Well, OK, the thread title was designed to get your attention, but still. Did you see the op-ed by Nicholas Kristof the other day?Here
It is well worth your time. It says an Evangelical group called World Vision is the largest America aid and development organization. It does not use its aid to encourage conversions.
Further the article claims a lot of US Government programs (like the very important GW Bush campaign against AIDS in Africa) were pushed by Evangelicals. The article also points out that unlike other Americans who talk about helping the poor, Evangelicals actually volunteer to go to these places to help.
Then the column points out the sins of Sodom was not sodomy, but being "arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.” (Ezekiel 16:49.)
So for all the flak people of faith attract around here, I am eager to hear the praise for the objective human good these people are doing in the world.
Kristof has always given credit where credit is due, even when he has ideological differences. He also noted the Evangelical influence being fighting sex-slave trafficking.
Kristof also gives props to evangelical and christian missionaries in his excellent book Half The Sky. Governments, while well-meaning, generally fail at humanitarian efforts: like using an elephant to catch a mouse. Missionary efforts at their best are small and focused, accomplishing good things in small increments. At their worst, they encourage government leaders to eradicate AIDS by killing the people who have it (a la Uganda).
Hear hear! But isn’t this more of a MPSIMS thread? You aren’t exactly “witnessing” in a religious sense, and you don’t seem to be proposing any debate.
“Hooray for the…” threads don’t really seem like GD material to me.
Wow, I’m impressed. Thanks Paul for pointing out some of the good positive things in this world. This may be the first thread in favor of Christians on this forum. I have watched religion change radically over the years. From just a few congregations walking their talk to hundreds of them now actually following the teachings of Jesus. It is a very good sign for our world. Religious people are refocusing their efforts to helping others. Hooray and Amen. I may actually feel comfortable going to church again some day.
Certainly there are religious organizations who do good work with the best ideals of the Bible at heart. My mother’s church does tons of this kind of stuff. For instance they run a large tutoring program for children from the inner city of Chicago. They have been at it for many years, they accept tutors from anywhere (i.e. not only their members but anyone who is interested) and they do zero proselytizing. Basically they organize it, bus the kids in and grant use of the church basement. No one pays so much as a dime for the thing either. Church underwrites it all.
As noted though not all such organizations are as altruistic and not always easy to figure out which ones are which.
If you’re a Christian, you’re pretty much guaranteed to not be doing what Jesus said to do. I can’t think of anyone that would take “do not resist an evil man” at face value, except maybe the Jehova’s Witnesses. All the Christians get in a big pissing match over who among them is or is not ACTUALLY following Christ’s teachings, but they’re all the first people in line for the next war, and they’re the first ones to vote down government aid programs, and they’re the first ones to make judgments about each other and everyone else. Hypocrites.
Good article. Thanks for sharing it. I’ve known for years that there were many good and generous believers out there giving their time talents and money for good causes. We’ve even discussed the statistic here on the boards that believers tend to give more to charity.
This article drives it home even more. That said, keep in mind we don’t criticize evangelicals for their charity or even for believing things that can’t be proven one way or the other. {most of us anyway}
The criticism is mainly for making moral judgments based on religious beliefs while ignoring the facts and then working hard to make them the law. When those laws harm others for the sake of supporting religious beliefs people get pissed and fight back. That’s as it should be.
The second level of criticism is for embracing myths even to the point of denying scientific fact and then teaching that nasty habit to another generation.
{the whole Texas history altering thing}