The Essence Of Faith & Belief.

That's not fair.In my experience, the devil is far more free with his cash than, say, preachers.And all those prosperity churches had to come from somewhere--Jesus wouldn't fund them.

Lovely English proverb, isn't it? More fishwife-like than Christ-like, though. I noticed that Perhaps, like me, Ringo hears quite a bit more "use wisdom" than "give money away." Jesus certainly didn't outline a process for grading the poor to sort out the deserving.I understand that no one wants to waste money, especially what we can afford to give away. But I'm accustomed to Christians testifying about their faith in the face of great unknowns and trials, so it seems odd: face the lions with panache, sure, but follow Christ's injunction (and Christ) by helping the first and next persons you see in need of help...well, that's just too dicey. How will God know who deserves my help? How will He put them in my path? I just can't believe that bit.Consider that the person most in need of help, by your rubric, will usually be the person appearing least deserving of it. The person most eligible for help is going to look a lot like you. Should you be right, and Jesus return, which one do you think he'd look like?--------------------------------------------------NB:Now, you know I'm not a Christian, so you're probably thinking some of that criticism just ain't fair. Well, it wasn't criticism so much as commentary on the central fault in modern Christianity--it married money.Me, I'm more pagan anarchist than anything, prone to giving money away on impulse, guilty of handing out beers to bums walking through the Fens on New Year's eve in Boston. Hell, even winos deserve a drink on New Year's eve. If I happened to run into Jesus there, I definitely gave him a beer.Edited by Omnivorous, : Nice bunch of guys, too.

I think you can still feed the wife and kid; and if there's money to be thrown, throw it at them. Also, I think the polarized pastiche you describe--the industrious entrepreneur who is also a wastrel--is not so common. But the man who finds prosperity with the help of others, thinks it's his just desserts and devotes it to selfish pursuits...well, we have lots of Christians like that here, too.Family planning services for women are good, too, since nothing else so improves the economic lot of women and children.As you might imagine, I have other thoughts and feelings about Christian missions, but at present I'm mulling over Phat's response to Christ's challenge to the individual Christian. Nonetheless, I find myself asking the same question, now applied to an organization: Why so little faith in the simple, direct charitable acts prescribed by Jesus?

I wasn't disparaging ringo's giving or any other kind of giving. I was exploring the likely results of Phat's criteria for determining who merits help. I don't think he's substituting pro bono work, targeted donations or soup kitchen drudgery for spontaneous empathy.I salute all who give. I was pawing after the whiff of hypocrisy, not the scent of difference.