Are you a good Samaritan or a good Christian?

[hiddley]

Don't know why this occurred to me tonight. Listening to too much Stormzy for my age I think lol.
I would consider myself a good Samaritan but not a good Christian.

For e.g., I don't go to church, I don't praise the Lord, I don't pray, I don't engage in charitable works. On the other hand, if I see a homeless person on the street I will give them whatever change I have in my pocket (usually fuck all) and roll them a cigarette.

I am also the type who will stand up for the one being picked on, which usually lands me as the new central victim. But ..........

I actually think actions speak louder than words and songs of praise.

I do recognise that the Christian and other religious communities are social centres for people also, but often, they don't carry anything spiritual out of their prayer service.

I just don't usually find people to be both. They are either one or the other.

I’m atheist, and a pretty rabid one.

In all the arguments against faith/religion I have read, the one single aspect I have little comeback to is the increased level of charitable donation of both time and money in highly religious communities, compared to communities with lower levels.

Now, you can actually argue that the charitable donation of money into a collection plate once a week under the watchful eye of God and your neighbour is hardly charity freely given. The argument is strengthened by the premise that most religious charities redistribute funds within their own religious activities, making it more like an insurance premium....

It’s harder to be cynical about the stats which show that religious people are more willing to give up time to do charitable work, although there could be an element of ostentatious piety for some.

Regardless, religious people are more charitable. At least, the last time I visited this subject in the literature, they were.

religions use charitable works as a way of proselytizing, which is why they seem to do a lot of it.

turning up to the victims of natural disasters with bibles and prayers when clean water and housing is needed

anyway its a really sad argument- if being charitable is the best thing to say about a religion, join the red cross instead of your local church- they do even more charity work

You know that Samaritanism is an actual religion, related to early Judaism. It's not just a synonym for a good person. The whole point of that parable was to show that followers of (gasp) other religions can also be good people. A modern day version would probably be 'The good Muslim'.

So I am neither a good samaritan nor Christian as I'm not religious at all but I do think it's important to be a good person.

If you are not a believer, where do your notions of good or bad come from?

From my principles- do no harm. Act as far as reasonably possible to alleviate suffering and inequality.

Surely you don't need a holy book to tell you that.

Kindness is not the preserve of Christians, or any other religion. I spent most of my childhood and my young adulthood in church environments and can assure you there are some not very good Christians inside the church too.

You can be a good person without having a faith. I don't see myself as either good samaritan or good christian.

What's the stormzy connection? !

Most Christians believe they are saved by faith and not works so dont feel they 'have' to do charitable works in order to please God or be a proper Christian. They believe they will never be good enough so can only know God through what Jesus has done for them on the cross. However most churches also do outreach in order to follow the example and teachings of Jesus to care for the unloved or needy. I know churches/denominations differ hugely but this is the experience at the churches I have attended.

I am no expert but I have done some voluntary work for a homeless charity and was always told not to give people on the street cash.

In all the arguments against faith/religion I have read, the one single aspect I have little comeback to is the increased level of charitable donation of both time and money in highly religious communities, compared to communities with lower levels.

My childhood church had an old school Minister. He and his wife devoted his entire lives to the community, they lived frugally and every penny was redistributed, they used to keep a rainy day fund for the people who used to be struggling, it was in an area of high deprivation, I remember times when people lost their jobs, or the old couple who'd ended up taking custody of their grandchildren because their daughter sadly died suddenly and they had to wait weeks to get benefits sorted out to help them with the children. The Minister and his wife would do a food shop, top gas and electric up, and keep popping around every other day to see how they were doing with every person every time. I still remain good friends with them now, even up to the point where despite me being out of the church for a good few years now they still came to see me when I was ill in hospital.
Compare that to the church we started going to when we moved, where I still have the email asking if I was going to set up a standing order as part of my membership process they didn't like me too much. I was going through a really rough time mentally (which resulted in a breakdown) and basically I started asking too many awkward questions. In the time I was there I saw a charitable day happen once.

I am no expert but I have done some voluntary work for a homeless charity and was always told not to give people on the street cash.

Were they christian charities? and why do you think they say that?

Lethaldrizzle stormzy has just brought out a song praising God so he's now suddenly got the approval or most christians.

No neither were Christian charities. Why? They were both in London and they said that they go around talking to street homeless people and offer them accommodation in shelters where they can access food. Those who refuse and stay on the streets are usually caught up in drug addiction and use money they get from begging to line the pockets of dealers. They were also susceptible to overdose due to using unregulated drugs. As I said I am no expert, this is just what I was told at my training and it was a couple of years ago now.

I'm not a church goer but prayer and time for reflection or even mindfulness is something that I think any society needs. Pausing for a moment to think about your own needs and those of others, then formulating a plan.

