Subject:
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Re: Fixing the world (was Re: Ldraw cannon
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Wed, 2 Dec 1998 04:18:21 GMT
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Reply-To:
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robdye@writeme.AVOIDSPAMcom
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Viewed:
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1670 times
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Larry Pieniazek wrote:
(HEAVILY snipped, but hopefully without changing meaning or intent)
>
> If you donate money of your own free will, to a cause that you believe
> is worthy, because it helps people that deserve to be helped, is it a
> sacrifice?
What if you gave so much money that you couldn't buy a Lego
> set you dearly wanted to get?
>
> I have given 5 gallons of blood so far in my lifetime. Sometimes I
> fainted while I was doing it. Sometimes I had to miss work without pay
> to do it. Was that a sacrifice? Why or why not?
>
> The answer in all cases is no. No sacrifice.
Okay, now you've lost me. I would have said that this giving of blood,
even knowing that it might cause you to miss work and lose income, would
count as a sacrifice. In fact, I used the example of giving blood in a
homily once, to make just this point.
In the homily, I admitted that for me to give blood was not really a
sacrifice. I might feel a little tired afterward, and maybe miss a TV
program if I went to bed early, but giving blood was not really a
sacrifice, in my case.
BUT...then I used an example of a five-year-old who was asked to give
blood for a transfusion to help save the life of his sister. After the
bood was taken, the boy asked, "So, when do I die?" He had the idea
that blood was like batteries, and that since his toy car quit working
when the batteries were removed, he would soon cease to work as well.
In this case, he had been willing to give all that he was for his
sister. (OK, not a great example, because is a child REALLY capable of
understanding what this complete self-giving would entail?) This, I
said, was at the heart of sacrificial giving, as it required that it
COST us something personally.
>
> In particular, think about your motives for giving.
Do you give because
> the recepient is a good person who had some bad luck and probably would
> bounce back anyway,
or do you give because you feel guilty that you have
> more than they do?
Do you give because the person is virtuous,
or
> because the person is wicked?
Do the motives matter here as to whether it is sacrificial, or is the
heart of the matter the knowledge that it will cost us something? I see
that if I give to charity only because I believe that God will give me
more in return (the local fundie notion of giving), then this is not
sacrificial; it's an investment. It may or may not pan out. You could
even call it gambling if you want. You give because of the hoped for
payoff. So it's not really seen as costing me anything "in the long
run."
But if I recognize it as a legitimate, practically (or potentially)
guaranteed loss, why does it matter what my motives are?
> > It's only a sacrifice to give when you
> know that helping is morally wrong.
Huh!?! Here you really lost me! I can't say if I agree with you, as I
cannopt figure out what you mean.
> It's only a sacrifice when the gift
> won't be valued by the recepient.
Double-huh!?!
Woudl you care to clarify?
Rob
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Message has 1 Reply:
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Fixing the world (was Re: Ldraw cannon
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| <366DDFEB.DF57435D@c...OSPAM.com> <slrn76s42j.1so.cjc@...S.UTK.EDU> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit (...) If you donate money of your own free will, to a cause that you believe is worthy, because it helps (...) (25 years ago, 9-Dec-98, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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