Tuesday, December 16, 2003

Charitable Mansion

As a boy, growing up in the church, I was constantly reminded about the need of others less fortunate than I.  I was reminded to give, because my rewards were not on earth but heavenly.  This is not necessarily a bad thing.  As I grew older, and less dependent on others thinking for me, I looked around the world at organized religions and charities and became aware of the vast riches these organizations were accumulating here on earth.  Even at the age of twelve, living in Wisconsin, this seemed, to me, incongruous with what I had been taught.  But at the age of twelve, I was more interested in riding dirt bikes or sledding the fire trails of northern Wisconsin to allow this conundrum to really bother me.

Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with accumulating wealth.  I love having a pocket full of cash I’ve earned.  Buying what I want, when I want, or stashing it away to spend in times when I don’t feel like working.  But today, I find the incongruency of churches’ and charities’ accumulating wealth, mansions and other bric-a-brac even more troubling than when I was twelve.

Why do I bring this up?  Because of this article about the Salvation Army in the LA Times. This is a prime example of a charity gone south.  Churches and charities do provide many benefits to the poor and downtrodden.  It’s just unfortunate that as they gather in the alms, beseeching us to give til it hurts, they line their pockets first.  It’s a classic case of do as I say not as I do.

Linked via The Obscure Store.

Posted by John Venlet on 12/16 at 04:47 AM
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