I haven’t donated to the Haitian relief effort for the same reason that I don’t give money to homeless men on the street. Based on past experiences, I don’t think the guy with the sign that reads “Need You’re Help” is going to do anything constructive with the dollar I might give him. If I use history as my guide, I don’t think the people of Haiti will do much with my money either.
In this belief I am, evidently, alone. It seems that everyone has jumped on the “Save Haiti” bandwagon. To question the impulse to donate, then, will probably be viewed as analogous with rooting for Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, or the Spice Girls.
My wariness has much to do with the fact that the sympathy deployed to Haiti has been done so unconditionally. Very few have said, written, or even intimated the slightest admonishment of Haiti, the country, for putting itself into a position where so many would be killed by an earthquake.
h/t SDH, who states the commentary cost him his job at espn.com.
Update: For some of our readers, this cold splash of reality.
Medecines Sans Frontieres (MSF).
Yep them’s the good guys….Sally Ann too…
When Halifax blew up on Dec 6, 1917…..the first responders were the Yanks—literally…the people of Boston. They sent doctors, nurses, and medical supplies by ship PDQ….which arrived before the first relief train from TROC.
That said…ET is largely correct. The french speaking elite are the ones who have settled here, in the USA and Europe. More Haitian doctors are in the US that doctors period in Haiti.
Canada’s Governor General is a shinning example of the Haitian brain-drain.
Haiti really needs to be subject to some sort of Trustee-ship…NOT THE UN!
A combined administration by the US Marines and the French Foreign Legion would work well.
NGO’s are generally leftist kleptocracies.
Disaster or normal…..aid/rescue agencies/workers ALWAYS NEED PROTECTION from their clients….Haiti, Sierra Leone or New Orleans…..
There are no reports of looting etc after the Halifax BOOM….musta been the times…or the people….
I already have made a name for myself.
I’ve written a bunch of books, my blog is read by thousands of people a day, around the world — including on Parliament Hill and by influential people whose names you’d be shocked to learn.
It’s funny how jealous, petty and cowardly male lefties are always so envious of my success, all the while posting their bitter little rants _anonymously_ — then wondering why they aren’t famous yet, too! boo hoo.
Atric posted. I also believe Christ said ” The Lord helps those who help themselves”. Although I can understand why you think Jesus said this – he did not. It is widely used, yet few verify the source – Jesus
As a matter of fact this oft used excuse to ignore the needs of our fellow man, is not found anywhere in the entire bible.
Teachable moment time.
“How many times have we heard the familiar passage “God helps those who help themselves?” We hear it quite frequently, don’t we? In order to fully understand that passage let us turn to it. You all know where it is located don’t you? Maybe it is in the book of Hezekiah or possibly Phillips 66:1. No, that’s not right. Look as we may we won’t find that passage in the Bible. Although often quoted and stated this phrase doesn’t come from the Bible nor is it even Biblical in origin.
In fact this quotation has come down to us from GREEK MYTHOLOGY! Specifically it comes to us from one of Aesop’s fables, of the 6th century B.C. Let’s read this fable entitled “Hercules and the Waggoner.” “A Waggoner was once driving a heavy load along a very muddy way. At last he came to a part of the road where the wheels sank half-way into the mire, and the more the horses pulled, the deeper sank the wheels. So the Waggoner threw down his whip, and knelt down and prayed to Hercules the Strong.”
‘O Hercules, help me in this my hour of distress,’ quoth he. But Hercules appeared to him, and said: ‘Tut, man, don’t sprawl there. Get up and put your shoulder to the wheel.’
The gods help them that help themselves.”
The saying “the gods help those that help themselves” evolved to “God helps those who help themselves” as the phrase was repeated and passed on from culture to culture throughout the centuries. And, Christians, as well as others, often quote this phrase thinking it is Biblically based, without realizing that it actually originated from pagan mythology.
But, you may say, isn’t it still true? Doesn’t God expect us to work as hard if we were doing it all and yet expect Him to work things out for us? That is what most of us have been taught BUT that isn’t the teaching from Scripture.
http://home.earthlink.net/~gdpifer/God_Helps_Those_Who_Help_Themsleves.html
“Oft and “Tut”? OMIGOD! are you on the right blog?
