BBC Radio 4 2016-10-03

The tragedy that is the civil war in Syria continues to play out, with hopes dashed of ceasefires and ever-more violence delivered on the civilian population. Not even the humanitarian aid convoys or hospitals are now spared the onslaught.

For five years now this conflict has ruined Syria, destabilized the wider region and cast a dark shadow over the world. Syria has become a stage for other regional interests to fight it out. Caught in the middle is the civilian population. With nearly 5 million refugees abroad and a further 6 million internally displaced, the scale of the crisis tests the ability of the various UN agencies to respond.

Does the duration and scale of the Syrian civil war also test our limits? Is there a risk that as the war just goes on, that we too become desensitized to it and simply look away or occasionally show interest when the media highlights a story? Is our daily response one of closing our own doors and hiding behind a general ignorance of the situation? Or worse, is it a response which simply says, it’s not our problem, it’s someone else’s, keep it away?

But it is our problem too. It is a shared human problem. It is not simply an issue for policy makers pursuing national or regional interests or those trying to control migration. The Syrian crisis tests our common humanity, and if we are people of faith, then it asks us fundamental questions too.

But the question of faith posed to us might not be the right one. That seemed to be the case in the arguments around yesterday’s referendum in Hungary. The people were asked whether they would accept a quota of asylum seekers who had come to Europe. The scheme is designed to take the pressure off Italy and Greece who are on the front line of the refugee crisis. Some of the Hungarian politicians opposing acceptance argued that taking refugees risks diluting the nation’s and Europe’s Christian heritage.

But surely the real threat to the Christian faith does not come from the presence of the other in our midst, who has come to our shores fleeing for their lives? The threat comes from Christians being indifferent to the plight of those in need. The real threat to Christianity is Christians not living it.

I believe Jesus is clear about what will happen at the last judgment and how those to be saved will be chosen. It will be those who showed mercy and kindness to the stranger. For he says in St. Matthew’s Gospel, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’