chosen to be a country in the Judeo-Christian-Muslim tradition, a country that identified in the Treaty of Waitangi that there was a right way of living together. I acknowledge we have not always lived into the promises which Māori and the Crown made. Nevertheless, at a time when the danger of distant conflict threatens to spread further south, we need to stand up for the values we share with Europe and Jordan. Lack of respect for others leads to conflict and violence.
When the lawyer asked, “who is my neighbour?”, Jesus replied with the story of the Good Samaritan. In this story, two respectable Israelites were invited to identify with a man who had been beaten up. They declined to show compassion and crossed to the other side of the road. The Samaritan, however, saw how the injured man could be himself and took steps to ensure he was cared for. Jesus asked the lawyer to name which of the three was a true neighbour and then challenged them to go and do likewise. If we want a more just and equitable world, that challenge still holds good today.
Christine Bryant
