Just suppose . . .

Here's this week's "Opening the Bible" blog entry for i.ucc

Suppose you feel a financial pinch due to the actions of some people who have a different religious perspective than you do. Suppose instead of seeking retribution or compensation based on financial loss you paint the other people as wrong, evil or lawbreakers based on religious intolerance rather than finances.

Suppose you have the other people thrown in jail or perhaps you go to war with them.

That supposition is a big part of this week’s Bible reading from Acts 16:16-34. Paul, mostly out of annoyance, called on Jesus to heal a slave woman who was possessed. (most likely she was a woman with mental illness) She could no longer perform fortune telling and her owners had Paul and Silas thrown in jail. There’s a wonderful end to the story with an earthquake opening the doors of the jail and the jailer and his household experiencing God’s love and becoming followers of God, but the part that really has caught my attention is the painting of Paul and Silas not with a brush of financial loss, but one of religious intolerance.

I wonder if there are any modern day examples that are similar . . .