@kennethamy,
kennethamy;108492 wrote:But why not? Suppose the beggar us starving to death, and what you give him enables him to live. Wouldn't that be a good thing to do even if your intention was to impress your girlfriend?
Good is a moral choice...You may not like tornadoes or floods, but while we suffer their effect we do not call them evil, but accident, something that happens... We do not do good by accident...We do good by volition being careful to not do harm...Do you want to be an act of fate, or fortune or nature??? Don't you want to prove yourself moral with moral acts??? Don't you want to prove you have a will, and that your actions are not determined like a force of nature???.. Don't you want to relate, to find you are human, recognized for your virtue, not for charity, but for your common humanity recognizing humanity???Perhaps the most difficult thing for most people is not doing without spare change, but is dealing with being wished away... Well; don't wish them away... Talk to them... Look them in the eye... Wish them well; and if you have the courage ask for their forgiveness for having so much and sharing so little...
If you are looking to impress some one you can find plenty of people to take your money...We tend to look at rich and poor as both deserving...Perhaps each may deserve their condition, but what is that??? If a person goes swimming in a flood, and finds he cannot reach the shore, does it matter that stupidity made him, or would you throw him a rope???There is a line from Dylan which I presume a take off from Mark: Before you can heal the sick you must first forgive them... Well; we all need forgiveness...I need forgiveness for having more than I need without sharing, and I need forgiveness for letting my neighbors wounds go unattended... There but for the grace of God goes any one of us.. I will never give any one any thing coupled with rejection...Give freely so you can have true wealth....And always consider your actions...If you are giving to curb the poor man's pain, don't give him enough for a lethal dose...