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I thought that Christianity was a big part of the U.S. - isn't charity and helping others quite a big part of that religion?

krapp 3y ago
It is, but there are plenty of parts of Christianity that Americans tend to forsake, like the part about forgiving debts (see the recent debates over student loan forgiveness) or turning swords into plowshares (see the entire history of the US.) Americans will give a thousand dollars to a charitable organization for the tax write-off but not a dime to the homeless vet on the streetcorner, because "he'll probably just use it for drugs." Americans took a religion whose prophet said "it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven" and created the prosperity gospel, which claimed that wealth was instead a sign of God loving you more. If America were truly a Christian nation it would be far too "socialist" for many Americans to stomach.
NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
The trouble with the charitable mission of Christian churches and ecclesial communities is that they've been largely supplanted by entitlement programs. Many people in these United States felt significant shame if they needed to rely on charity for their basic needs, and so the State deemed it expedient to pick up the slack by using taxpayer money to provide for them instead. As a result, fewer and fewer modern Americans see any need to donate or support faith-based charities. Why should we, when the government is doing all the heavy lifting? Christian charities are practically redundant now. Of course, we are seeing some things come full-circle, as the government supports faith-based charities with subsidies, in order to reduce the size and burden of actual government-run programs and put them back into the hands of entities which have capably run them for thousands of years. Also, you've got to differentiate between the goals and mission of a State-based entitlement vs. the goals and mission of a faith-based charity. They're worlds apart.

krapp 3y ago

It is, but there are plenty of parts of Christianity that Americans tend to forsake, like the part about forgiving debts (see the recent debates over student loan forgiveness) or turning swords into plowshares (see the entire history of the US.) Americans will give a thousand dollars to a charitable organization for the tax write-off but not a dime to the homeless vet on the streetcorner, because "he'll probably just use it for drugs." Americans took a religion whose prophet said "it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven" and created the prosperity gospel, which claimed that wealth was instead a sign of God loving you more. If America were truly a Christian nation it would be far too "socialist" for many Americans to stomach.

NoZebra120vClip 3y ago

The trouble with the charitable mission of Christian churches and ecclesial communities is that they've been largely supplanted by entitlement programs. Many people in these United States felt significant shame if they needed to rely on charity for their basic needs, and so the State deemed it expedient to pick up the slack by using taxpayer money to provide for them instead. As a result, fewer and fewer modern Americans see any need to donate or support faith-based charities. Why should we, when the government is doing all the heavy lifting? Christian charities are practically redundant now. Of course, we are seeing some things come full-circle, as the government supports faith-based charities with subsidies, in order to reduce the size and burden of actual government-run programs and put them back into the hands of entities which have capably run them for thousands of years. Also, you've got to differentiate between the goals and mission of a State-based entitlement vs. the goals and mission of a faith-based charity. They're worlds apart.