I really appreciated your contribution to this edition of the AJ. I am grateful for one that you are in Canada and contributing to opening my eyes through the AJ to acts of faith in our communities both in the present and potentially in the future! I for one feel inspired when reading your editorial and the accompanying articles of this edition of the AJ.

Most grateful to you,
David Searle

Dear Steve,

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. In terms of my own writing, I cannot speak to places where I’ve never lived or visited, though I completely agree that human rights abuses deserve focus and attention, wherever they occur.

I sometimes think that our willingness to speak of certain abuses (or not speak of them) tends to say more about our political affiliations and our economic alliances than our desire to build the Kingdom of God. I suspect you’re pointing at this behaviour, which is not a good one, in my mind.

With best wishes,
MT

I do agree with you, however, that achieving God’s Kingdom on Earth is a process; a long, slow process. We, as Christians, need to keep the Kingdom as our goal, using Christ’s Words and Deeds as our guide, and approaching all with Love and Humility.

I do want to close with an apology to you. The way I read your article, I assumed you had left the US for good and was renouncing your citizenship. Thank you for clarifying things and I am sorry for my assumptions about your status. I will read your work with more informed eyes.

Thank you again for responding,
Together in Christ (especially when we disagree)
Steve S

Dear Steve,

Thanks for your feedback. For what it’s worth, I hold U.S. citizenship and file U.S. taxes. I’ve tried my best to offer a perspective that might help Canadians understand what they’re seeing in the States, and what needs might exist. Obviously, there are other perspectives.

There is much to know about how the U.S. is involved with the rest of the world, both in positive and negative ways. I see no benefit in disallowing people who aren’t Americans or who have left America to criticize the choices the country makes. You may find they have valuable information about American governance and policy that are otherwise hard to discern. A few years ago, when I was traveling in Uruguay, I saw a massive outdoor exhibit of photos of people who had been “disappeared” during the dictatorship of the ’70s/’80s. From where I stand, it’s worthwhile to note how the U.S.-backed Operation Condor led to South American political prisoners being flown out to sea and tossed into the ocean, to disappear forever. Should we not hear their voices on the matter?

Are Americans living in America the only people who can acknowledge the impacts of such policy choices? Should we hear nothing from others? So while I appreciate the Biblical grounding of your argument—that one shouldn’t criticize the fleck in your neighbour’s eye when you have a plank in yours—it may be worth considering, perhaps, that America has a few planks, too. The U.S. has done some good things. It’s also done some bad things. Right now, many Canadians seem quite concerned that bad things are afoot. And I don’t blame them, especially given the response to COVID. Of course, that’s my opinion.

Best,
MT

All countries have their problems and the world gets bent out of shape when the US involves itself in those problems. Yet, many in the world feel it is okay to voice their opinions and get involved in the US. Why is that okay? Doesn’t the Bible talk about removing the plank in your own eye? How about being judged by the same standard you judge others by?

Thanks. I live in Dartmouth, so I write about what I see.