on_giving Dafremen A man once said to me: "I believe one should give to worthy causes. Don't waste your generosity on people who don't deserve it." I disagree. I mean, am I giving, or am I buying the right to judge another human's worthiness or lack thereof? One thing's for sure; I wasn't born with that right, so if I've got it then I took it and let that be payment in full for whatever we give to our "worthy" causes. A small fee rendered unto creation for the privilege of wielding god-like power to bestow or deny at whim? see also: RECEIVE 020713 ... Dafremen A man once said to me: "No, I'm going to give to the worthy. It's my money and I've earned the right to spend it wisely." I say why give at ALL if the idea is to spend it wisely? That's a purchase, not a gift. You SPEND when you buy something, when you GIVE you expect NOTHING in return, not even the right to pick and choose among the needy. Scatter the crumbs where they fall lest the "worthy" get fat and lazy from having them piled on their plates. Let the worthy and unworthy alike be beneficiaries of what I give. 020713 ... i guess so does that mean you'd give money to, say, a terrorist organization because you don't think it's right to judge its worthiness? charity is dispensed discerningly because it makes sense to do so. after all, one's charitable resources aren't unlimited. so by necessity, one has to choose the recipients of his/her charity based on subjective criteria which may include "worthiness" 020714 ... Dafremen You are the second man and the first man. Your "CHARITABLE assets" are whatever you have on hand to give at any time...not some limited amount, but a neverending stream of finite amounts, come to you at different times in your life until the day you die. Decide for yourself whether the man is worthy who comes to you and asks for something from you, that is your reward for having given...I will decide simple whether or not I have an "charitable assets" on hand to give. I doubt that food given to an unknown Arab would hurt the war effort any. 020714 ... i guess being universally charitable is usually harmless, but there are certain instances when it's just patently wrong to give to the undeserving. would you give money to a politician whose policies you disagreed with? i doubt it. being non-judgemental in one's charity is nice, but it doesn't *always* make sense 020714 ... Dafremen Sense by WHOSE definition of the word? Charity is charity...social engineering is something else entirely. 020721 ... i guess by YOUR definition. that is, your personal, intuitive, completely subjective defintion of "making sense." charity IS charity, but in certain instances it doesn't make sense (to the individual), and i see nothing wrong with that. let me think of another extreme example... okay, if i came home to find my wife murdered and her killer seriously wounded, i wouldn't show the killer any charity. i might be in a position to show charity, but to me, it wouldn't make sense to do so. i guess i could say that it wouldn't seem "right," but that might only bring up more semantic difficulties. i suppose if you want to reason that "charity" is something completely divorced from practical matters of personal involvement--that not only does one have unlimited charitable resources but that giving will never be at odds with one's own personal interests--then i suppose universal charity is possible. but it's more of a qualified, theoretical universal charity, and doesn't invalidate the positions put forth by those guys you quoted. ultimately, it seems right (personally, subjectively, intuitively) to give without judging, but there are exceptions. 020721 ... Dafremen One of the most charitable donations that I have ever seen is the forgiveness offered by a grieving mother to the man who killed her child. 030627 what's it to you? who go blather from