Kathy, I am one of the millions of readers of your blog. I have not ever felt jealous. I do not know who you were directing you comment at, yet I feel compelled to let you know that I thought your response was unnecessary and came across as being adolescent. Not everyone who has an opinion is out for fame. How many readers you have is no indication of how correct you may or may not be – it is entirely possible your blog may be read for pure amusement. Pride comes b4 a fall. P.S. I like your blog site.
Haiti, like much of Africa, is an incurable basket case. I’m already donating involuntarily through my tax dollars being confiscated by the corrupt Canadian government and dumped into those corrupt cesspools.
Why should I give any more, when I can see with my own eyes that what has been taken from me against my will is doing jackshit to improve anything?
I donate through Kiva to change things. Loans, not welfare. I’m more than willing to help people work to better themselves. I am not willing to feed NGO bureaucracies and corrupt regimes.
Haiti, like much of Africa, is an incurable basket case. I’m already donating involuntarily through my tax dollars being confiscated by the corrupt Canadian government and dumped into those corrupt cesspools.
Why should I give any more, when I can see with my own eyes that what has been taken from me against my will is doing jacksh*t to improve anything?
I donate through Kiva to change things. Loans, not welfare. I’m more than willing to help people work to better themselves. I am not willing to feed NGO bureaucracies and corrupt regimes.
Oz:
‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
‘Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.’
Like Kate and the rest of the posters here, you are opposed to these principles of Christ.
Why not just admit it?
Bertrand Russell was a pompous ass. Galbraith was an intellectual lightweight.
They were both “progressives” and thus were biased against anyone who thought people should be independent and accountable.
I posted a link to ESPN’s statement about Shirley earlier today, but it doesn’t look like it went through.
Speaking for myself Christ and principals
are not synonymous.
Anyway, to get back on topic, the ESPN dude has a right to his opinion without getting fired from his job.
Kate;
I’m starting to see a real parallel between Hatians and our own natives. What with the corrupt leadership and the average person with his hand out, unwilling and unable to change. How can we stop this?
Kate;
I’m starting to see a real parallel between Hatians and our own natives. What with the corrupt leadership and the average person with his hand out, unwilling and unable to change. How can we stop this?
Steve
You have just moved to the head of the class!
The Red Cross, following the “Tainted Blood Scandal” lost the blood biz and as they had so much money, they got into the disaster relief biz.
The Sally Ann have always been doing this work and when there is a disaster, they just up the mouths that they feed. Money going to the Sally Ann is without doubt the best place to spend it. They were feeding over 100,000+ people a day in Haiti BEFORE the earthquake.
Pat
Teachable moment time.
~?24u&i
Apart from teaching people who don’t know scripture what the Bible doesn’t say, maybe you could teach those of us who do know scripture where it says that believers should give to pagans who have rejected the Biblical God?
I know there are no such scriptures.
2 CORINTHIANS Chapter 6
12 Ye are not *straitened in us(*aligned with us-ed.), but ye are straitened in your own *bowels.(*feelings-ed.)
13 Now for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also *enlarged.(*to grow intellectually-ed.)
14 Be ye not unequally YOKED together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
It might be germane to the thread arguments saying that religion compels giving.
I disagree if the religion in question is Christianity or Judaism.
From what I’ve read, Paul Shirely doesn’t appeal to any religious argument at all.
marquis,
They, Haitians, aren’t my brother or Christ’s brothers either.
Out of ignorance, you take scripture out of context.
JOHN Chapter 8
44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
The idea that all men are brothers is NOT a Christian principle.
Unbelievers are the children of Chaos, whom the ancestors of the Haitian people appealed to to free them from the French.
Jesus consistently shows us the difference between the wheat(Children of God) and the tares(Children of Chaos).
MATTHEW Chapter 15
26 But *he(*Jesus-ed.) answered and said, It is not *meet)*proper-ed.) to take the *children’s bread(*Children of Israel-ed.), and to cast it to dogs.
27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.
28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
The woman of Caan was a believer, she was faithful.
As a Christian principle, it is not proper to cast pearls before swine or give the bread of the Children of God(Christians) or Israel to *dogs.(*unbelievers-ed)
It is wrong for me to give these truths to you, one who shuns the truth as you do, marquis.
I do it for those Christians who may be confused.
Jesus was not concerned with the struggles of this world.
He could have fed all and healed all that He met, but didn’t.
The miracles He did were to demonstrate to those who were waiting for Him that He was the Christ, the Deliverer that God had promised.
His miracles were His bonafides to show that He was sent by God, just as Moses’ miracles were his bonafides to the Children of Israel so that they would follow him out of Egypt.
