Charity - Whose Responsibility Is It?

I'm going to preface this... If you don't wanna argue politics, skip the details. If you do, keep your response comments clean enough small children can read it & not ask questions. Cheers!


Who do you give to? How much? How often? I'm a regular giver, but at church mostly. If there's a toy drive, or a food drive, or a physical "giving" campaign, I try to participate. When Hurricane Ike blew in, I organized a gift card drive at work, and participated.

All that being said, I get bent out of shape sideways when I see begging. Begging on street corners, begging in restaurants, begging in grocery store parking lots. Begging on the internet, too. I reguarly see folks that, while not Bill Gates or Oprah, aren't suffering; however, because they don't have the nicest house on the block, or the means to have high speed internet, satellite cable with premium movies, or the latest Blackberry cell phone, beg. It burns my bum! I hate seeing people begging! I hate it more when they beg on the internet - behind this wireless curtain where, I can't see if they physically need what they say they need. "I'm starving and might be stuck living on the street, so please feel bad for me." I can't do it! How do I know you're bad off? How do I know for sure you're not sitting on vacation in a nicer house than my double-wide, lapping up cable-speed internet, surfing the web all day roving for sympathy?

It's not the government's responsibility to provide charity-care for those able to work. It might not be a fun job, it might not be a high-paying job... But if you can physically think for yourself, there's work to be had. I'll admit, it ain't gonna pay for high speed cable & internet... but it will keep beans & rice on the table and the heat on low. If you need help, seriously need assistance, get your rump to a church, and get involved. If you've got the calories to beg on the internet, there's certainly some calories there that can be burned entering data in the church computer, or visiting the shut-ins in a nursing home.

This concludes my rant of the season... I usually get one neat God-driven opportunity to help someone every Christmas. It's a tradition I picked up from my mom, and I've done it every year since I've had a full-time job. See the next post.. If I've offended, or caused you pain, I am sorry. I am entitled to my opinion.

You know what they say about opinions? They're like armpits - Everybody's got at least two, and usually, one stinks. Cheers all.