Finn McCool and Spain's Red Captain:

Since I was once an Irish cowboy, I was intrigued by the Arizona Republic's "A True West Moment" (1/24/16), which claimed the first cowboys were "ginger Hibernians riding around on Celtic saddles."  Although 10 percent of the Irish allegedly have red hair, the only red hair in my family belongs to my wife and hers is inherited from a Spanish ancestor.   What's a Celtic saddle?  The legendary Irish hero Finn McCool, defender of the cattle, and ancient Celts rode bareback or with a pad to protect their horses.   In service of Rome, Celtic cavalry began to use what we'd recognize as saddles, but the Chinese invented the stirrup and that piece didn't arrive in Europe until around the 6th century after Christ.   Cattle and the saddle arrived in America with Cortez.   After the Spanish ranches spread north to Sonora,  Tucson was founded by the Spanish General Hugo Oconor, known to the Apache as "The Red Captain."  Oconor (aka Hugh O'Conor) was an Irishman in the service of Spain, and he built fort Tucson to stop the Apache from raiding cattle ranches in Sonora.  Celtic Ireland and Romano-Celtic Spain reunited in Arizona, in defense of their shared cattle culture.

Targeting Latino Christians

The Arizona Republic's editorial (1/15) on Latin American immigrants does not raise the question of why Latino Christian refugees are being treated differently than Syrian refugees.   Our government welcomes Syrian refugees even as it deports Latinos.  Moreover, the editorial fails to address this  issue in its context.   America, more than any country, has been very welcoming to immigrants and refugees from all over the world, to the tune of at least a million a year (the most intellectually corrupt aspect of the immigration debate is the failure to acknowledge the immense number of immigrants America welcomes every year).  Enforcement of U.S. laws against illegal immigration are in fact quite lax, especially in the area of visa fraud committed by Asians, Europeans and Africans.  What we need to answer is why what immigration law enforcement action the U.S. does take primarily targets Latino Christians.

Cultural Amnesia...If not Plagiarism

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." --Galatians 3:28

According to Aaron James Wendland writing in the New York Times (1/17/16),  

Now, in Germany and elsewhere, doors are closing. But what are the potential consequences of this resistance to outsiders, to those in need? Is it justified? Do we owe the suffering and dispossessed something more, if we are to call ourselves ethical beings?

Few philosophers confronted questions like these more directly than Emmanuel Levinas... Levinas has taught us that our responsibility for others is the foundation of all human communities"

Are Times readers, editors and Wendland so culturally ignorant that we don't recognize shared humanity and responsibility for others as the ancient foundation of Christianity.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

-- Luke 10:25-37