Jesus didn’t bleed and give His life on the cross to bribe people with material necessities to come to God.
If bribing people to come to God with material necessities was the plan, then Adam and Eve wouldn’t have been turfed out of Eden in the first place.
all Bible quotes are from KJV
I’m not donating, but I’m not going to use the standard excuses about the money being stolen, or the Haitians being in an endless cycle of poverty. I’m not donating because I don’t like Haitians. I really don’t like Haitians. I get physically ill when the GG comes on the tube. Nobody likes Haitians, not even people from other Caribbean nations.
I’ve noticed something funny about people from distant lands, who want/need emergency aid. No matter what language they speak, they always ask for help in English. It may be the only English words they can speak, but they do a great job. Especially if there’s a camera handy. I’m wondering, does foregn aid translate into Arabic, or French, or maybe Ukranian? Probably not.
Steve asks: “How can we stop this?”
Two words, buddy. Tax. Cut.
You think Haiti would be as f-ed as it is without foreign governments (like OURS for example) propping up the goblins that are keeping things f-ed?
You think Indian organized crime would be running the 6 Nations reserve in Caledonia if the LIBERAL government wasn’t keeping it that way? Quite actively I might add, lots of OPP making sure nobody messes with the smoke shacks popping up on other people’s front lawns.
I think not, myself.
Then the likes of marqis de troll, 24 and darrel have the gall to come on here and say we’re bad mean people because our hearts aren’t big like theirs are. Not to mention the ESPN guy gets fired for even broaching the subject, obviously by creeps like the trolls here. Trolls quoting scripture no less, like that’s going to convince.
Come and MAKE me give money, you pansies. You know you want to. You sure vote for guys who make me give more for less every year, don’t ya?
dp, English is the international language of aviation.
Oz
I’m now working under the impression that you are mentally ill, judging by the contents of your last post.
Be that as it may, it’s no excuse for your misrepresentation of Christ’s words, and your assertions that your wilfully misguided ‘interpretations’ are scripturally factual.
You seem to miss the entire point of the woman of Caan incident, as well as the point of the Good Samaritan parable – that in fact, the golden rule as articulated by Christ applies to all people, even those we don’t like or aren’t supposed to like.
I pity you in that you run about about piling up quotations trying to prove the exact opposite of what Christ meant – merely to justify your own vile selfishness. In that, you are like the Pharisees of Christ’s time – a whited sepulcher.
Os: As a Christian principle, it is not proper to cast pearls before swine..
I don’t understand you, Oz. My money is going to Christian ministries on the ground who are helping not only their own Christian communities but those outside their community who are in need.
Would you abandon the Haitian Christians?
Ratt 3.47 Just for kicks and giggles, maybe some of you should google the yearly salary for the top administator for the Salvation Army.
I was raised in the S.A. If you find a rich officer, please point him out to me.
A little more of your googling will show that about 12% is spent on administrative costs.
Funnily enough oz the Christian message is one of change not stasis. As Christ Himself said, “I didn’t come to condemn the world but to save it”. St Paul wrote, “For all have sinned there is none righteous no not one”. Therefore while it makes one feel all self righteous when one disparages another the fact is that Christ came to save that which was lost which includes both you and me and all the Haitians. BTW if you used a more modern translation you might have a better idea of what the Christian Gospel is all about. Last time I read the KJV I discovered that there were 14 words that, while still used, had actually reversed their meaning since the writing of the KJV.
U @4.52
As Christians are fond of saying, “God helps those who help themselves”
That one you will have to prove. Christians, who use the Word of God, know it isn’t in the Bible.
Here’s an answer that might help: It is, in fact, nowhere in Scripture, but was featured in Poor Richard’s Alamack in 1757. Attributed to Benjamin Franklin.
On here, I’m finding a lot of quotations a la Obama who tosses out bits and pieces at will.
Why is it that whenever charities shill for dollars on TV they always show grubby kids in dirty clothes, in a dirty hovel in a dirty neighborhood? A person may be dirt poor, but is that any reason to live in a sh*thole rather than tidy it up? The first step to improving the situation is to take care of what you currently have, not sit around looking sad because life dealt you crappy cards!