But like you OP, i'm a doer. All the positive thought in the world doesn'the fill the food bank shelves as the weather gets colder and Christmas falls in a 5 week month so those on a low income with Universal credit top ups won't get their top ups.

A good service of any religion gives gentle exposure to looking at the world from different angles which can help to promote tolerance.

In the way we live now with the wonders of the internet and ever present technology we are possibly becoming increasingly isolated from a cross section of views.

My online advertising and even news feed are targeted based on previous viewing so my exposure beyond my current knowledge and interests has to be actively sought.

Mumsnet is my religion, my indulgence and pause for thought and reflection on different issues in society with a healthy bit of debate thrown into the mix.

No neither were Christian charities. Why?

Because that proves my point deptfordgirl. That you somehow have to be a Christian or following a different faith to do something kind.

I tend to think that good deeds done by those that don't think it's getting them 'points' are worth more. Of course I do; I'm like SuperBeagle!

Yes. That recent viral facebook poster of the man taking a selfie with the homeless man because he'd just given him his trainers was just cringey.
Lovely thing to do don't get me wrong but the 'look how kind I am' Facebook post that followed the mans kind act totally unnecessary.

I'm a Christian (Catholic). I pray and go to church but I try to be a Good Samaritan in everyday life - with charitable work and I suppose acts of kindness. I'm not perfect though, I know that, I can only try to be a better person.

jonsnowswife I think very few Christians would say you have to be a Christian to do something kind. The Christians I know seem more aware of their selfishness than non Christians because the Bible often talks about how we are all sinners and can only be saved by Jesus.

Christians are really buggered, aren't they?! They hold a belief that they can't be "saved by doing things", but as soon as they do something kind towards anyone else, they're labelled as doing it for their own selfish gain and to make themselves feel better..! Basically what I'm hearing is that individual A, who happens to be a Christian, will never be as kind or compassionate as individual B, who happens to not be, even if all either of them ever do is hand over their loose change.

Would it be better if Christians stopped doing "good deeds" and left it to those who don't count themselves as part of any religion? A hell of a lot less would get done, from what I can see!

I've been on the receiving end of Christian good deeds before, and whilst they do sometimes (often?) also try to share some of their faith, I've found most not to be at all pushy about it if you say no thanks. To them it's the most important thing in their life - I try to take the view of being flattered that they want me to have what they think its so wonderful, even if I choose not to believe it myself.

deptfordgirl sorry it was early and don't think I explained properly. What I meant was that proved my point that people naturally assume any charitable acts are done by christians or followers of other faiths. They're not. Some just do it because they want to and not for the brownie points to get into heaven.

Whilst they're are some lovely christians, theres also some not very nice ones too. Just like most humans.

Would it be better if Christians stopped doing "good deeds" and left it to those who don't count themselves as part of any religion? A hell of a lot less would get done, from what I can see!

No a hell of a lot would still get done. Because there's a hell of a lot of non christians doing just as much work.

If you are not a believer, where do your notions of good or bad come from?

From working out my own standards of behaviour by thinking it through, influenced by family, friends and my own experiences.

mrsterrypratchett no-one is saying OP shouldn't have asked the question. The problem is that op has asserted that Christians who go to church do not also do good things to help people, which simply is not true.

I am not religious, but have done a lot of voluntary work over the years. I have encountered many religious volunteers, from all faiths, and many non-religious volunteers too. I think some people are motivated by their religion to do good deeds, and that's fantastic. However, I think there are many other motivations which inspire people to help others too.

There are decent people of all faiths and none. There are not-so-decent people of all faiths and none.

I am always mildly irritated by those who ask how non-religious people determine the difference between right and wrong. We all have a conscience.

I have always been the only atheist in the family and I would have agreed with your premise in my teens because a fair number of the Christians I knew were hypocrites. However, my world has expanded with being older and I now happen to live in an area with an active Christian and Muslim community who are very active in the ‘good deeds’ sphere. Hypocrites are just as well represented in religious communities as they are in other communities, just because your brush with a particular group has been negative, it doesn’t mean that all groups are the same.

There was a recent thread bitching about Children in Need and a few posters complained of the involvement of celebrities and whose apparent champagne budget would exceed the contributions of many and that was reason enough to question their involvement.

I do not care about people’s motivations for doing good deeds, just as long as those good deeds are being done. Finger pointing is so old.

Atheists: no invisible means of support,

People from Samaria hated people that were Jewish and vice versa. They would cross the street to avoid being near them, let alone offering to help. They also were not allowed to do anything just would involve being near a Jewish persons blood.
It was one of those parables designed to shock those listening as it was so counter cultural to do that.

I wouldnt cross the road to avoid someone who was hurt, but I don’t think that’s down to my faith as I wouldn’t have done it before becoming a Christian.

Thankfully heaven isn’t determined on doing good deeds or not, neither is being a Christian.