Recently my wife and I had to get rid of some old furniture from our daughters room after doing a little holiday remodeling. The furniture sat in our dining room for a few days while we tried to find a place that helped the needy that was also secular. Easier said than done.
In Gastonia, NC, I am convinced that the only secular place in the area is my house. There are a few places around that help the needy, but they are all religiously oriented. I can't justify driving 30 miles to Charlotte just to drop two car loads of good off. The price of gas and the environmental impact of unnecessary driving is reason enough.
After checking a few of the local places out, I found one place that gives goods to needy families and the only way you can tell that the place is religiously oriented is the name and the Bible verse that is scrawled on the back wall in a sad, lazy fashion. No one proselytizes or asks you where you go to church. All they seem to care about is helping other people.
Would any of you give anything to a religiously oriented charity organization if it was either that or the trash? I am sure that some people would rather throw the furniture away than to let a Christian group dole it out, but I would rather someone get some use out of the stuff that could use it. What would you do?
In the end if the furniture, clothes or whatever ends up with someone who needs it who cares how it got there? I look at it from this perspective. Organizations like Salvation Army may have deep religious roots but they aren't starting wars, killing, or lynching gays. They're just offering decent 'hand me down' things to people who need it. Is that really all that bad? I don't think so. That's just me though.
ReplyDeleteI feel that as long as the items are going to someone that needs them, it's a benifit to everyone. I get to feel good that I am not wasting items someone else could use and often those items are given either for free or at a low cost to a needy family.
ReplyDeleteI guess it wouldn't matter to me, as long as they did not profit off of the donations. If it's truly charitable then who cares. I was going to donate some items to a woman I knew who needed it. Then she posted a rant to my facebook about how I'm unhappy because I need to accept Jesus Christ into my heart. All I thought was A.) if you knew me you'd know I am very happy. B.) If that is true, why is she so miserable? C.) Jesus isn't paying her medical bills, or saving her father from dying slowly and painfully of cancer.
ReplyDeleteShe bitches about everything. Then when I offer help, she is willing to accept but must inform me I'm not allowed to be happy and godless. Fine, by me lady. You can be miserable with Jesus and I'll be happy without invisible friends. My friends are of flesh and blood, I know this because I beat them up regularly. People knowing I'm atheist, doesn't seem to stop them from accepting money, food, clothing, or household items. It does however stop them from loving and accepting me even though I'm different from them. Hmmm maybe this should be a blog ;-)