On the native issue, I have family that are 1st Nations… one day I suggested to my sister-in-law that “if the country wanted to break the cycle of poverty on the reservations, the best way to do so would be to encourage the young to get a post-secondary education (as per their treaty) and cut off those who didn’t want to…after two or three generations (providing their leadership supported and pushed for this) we would be able to cut off all the funding because if they took advantage of a FREE education they could ALL be doctors, lawyers, politicians, etc. At this point they would no longer be “disadvantaged” and could pay for their own kids to go to university like the rest of us do….People who would be adults when this program started would not be included in any financial changes, but could still participate if they wanted. So in a nutshell, if you’re an adult, you aren’t affected, but you are encouraged to improve yourself… if you’ve just graduated high school, continue your education (paid for by the taxpayer) or you get NOTHING! We do this for a few generations, then we can shut down Indian Affairs because at this point 1st Nations could be running the whole country.” To this proposition she replied “But who would look after us?”
Roseberry @4.18
Haiti over Darfur? Over AIDS sufferers in Africa? Over those who suffer and die daily in Calcutta or other cities?
Christians are already there working. I’ve been supporting Canadian AIDS ministry, and a wonderful Canadian ministry in Calcutta for years.
Plus others.
Don’t sidestep the issue. There’s not a hot spot anywhere that Christians aren’t sending their donations, which are over and above their tithes.
A small denomination in Canada has 15 congregations in Haiti that they assist. More than the total across Canada.
Atric @5.56
I also believe Christ said ” The Lord helps those who help themselves”.
Jesus’ words are in red in many Bibles. If you don’t have one, go to the library or 2nd-hand store and when you get the chapter and verse, be sure to let me know.
“Christians are already there working”. Too true gellen I read an article written by an CBC reporter who became a Christian because as traveled the world crisis spots the first people there to help were Christians. In fact once in Africa his airplane ran into mechanical problems and they were forced to land at an abandoned airstrip. Five minutes after they landed a Christian pastor showed up with a pot of tea!
Oz
I’m now working under the impression that you are mentally ill, judging by the contents of your last post.
~marquis
marquis, I’m working under the impression that you and those who think like you believe that history started on the day you were born.
Be that as it may, the idea that Christians should give to unbelievers or even other Christians on the other side of the world is a new idea which is unsupported by a cursory study of the nearly 2000 years of Christians history.
Yes, the apostle Paul did take up a one time collection for relief of the saints during the siege of Jerusalem by Roman forces but that was a one shot deal, not a principle or some sort of template commended for further reproduction.
It simply wasn’t a principle or practise any more than having female priests or homosexuals in the clergy.
Those things are new ideas that are unsupported by scripture.
Last time I read the KJV I discovered that there were 14 words that, while still used, had actually reversed their meaning since the writing of the KJV.
~Joe
Really, Joe.
Words don’t reverse their meaning, people who don’t know any better bastardize the language.
That’s how you end up with languages like Creole.
(In my lifetime I’ve actually seen the word bad used to mean the word good.)
ISAIAH Chapter 5
20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Think of all those commercials that use the word decadent to mean a good thing but the real meaning of decadent is death oriented, to decay or rot.
When I say a thing, practice, or person is decadent it isn’t a compliment or term of approval or admiration.
It’s a condemnation.
The KJV is the most accurate translation of the Bible in the English language and the only one that has a clear cut reference to the Holy Trinity.
1 JOHN Chapter 5
6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and THESE THREE ARE ONE.
8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
Find that in whichever corrupted version you use, Joe.
It’s unfortunate for you that you can’t comprehend the older English language.
Maybe you should have studied Shakespeare harder in school, or maybe joined a denomination that uses the KJV exclusively.
I have the Interlinear KJV Bible in the original languages; Hebrew, Aramaic, and New Testament Greek too.
Bottom line: Giving to places like Haiti isn’t a Biblical imperative and those who say it is are lying.
Oz
What part of “do yunto others as you would have them do unto you”, which Christ specified was the basis for all the Law, do you not understand?
You simply refuse to grasp the essentiality of Christ’s message.
Your comments about Paul or females or homosexuality have no meaning for me. They merely show you are a Pharisee and that you have scales on your eyes. Christ said nothing regarding females or homosexuals in the clergy – it didn’t concern Him.
In Christ’s words and in Christ’s words only is Christianity.
marquis, too bad for you there weren’t any Christians around when Jesus spoke those words to the Jews.
There weren’t any Christians until the 2nd Chapter of Acts.
Therein lies your problem, you take words out of their context of time and setting, misunderstanding them.
