Let me give an instance. Nowadays, people think that charity is taking items such as food, cash or even clothes to the streets of their communities to share to people and post online. In as much as it does meet the needs of the recipients, and some do it mainly for the good of it, others do it just for show. Some can even script the whole process from when they'll leave their houses with cameras already following them, get in their cars, and pretend that they are helping one stranger. There are several cases of that online.
I understand that NGOs need to keep records of their acts of charity for the sake of funders and investors, the sight of it still does shape how perceive charity.
Now, from a religious point of view, charity done isn't supposed to be heared about publicly, except of course, someone felt the need to let the world know what's going on, for the benefit of those that might need the benevolence.
In as much as I will always advocate for the widespread of the acts of charity (I believe it's one of the ways to heal the world), we should strive to do it with understanding. Not just because we see people doing it online (even if it is good influence), but because we understand the effect, and because we genuinely want to do it for the good if the society at large.
Another point I would like to make about this topic is that because of what people see online, they believe charity must be large scale or expensive. That is not true. Charity is simply giving. Giving those things that you know can make someone's life a little more bearable, especially a total stranger. We can give transport money to a kid we see walking to a far distance school. We can buy a single meal for someone who obviously cannot afford it. We can give out good clothes, not turn it worn out ones, to those we see going naked. There are several things we can really do to show charity to those around us, no matter how insignificant it might seem to us.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. See you soon. 馃
