Good lord. Why do I do this?
Sep. 3rd, 2005 10:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
velvetpageA person in the ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
canpolitik forum posted a comment about how they would never donate to the Salvation Army because of their anti-gay stuff. My response was basically, fine, that's your choice, but since I've never seen that for myself I'm going to go with my choice. She accused me of operating in an ethical vaccuum by donating to a discriminatory organization, told me I could call on my sky-fairies all I liked (???) and stated that religious organizations had no place in this crisis.
Okay, let me see here.
1) An ethical vaccuum exists because the organization I donate to happens to disagree with her on a point she considers fundamental. So the only people who should be represented in aid organizations are those whose beliefs exactly match, not mine, but hers. I'm starting to have issues at this point.
2) I did not insult her in any way. In fact, I was downright friendly. There was no call for her to insult me. In doing so, she did exactly what![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
purplekat rightly accused Christians of doing all to often, ignoring my beliefs to push her own. Except that she didn't do it in love.
3) New Orleans is in the South. Many of the people who are left behind there are black. It would not surprise me at all to know that many, perhaps even a majority of them, are Christian. Of a certainty, there are some Christians trapped in that city. Well, how many of those people will spot a Salvation Army uniform and seek spiritual aid as well as physical? And who is this woman to deny them that aid? It takes all kinds to make a world, and anyone with love in their hearts and a helping hand to lend should be welcome there. There will be some who will want the spiritual succor of the chance to pray with someone in uniform. In a few months, the Salvation Army's magazine will be full of such stories from the disaster relief centres. She doesn't have the right to force her secularism on the rest of the world, any more than I have the right to force my Christianity. What she is trying to do is at least as bad as Christians trying to convert everyone they help, and frankly, I think it's worse. At least the Christians are acting out of a (slightly misplaced) sense of love and duty. She's just acting out of bitterness and political correctness.
I said much of this to her. I just can't leave well enough alone, can I? Who knows, though - she may actually realize I'm right. It's happened before.
canpolitik forum posted a comment about how they would never donate to the Salvation Army because of their anti-gay stuff. My response was basically, fine, that's your choice, but since I've never seen that for myself I'm going to go with my choice. She accused me of operating in an ethical vaccuum by donating to a discriminatory organization, told me I could call on my sky-fairies all I liked (???) and stated that religious organizations had no place in this crisis.Okay, let me see here.
1) An ethical vaccuum exists because the organization I donate to happens to disagree with her on a point she considers fundamental. So the only people who should be represented in aid organizations are those whose beliefs exactly match, not mine, but hers. I'm starting to have issues at this point.
2) I did not insult her in any way. In fact, I was downright friendly. There was no call for her to insult me. In doing so, she did exactly what
purplekat rightly accused Christians of doing all to often, ignoring my beliefs to push her own. Except that she didn't do it in love.3) New Orleans is in the South. Many of the people who are left behind there are black. It would not surprise me at all to know that many, perhaps even a majority of them, are Christian. Of a certainty, there are some Christians trapped in that city. Well, how many of those people will spot a Salvation Army uniform and seek spiritual aid as well as physical? And who is this woman to deny them that aid? It takes all kinds to make a world, and anyone with love in their hearts and a helping hand to lend should be welcome there. There will be some who will want the spiritual succor of the chance to pray with someone in uniform. In a few months, the Salvation Army's magazine will be full of such stories from the disaster relief centres. She doesn't have the right to force her secularism on the rest of the world, any more than I have the right to force my Christianity. What she is trying to do is at least as bad as Christians trying to convert everyone they help, and frankly, I think it's worse. At least the Christians are acting out of a (slightly misplaced) sense of love and duty. She's just acting out of bitterness and political correctness.
I said much of this to her. I just can't leave well enough alone, can I? Who knows, though - she may actually realize I'm right. It's happened before.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-09-04 03:46 am (UTC)Given the scope of things, I don't think it's pragmatic to bar anyone from helping, or to disapprove of anyone contributing money to any of the organizations in there. Yeah, I have a lot of bones to pick with people but right now the idea of saying no to anyone, that's the way the Bush Administration works. That's what the bad guys do, not the heros.