Image how a masochist would act on those words that you just quoted.
Should masochists go around inflicting pain on other people because that is what they would want “done unto themselves”?
I almost went to a concert thursday p.m. at a local venue and it promptly slipped my mind.
then friday I learned it was a hastily organized thing for Haiti relief.
my direct donations to Haiti relief thus far?
0.00
for a number of reasons.
Yes oz words do reverse their meaning. Awful means terrible today. In the time of Shakespeare it meant full of awe. Wherefore art thou does not mean where are you it means Why are you. Thou was the familiar not the formal. You was the formal and not the familial. Oh and by the way Lucifer was not a name of Satan it was a Latin word that meant light bearer. If you think any language doesn’t change over time please do a quick translation of Beowulf for me it was written in English.
Like Phantom, I’ve involuntarily given aid to Haiti through my taxes and it pisses me off. I have a limited amount of money to give to charity and I give money to support those who fight against statism and to preserve freedom. My donations are made with after tax dollars and I don’t get to write off these donations. I help out people when they need it if my financial assistance is going to help them become productive individauls again. The only reason I can see in helping someone who is totally dysfunctional is if they’re family.
People who trot out the pitifull looking emaciated 12 year old urchins don’t seem to be familiar with the concept of “more is different”. I see no problem with helping out a single individual who is injured and that response is automatic in most people even if that person is a junkie with endocarditis who will just start shooting up heroin again with water from a toilet if that is the only source of water they have to mix the heroin with. I’ve done my share of treating such individuals as a resident and went from a point of view where I wouldn’t consider it my role to be judgmental to thinking that the best policy would be hand out free 100% pure heroin and let them overdose in peace. When I work in the hospital I don’t have a choice in terms of whom I treat but such individuals sure as hell aren’t part of my private practice.
The results of a few thousand junkies in Vancouver do have benefits in training physicians as they are walking cornucopias of pathology. This small faction of the Vancouver population has made MRSA one of the most common infections in downtown Vancouver and in the last year I practiced there any painfull boil I saw in a patient was treated as MRSA until proven otherwise. These infections are a direct result of just treating thousands of junkies with endocarditis or serious skin infections with loads of antibiotics every time they come into hospital instead of just letting them drop dead. I won’t get into HIV, that well known Haitian export of the late 1970’s or why home and vehicle breakins are so commonplace in Vancouver.
A few thousand junkies in Vancouver who won’t help themselves have had effects far out of proportion to their numbers; more is different. Now consider the situation of millions of people who are sick but totally unable to help themselves; ie the situation in Haiti. Helping them out is just as futile as treating a sick junkie. All that our assistance has been doing is to allow them to breed and produce even more totally dependant people.
ET is probably right about the power structure in Haiti, but wiping out those 30 families wouldn’t make a bit of difference to how the population lives. Social workers and other groups whose livelyhood depends on the existence of a permanent victim class must be salivating over the employment opportunites available to them if Haiti becomes a protectorate of the US or some other country, but the cost to the US would be enormous. I’m sure that any country which takes over Haiti will be villified as “colonialist” and terrorist attacks will increase.
The only society that comes close to matching Haiti’s pathology is the Gaze strip and it’s no coincidence that it is a victimocracy just like Haiti. Israel’s solution has been to wall it off and bomb the crap out of them if the chaos in the Gaza strip spills beyond its borders. We should do the same thing with Haiti. Those Haitians who are organized and determined enough to build a boat and sail to Florida should be welcomed as those are the ones that are most likely to be able to be part of a modern society. I’m sure I’ll be accused of being heartless for these comments, but I view it as the societal equivalent of triage and I’ll continue to support causes which are not ultimately futile. Those people who are young and idealistic are free to learn their own lessons; just as I couldn’t comprehend doctors who made comments to me as a resident like “WTF are you spending so much time on this useless junkie” until, through experience, I realized why they thought that way.
marquis… you quote srcripture out of context, act all smug and then I’ll bet you turn around and support the murder of the unborn. Oh wait…it’s not murder is it…it’s pro choice. Yeah, that’s it.
Well, this hasn’t been one of SDA’s finer moments.
If your aim here was to convey the message to the lefties that the right doesn’t give damn, you’ve succeeded.
