Comments on: Cultural Compassion

By: Matt Keegan

Matt Keegan — Sat, 17 May 2008 22:29:54 +0000

I’m thinking that the close proximity in given numbers stems from our religious heritage as nation founded on godly principles. That being said, we can always do more, so thank you for the motivation as I plan on doing likewise.

By: Amber Van Schooneveld

Amber Van Schooneveld — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:04:00 +0000

Andrew, It’s funny you should bring up ice cream. I’m an ice cream fanatic and I ate 5 (yes, count them, 5) scoops this weekend. Not all at once, mind you.

It makes me wonder what sacrifices I could make (like maybe eating only 3 scoops) to instead bless others, as Tim says above, to give someone else an ice cream sandwich.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:11:02 +0000

@Stevi
That’s a great point - remember the widow’s mite.

@Andrew
I’m sure the numbers for America are just as bad.

By: Andrew Z.

Andrew Z. — Tue, 13 May 2008 23:32:11 +0000

Sorry. We aren’t doing enough, and I definitely include myself. I probably spend more on ice cream than on compassionate causes.

“Europeans spend $11 billion a year on ice cream–$2 billion more than the estimated annual total needed to provide clean water and safe sewers for the world’s population.” (1998)

I assume Americans spend similarly as Europeans.

I can’t remember where I heard this or a similar statistic, but I re-found it here

By: Ian Durias

Ian Durias — Tue, 13 May 2008 23:27:04 +0000

Thanks for sharing this, Amber.

About your question, “Is my compassion just a result of my do-gooder culture?” From my own experience, I can re-word the question this way:

“Is my compassion just a result of my desire to clean out my garage? Or is my compassion a radical outpouring of following Jesus, knowing him, and becoming like him?”

Does that make sense?

From a temporal standpoint, I’m fine if someone chooses either because someone gets helped. But because we want to walk as Christ did, and because we want to BE compassionate and not just DO compassion…

By: jason

jason — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:56:40 +0000

very challenging numbers and post!

By: Stevi

Stevi — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:27:14 +0000

I think maybe the real difference between Christians and non-Christians when it comes to helping the poor is motivation. I think the Pharisees of Jesus’ day were quite charitable, but their motivation was off-base. Christians, hopefully, give out of love and to bring glory to God and to introduce people to the generosity and compassion of their Heavenly Father.