By Fr. Glenn Jones

I’ve found an intriguing little book at the moment titled “Spy the Lie”—written by some CIA operatives—which focuses on spotting deception. A key point of such a skill is that, to be successful in rooting out truth from someone who is lying, one must control one’s own biases toward the person’s state or behavior—avoid assuming either truthfulness or deception in anyone. After all, who among us has not been surprised to find that a favorite co-worker was a thief, or had a good friend or confidante (or beloved) betray you, or hear of a homeless person who returned a wad of cash—persons and actions you’d never suspect? We need only look at the abuse scandals in churches, schools, the Boy Scouts, the Olympic gymnastics teams, and even in hearths and homes to see—tragically—that no place is free of deceivers … wolves in sheep’s clothing. After all, if it even happened to Jesus, what chance do the rest of us have to not ever be betrayed in some way.

We all have biases, whether we want to acknowledge them or not. Even in very sincere scientific investigation there is the assumption that some element of bias will be in the results, no matter how assiduously one tries to eliminate it (thus peer review and replication). Our daily lives and news are replete with extreme biases as well, with celebrities solicited for their opinions on subject with which they have no expertise, or politicians given automatic lauds and credibility should they have the right party identifiers (D, R, L, I, etc.). Race, culture, education, socio-economic class, and so many more things can go into making up our biases. We New Mexicans might even dismiss a politician for preferring the “wrong” kind of chili! ( “Christmas” is usually safe). 

These thoughts came to mind while reading the scriptures of the Catholic Mass this weekend—all passages pointing to the inclusion of any and all peoples of righteous heart under God. 

The Biblical Israelites’ biggest bias was believing themselves to be the only beloved of God, even though they possessed such prophecies as: “The foreigners [the non-Jews] who join themselves to the LORD… I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer…for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” (Isaiah 56:6-7) In the Christian era, St. Paul certainly departed from the early paradigm of including only Jews in his evangelization of the Gospel of Jesus, preaching to non-Jews as well and even calling himself “the apostle to the Gentiles [non-Jews].” (Romans11:13) 

But Jesus, of course, was the quintessential “bias breaker”, providing example to His disciples by including and being considerate to women and Gentiles in the extreme patriarchy of the time and such was strongly frowned upon (see the “Woman at the Well” story of John 4).

One of the best examples of Jesus’ inclusion ministry was our Gospel of this weekend of Jesus healing a Gentile woman’s daughter (Matthew 15:21-28).  Jesus and the disciples were in the region of Tyre and Sidon, then occupied by Canaanites—the people the Israelites displaced when Joshua led Israel into the Promised Land. As one might imagine, no love was lost between them even after 1500 years, and in this much harsher age there was none of this “love your enemies” stuff … at least not toward non-Jews. 

When you read the story, Jesus at first seems harsh in His response to the Canaanite woman, but it only seems so; He is drawing her out as a test of faith … for His disciples (then and now) to witness and remember. We see the Jewish animosity toward the Gentiles in the disciples’ reaction to the woman’s earnest and pitiable plea—responding with no pity whatever, asking Jesus: “Send her away,”… implying “Who cares about the daughter of a pagan?” And yet, with the woman’s continued pleading and display of steadfast faith, He nonetheless heals the daughter, praising the woman’s determination and steadfastness. What mattered was not the woman’s race or people or condition, but rather her heart, just as we read in another place: “…the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

Now … isn’t THAT good advice! … to “not judge a book by its cover”. And yet … how often we forget that.  We want to trust … we want to admire our heroes, our friends, our family. And, conversely—and much more culpably—we tend to expect dishonesty or ineptitude in certain others, judging not on fact but rather on negative biases and preconceptions. Thus racism and prejudice and bigotry are some of the most foolish of judgments. What matter if a person is purple, green or blue if they are honest, adept and virtuous? Thus we must ask ourselves constantly: do I condemn “profiling” while myself profiling? Do I despise the less-educated, the lesser socio-economic person, the person of a different color for those reasons alone? Kind of foolish, don’t you think.

A common adage of Christianity is: “If you were charged with being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” To be “Christian” is to have faith in Christ, to follow Christ, and to sincerely attempt to be like Christ—despite inevitable failures. To this end, despise no one, remembering that each is God’s creation … God’s child—made “very good”—and also one whom Christ loved so much that he died for him/her, seeking “all to be saved.” 

Do we, then, O Christian, dare despise any?

“…they sang…‘…thou wast slain and by thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on earth.’” (Revelation 5:8-9)

Rev. Glenn Jones is the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and former pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Los Alamos.