Silence and the sound of crickets would have been a far better reponse to Shirley’s poorly considered remarks.
gellen@12:42 AM
Didn’t think I was “side-stepping” the issue; yes, there are Christians working (and most often doing most of the heavy lifting) in countless crisis situations throughout the world. But no person today can take on every crisis that flashes across his screen, even with tithing and super-tithing. As none of us can give to every deserving cause, it is unseemly to judge people over their support of one group of sufferers rather than another. Where government sends our tax money is a political issue — and many of the arguments made here are political ones — but where you and I distribute our alms is our business alone.
For those who are bashing Christians and others who are talking about what is an acceptable “Christian” response, the parable of the “Good Samaritan” is appropriate:
– buddy was robbed and beaten
– countrymen passed by and left him in his misery
– an “enemy” stopped, took pity on him, cleaned his wounds, took him to an inn and paid for his stay
– BUT THEN THE GOOD SAMARITAN LEFT
The Samaritan didn’t stay with buddy for 30 YEARS…which is how long World Vision has ALREADY been in Haiti…30 YEARS! And Haiti was still a rotting corpse of a nation.
If a drunk gets hit by a car (it was his own fault), we take him to the hospital, nurse him back to health and then release him to take care of himself.
That’s what should be done in Haiti. Yes, the extent of the devestation caused by the earthquake was THEIR fault…they are basically drunken gamblers…but we should go in, tend to their wounds, get them back to their feet…and then let them fend for themselves.
I believe that THIS is what a “good” Christian should do.
THAT type of response doesn’t require a billion dollars. Enough charity has already been raised.
If you want to FIX Haiti, then their government needs to be overthrown and governors need to be installed who are controlled by a democratic nation.
Joe: “I read an article written by an CBC reporter who became a Christian because as traveled the world crisis spots the first people there to help were Christians.”
Joe, I’d love to read that article. Do you know where I can access it — or who the reporter is?
I have a friend, a former war photographer, who on a tour of Uganda at it’s worst, said that the only oasis of sanity he encountered was an orphanage for blind children run by a group of penniless nuns. He hasn’t become a Christian, but he’s totally aware that Christians are the first responders to disasters around the world.
Apparently, after its filming, quite a few of the actors in Zeffereli’s Jesus of Nazareth, including Olivia Hussey who played the part of Mary, converted to Christianity. The Gospel is powerful, the Word of God is powerful and life-changing. It’s too bad so many modern secularists give it such a bum rap, showing only their arrogance and ignorance.
I think JMD’s 1:31p post was an excellent one, and one that I agree with, wholeheartedly. Long-term aid to these corrupt basketcases usually goes awry, and tends to line the pockets of the dictators in charge. Misplaced “caring” of leftrolls like maquis would have this go on ad infinitum without relief, and they would be the ones usually harshly opposed to ousting the corruptoids in charge. That’s why they bleat the most about Iraq, where the citizens are far better off with saddam in a shallow grave, than they ever were when he was alive. Thus, long-term “aid” to these places is of questionable value; look at the $billions thrown at Africa over the last 50 years and whether or not the countries are better off today. Perhaps a few less wasted dollars in that direction and a few more CIA-inspired palace coups would have benefited the poor devils at the bottom in a much better way.
I have a hard time applying “the Lord helps those who help themselves” when I try to apply it to critically injured or orphaned children, however. I can’t quite force myself to look at their misery through a political lens; I find it tends to take the human element out of things. Nor do I have the desire or the scriptural expertise to bring Christ’s teachings into this; yet I have a bit of difficulty in picturing Him strolling through the suffering and miserable in Haiti while tut-tutting that He would do little for them because their government was a corrupt basket case. That takes more than even my semi-practicing Catholic status permits to fathom.
mhb23re
at gmail d0t calm
Roseberry @8.45
Sidestepping or not, the whole “I don’t donate-I do donate” discussion began with the first of Kate’s postings after the event.
Either the first, or one of the first, poster announced he was not giving, and suggested “and none of my household”.
Then the Scrooge mentality took over and we are now still discussing it.
Those of us who give are not judging those who don’t give from their cheque books.
We could do with some equal time, though.
No matter how well-meaning the govt is, their aid will not arrive immediately. The Christian charities with people already on the ground are bringing help as quickly as possible. The devastation has slowed it down to the point of desperation for all.
If you have a 1000 children in your orphanage and the food is gone and you see no hope of any arriving in time, what do you do? Pray and expect manna from Heaven? Or pray that your brothers-in-Christ will arrive before they starve to death?
