So what's your view of charity? Would you subscribe to giving anyway, anyhow, any opportunity, ie when you see someone begging or destitute sleeping in the street? Or would you subscribe to a much more organised, discriminating form of charitable giving such as through church collections, aid organisations or research foundations? Or perhaps you dont subscribe to either and believe they are both wrongful, if so why?
I appreciate there could be many, many more reasons for not giving to charity than for giving to charity, I've heard a quote from St Augustine describing charity as no substitute for justice withheld, the idea of charity organisation societies, parish committees of guardians, the poor law, all the precursors to the modern welfare state were instituted with a view to enforcing principles of less eligibility, prohibiting indiscriminate giving on the part of those with means to those without who could be considered the "undeserving" poor, ie swindlers, conartists, idolent vagrants. Although that thinking is not necessarily against charity, it is definitely against indiscriminate charity, of which some right wing pundits would categorise modern day benefits.
(most of the narratives demonising vagrancy between parishes and counties in england resemble strongly those of today against immigrants, particularly economic migrants, suspected of "welfare tourism" to more generous welfare regimes, or at least towards those with greater "means" to support them).
Of the people I know who strongly object to charitable giving, there are those who I know who would instead support a kind of "fraternal giving", ie they would support family and friends, sometimes the family of friends, or those individual cases they are able to appraise directly themselves through being acquainted with them.
I also appreciate that there are many different sorts of giving labelled charitable, for instance charities which focus upon research are different to those aiming at some sort of poverty relief, the views about the goal could effect whether or not it is considered worthwhile supporting. Obviously.
What are your views? Would you plan to leave money to any charity in a will if you could?
I appreciate there could be many, many more reasons for not giving to charity than for giving to charity, I've heard a quote from St Augustine describing charity as no substitute for justice withheld, the idea of charity organisation societies, parish committees of guardians, the poor law, all the precursors to the modern welfare state were instituted with a view to enforcing principles of less eligibility, prohibiting indiscriminate giving on the part of those with means to those without who could be considered the "undeserving" poor, ie swindlers, conartists, idolent vagrants. Although that thinking is not necessarily against charity, it is definitely against indiscriminate charity, of which some right wing pundits would categorise modern day benefits.
(most of the narratives demonising vagrancy between parishes and counties in england resemble strongly those of today against immigrants, particularly economic migrants, suspected of "welfare tourism" to more generous welfare regimes, or at least towards those with greater "means" to support them).
Of the people I know who strongly object to charitable giving, there are those who I know who would instead support a kind of "fraternal giving", ie they would support family and friends, sometimes the family of friends, or those individual cases they are able to appraise directly themselves through being acquainted with them.
I also appreciate that there are many different sorts of giving labelled charitable, for instance charities which focus upon research are different to those aiming at some sort of poverty relief, the views about the goal could effect whether or not it is considered worthwhile supporting. Obviously.
What are your views? Would you plan to leave money to any charity in a will if you could?
