Giving to Charity
OW SHOULD We progressive folks deal with the conservative begging folks this Christmas? You know, the bell-ringing Salvation Army Santas and Brass Bands out there… Throwing a dollar or a fiver in their bucket can or even might get around to helping the poor. But it will also be used to support the Salvation Army’s other goals like denying gays equal access to be benefits of Marriage in California.
I think it’s important to give to charity – but the right ones. I think it’s important – important, in fact, to your soul – to help the poor in the Kingdom of God. But it is equally important – to your soul – not to oppress others. If you’re willing to shop local and eat vegan and use green electricity and vote progressively, why should you donate to charities laden with retrogressive moralities?
What do do?
Here’s a suggestion:
Step 1) Make a donation to something that actually is progressive – locally or internationally. Examples are:
- Mission Services
- The Millennium Development Goals
- Heifer International
- Episcopal Relief and Development
- Something local to you
Step 2) For every dollar you give, print yourself up a note such as the following:
(Feel free to use mine!)
Step 3) Throw one of those in the bucket every time you pass a brass band playing O Christmas Tree.
Just to be clear: not giving is not an option. Getting all uppity and judgemental about “those people” when you should be giving anyway is bad.
Give. Just give justly.
I printed up a note to include with all my food pantry donations this year:
“This donation is from a gay household that believes that all families in need deserve help.
We’re all in this together.”
It has an image of a sign that says “Valued Families – LGBT Parents and Children”
Some years ago, a group favoring women’s ordination printed up fake dollar bills with an image of St. Therese — who mentioned in her autobiography that she had wanted to be a priest — and asked folks to put those in the collection on a specific Sunday instead of their regular donation. I have toyed with the idea of suggesting that those of us who support LGBT rights draw or stamp a pink triangle on all our donations every week as a constant reminder that we are there. The church would still get the money (assuming you want to give to that church), but you would be making a statement.
(BTW, Pope JP II named Therese a Doctor of the Church, but one thing that nearly derailed it was her expressed desire to be a priest.)
Thanks for this post and for Directing people to Episcopal Relief & Development.
Our Gifts for Life catalog, offers great holidaty giving options. You can purchase a goat or a flock of chickens for a family struggling with hunger, educate a child orphaned by AIDS for a year, give a family the gift of fishing supplies to help them eat and earn a living, help rebuild an entire house after a disaster. This list goes on and on. Check it out at http://www.er-d.org/GiftsForLife/
Even the smallest gifts can make a huge difference for the millions of people who suffer from poverty
Would you also be interested in looking at our new president’s blog http://www.er-d.org/blog/