Each one of us answers this for ourselves.
batb sorry I am lousy with names and this fellow’s name eludes me. However the article was published in the Presbyterian Record I would guess 4 – 5 years ago. Yes the Christian Gospel is extremely powerful and only fools discount it.
Oz
1 John 5: 6-8
Jesus Christ who came by water and blood not with water only, but with water and blood; with the Spirit as another witness- since the Spirit is the truth- so that there are three witnesses, the Spirit the water and the blood, and all three of them agree.
As translated in the Jerusalem Bible which happens to be one of my favorite translations because it challenges my North American biases.
I don’t have any issues with those who send cash through the goodness of their hearts, I worry if the money ends up in the pocket of some dictator.
The Red Cross, following the “Tainted Blood Scandal” lost the blood biz and as they had so much money, they got into the disaster relief biz.
The Sally Ann have always been doing this work and when there is a disaster, they just up the mouths that they feed. Money going to the Sally Ann is without doubt the best place to spend it. They were feeding over 100,000+ people a day in Haiti BEFORE the earthquake.
Pat
Posted by: Pat at January 29, 2010 10:28 PM
Remarkably ignorant post. Red Cross has been in the aid game since its inception. The blood services were fairly unique to Canada and RC took it on, because practically nobody wanted to.
SA made a policy decision about 10 years ago, about the same time as NGOs began to be contracted out by governments and the UN to deliver “social justice”, to become the leading asid agency in the world. They literally started going head to head competitively with the others.
But the bigger story and issue is the money. The population of Haiti is about 10 million souls. To date, substantially more than 1 billion dollars cash has been donated or committed to the relief effort. That is $100,000,000 per Haitian.
That bears repeating: $100,000,000 per Haitian!. More could be done for Haitians by simply giving them the money than by all the containers of crap that will mostly wind up in a landfill because of an inability to distribute.
The first 10 cargo planes that landed in PauP should have been full of bulldozers, not media, recon teams and dignitaries.
There is no further benefit to be gained by further donating. The effort needs to be made to use ALL of the money presently committed.
Like the Obama porkulus plan, the money committed will only circulate amongst those who are in the aid business- only a fraction will get to the ground.
At the end of this, every Haitian should have the cash to start a business, build a swank house, send his kids to university wherever in the world they want, and have a retirement nest egg all of the rest of us could only dream about. If they don’t, every donor needs to ask the question to every government and NGO, “Where did the money go?”
Holy jumpin’ Skip. I hope your better half does the family budget.
1 billion divided by 10 million equals 100. That’s $100 per Haitian.
I’ll admit, that’s not chicken feed, but with other expenses involved, it’s not going to make anyone rich, except the aid brokers, of course.
WOW, “hit a nerve” alright.
Questions for the tender-hearted scolds above:
1. Should Haiti be colonized?
2. Should Paul Shirley have been fired?
“Holy jumpin’ Skip. I hope your better half does the family budget.
1 billion divided by 10 million equals 100. That’s $100 per Haitian.
I’ll admit, that’s not chicken feed, but with other expenses involved, it’s not going to make anyone rich, except the aid brokers, of course. ”
Yipes… 🙁 Certainly looksd like I did disengage there … wow. Even for me, that’s bad 🙂
This is a bit late, as I just now followed this thread.
After reading the vile spew of OZ, and some of the other pecksniffs above, my atheism has been strongly reinforced. Thanks folks, these occasional exposures to insanity are really helpful.
I’m late to comment too.
I’m pleased remarks from some cheap buggers here deriding aid to Haiti are not representative of real Conservatives, including our current government, and people like George W Bush.
As Bush said, it’s heartening that disasters like these can often bring out the best in people. Not here, obviously, but most people.
I don’t know how many posting here have ever experienced a category 7 earthquake. I haven’t, thanks to the fact I was lucky enough to have been born here in Canada. In talking to a couple of people I know who have experienced major quakes, the first question they asked was “how long did it go on for?” When I said I read it lasted more than a minute, they went white.
That kind of earthquake would have caused major damage and significant loss of life in any large populated centre.
If you don’t want to help, then don’t. I wish some wouldn’t justify their own miserable hateful responses by claiming they hold Conservative values. Or Christian ones. Neither could be further from the truth. It’s clearly all about you. Maybe something really bad happened to you in your childhood. Maybe you had lousy parents.
A heartfelt thanks to all who are doing what they can to help.