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TeacherAide Case For Freedom SESSION 4
HANDS ON When Jesus was
speaking about hypocrisy, to the Pharisees, he used a strong illustration to
prove the point. In Matthew 23:25-26, Jesus tells the Pharisees they are like
dirty dishes, clean on the outside but dirty on the inside. This hands on is a
great way to show this point to your students. You will need to have two cups,
one clear and one you can’t see through. You will also need a picture of
water. Before class coat the inside of both cups with dirt, mud, or anything
gross. As you begin talking about hypocrisy you can explain to the class that
our lives are like the two cups. Show them the cup that you can’t see through
and explain that this is most of us. Clean on the outside but dirty on the
inside. We keep the outside of the cup nice and clean by doing things like
Sunday School, Wednesday Nights or even wearing Christian t-shirts, but the
inside is still dirty. Pour some of the water in the cup. Ask if anyone wants a
drink. Show them the clear sup and explain that this is how God sees us. He sees
right through the outside and into our hearts. Pour some water in the clear cup
and ask if any wants to offer God something like this. Finish up by asking some
question about what is means to be clean on the inside and how we go about being
clean. ILLUSTRATING THE POINTBelow
is a portion from a story about the hostage situation that occurred at the
Summer Olympics in 1972. This confrontation was one of many between Israelis and
Palestinians. This is an example of how a confrontation can turn out the wrong
way. Yes, this is an extreme example, but it shows the end result of years of
fighting over a little piece of land in the Middle East. When the situation was
over 11 Israeli athletes were dead. ©
St. Petersburg Times, published December 29, 1999 By
BRUCE LOWITT Time
was, wars were suspended during the Olympics and armies prohibited from
attacking the ancient Games. Truces permitted worshippers and athletes to travel
safely. Times
change. Modern
Olympics have been suspended for two world wars. At
4:30 a.m. Sept. 5, 1972, war, politics and religion invaded the Munich Olympics. Terrorists
claiming to be from Black September, a Palestinian guerrilla group, stole into
the Olympic Village dressed as athletes and carrying their weapons in gym bags.
They killed two Israelis and took nine hostages. The
terrorists demanded the release of 200 Arab guerrillas jailed in Israel and safe
passage for themselves and the hostages. By 11 p.m. the hostages, five of their
captors and one West German police officer were dead, the outcome of a failed
rescue attempt. Three Arabs were captured. From
various accounts, this is what took place that Tuesday in September: The
assault on 31 Connolly St., one of the buildings at the Olympic Village, began
at about 5 a.m. with a knock on the door of 33-year-old wrestling coach Moshe
Weinberg. He opened it a crack, saw the attackers, put his shoulder to the door
and shouted, "Boys, get out!" Weightlifting coach Tuvia Sokolsky said
that as he fled, he saw Weinberg hit by a hail of bullets through the door. Weinberg
was ordered to lead the terrorists to other Israeli rooms. He pointed to one
with wrestlers and weightlifters, hoping they could overpower the attackers.
Then he collapsed and died. Joseph
Romano, 32, a weightlifter, was next to die, also by automatic rifle fire. By
now, other Israelis were being warned of the attack. Six escaped through a rear
door. Three hundred armed police officers sealed off the area. Brundage and
other Olympic officials convened. The siege began. At
9:35 a.m. the terrorists issued their demands. Negotiations with Munich police
chief Manfred Schreiber, in charge of Olympic security, commenced. The Arabs set
a noon deadline. They said two Israelis would be shot if the demands were not
met. The
deadline was set back to 1 p.m., then 3, then 5, then the Arabs canceled it.
Negotiations dragged on. The terrorists rejected an offer of unlimited ransom.
They rejected an offer by Schreiber that he and two high-ranking officials take
the hostages' place. In Israel, Premier Golda Meir said her government stood by
its policy of not dealing with terrorists. Schreiber
said he believed the building could not be successfully stormed, that the
terrorists were desperate and would not relent no matter how many lives were
lost. He and his colleagues spent the afternoon devising plans to get the Arabs
and Israelis out. At dusk, the terrorists said they would consider leaving with
the hostages. Negotiators
began trying to persuade the terrorists they could leave West Germany safely.
But they were working under Brundage's instructions not to let the Arabs leave
with the hostages. A
helicopter pad was hastily built nearby. At 8 p.m. a bus pulled up to 31
Connolly St. The Arab leader demanded a different green army bus "so there
was no chance to do anything," Schreiber said later. "They were too
clever." At
8:50 p.m. the first of three helicopters landed at the Olympic Village.
Meanwhile, a Lufthansa 737 was flown to the military air base at
Furstenfeldbruck, 15 miles west of the village. At
9 p.m. West German Chancellor Willy Brandt phoned President Anwar el-Sadat of
Egypt. Premier Aziz Sidky reportedly took the call and, when asked for help,
told Brandt, "We do not want to get involved in this" and hung up. A
minute or two after 10 p.m., the terrorists and hostages emerged from the
building, the Israelis bound, blindfolded and tied close together. "This
made it impossible to try anything with sharpshooters inside the village They
landed at 10:30 p.m. The
pilots had been told the West Germans would try to rescue the Israelis because
allowing the Arabs to leave with them "would have been a certain death
sentence for the hostages," Bruno Merk, interior minister of Bavaria, said.
What happened was not what the pilots expected. The Arabs told them to stand in
front of their aircraft, breaking a promise that West Germans would not be
involved as hostages. Two Arabs and one or more Israelis walked the 170 yards to
the plane for an inspection. They were walking back when one or more
sharpshooters hidden in the darkness fired. In the ensuing firefight, the Arabs
on the ground killed the Israelis with them. Other terrorists leaped from the
helicopters. Several unleashed automatic fire into one, killing the Israelis
inside. One of the terrorists tossed a hand grenade into the other helicopter,
killing its occupants. Five
days later, in the rain, a subdued closing ceremony was held that included a
silent meditation and fewer athletes than usual. The flags of the competing
nations were paraded around the stadium. Israel's was not among them. I THOUGHT I HEARD YOU SAY“Often
a noble face hides filthy ways.” “The wicked
work harder to preach hell “Hypocrisy:
a lie in action - the legacy of indecency” “Confrontation is not a dirty word. Sometimes it's the best kind of journalism as long you don't confront people just for the sake of a confrontation.” -Unknown “A loving heart is the truest wisdom.” -Charles
Dickens “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” -Thomas Jefferson |