Posted by Dave on 12/18/07 at 12:01:59 pm
Categories: Social Justice Ravings, Theological Ravings

People often ignore, in this time of advent, the political landscape in which Jesus came into the world.

We ignore the fact that the reason that Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem simply because they were forced to live their life under occupation, and the occupying force demanded them to Bethlehem.

We often ignore the fact that Mary was an unwed mother. That it was worse that just shameful to be pregnant and with child. And even worse that Joseph knew that the baby was not his.

We often ignore the fact that Jesus was born in the midst of a period where infant boys were being slaughtered in an effort to preserve power.

One of the ways to remember and learn from the political landscape in the time of Jesus is to look at in the context of the political landscape of today. In a time where Mary and Joseph may have not even been allowed into Bethlehem, and would have had to, at minimum, pass through intense checkpoints. They would have had been stopped by massive walls that you could not see over. And the wise men would have assuredly been stopped and sent away. Christmas without gifts? In Palestine they will not be having many gifts, considering that Israel has set up blockades in an effort to shut down the economy.

Christian Peacemaker Teams have come up with one way to have a consistent and constant reminder of the oppression of occupying forces. A simple reminder. A wall. A separation wall.

A separation wall in your nativity scene:

If the Christmas story were to happen today, Mary and Joseph would have a hard time getting to Bethlehem....

Today, the Israeli-built separation barrier surrounds Bethlehem, located in Palestine, on three sides and cuts off the city from Jerusalem only six miles away. ...

Build a Wall around your nativity or crèche: Be creative! Build a wall encircling the crèche set, with no one or nothing else in view. Perhaps leave Mary and Joseph outside the wall (they certainly would have difficulty entering Bethlehem from Nazareth today!) Or perhaps a Handala (a Palestinian cartoon character that often appears in graffiti as a symbol of resistance) could join the shepherds, separated from the baby Jesus by the wall.

The world is not a vacuum. And the alleged "joy" of the season cannot, or at least should not, be celebrated without also acknowledging the lack of joy around the world.

As many of us sing happy and joyful songs, drink eggnog, and open gifts, many around the world are living under repressive regimes, occupying forces, and simply so poor that they cannot afford to drink eggnog or buy, or even make, gifts. In many ways the world has changed more than anyone could have imagined in 2000 years. But sadly, in many other ways, nothing has changed at all.

[cross posted at Street Prophets]

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