Do unto others as they would want you to do

So we are back to my favorite topic - charity. In a previous write-up, I discussed how giving away money from a stockpile of it is not necessarily noble. By extension, the concept also applies to giving away time when you have a lot of it on your hands.

But it is not so. Giving of yourself - effort, emotional attention and time - is much more difficult than writing a check, and requires real commitment. Our values are sorely tested when you have to take time out of an already full day to go do something to bring succor to someone else. It is easier if that person is someone you care about, so friends and family are a different story altogether. But when it is someone you do not even know, or even relate to well, it calls on every bit of strength in your belief system. It is also a great way to test your own commitment to a cause.

 As difficult  as it is to reach out to an individual you cannot really connect with, in sympathy or otherwise, it becomes just as important to accept them and their needs. And that is a crucial factor in philanthropy. I have heard the common dictum that talks of finding your own cause, something that you feel for. I think that is a really misguided notion.The cause should be where the need is most dire. Because helping where help is needed most is what charity is all about. I might think kids need to be in school, but what the kids really need is food and clothing first. I cannot give them a book instead of bread just so I can feel good about myself, or because I had that extra book to give away. That is a gift, not charity

Another important part is being non-judgmental when assessing need. Wondering why a needy family does not manage time better, or have fewer kids, or be less whiny is not a factor in deciding their need. Charity in its purest form must be unselfish, and that means your prejudices and opinions should be irrelevant to the act of giving.

I believe the defining nature of any charitable act is the establishment of a feeling of hope in the receiver. Hope is not just an optimistic wish, or a pleasant vision of the future. It is also a reflection of joy and satisfaction in the present. So when you fulfill an immediate need, or remove an imminent distress, it gives the person such relief that it translates to hope - hope in the present day for a better day tomorrow. And that is why it is imperative and unquestionable that we provide for the requirement, irrespective of what we think or have or want to contribute.

Altruism  is predicated on doing good for others. It does not include the right to decide what is good for them, or to classify their needs according to our priorities. Or to withhold charity because of the recipient's attitude. It was Mother Theresa who put it so lucidly, "It's not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving."  And how much effort, she may have well added.

Paris #‎JeSuisCharlie‬

Here we go again. Another attack on free thought by three depraved, maniacal cretins. 

It takes a special kind of evil to shoot in the head a police-officer already down on the ground. And a disconnect from any and all things human to walk into a building with the intention to kill. There is absolutely no justification, no meaning, no sense in those horrifying actions that led to such tragedy. 

I cannot even hold in my mind the image of a helpless, injured man, who took on the job to protect others, being shot by a murderous maniac. I cannot fathom what his family must be going through. I cannot even begin deconstruct the incident at the Charlie Hebdo office, where everyone was simply beginning their day's work. I cannot imagine the fear and pain the people in there went through.

But I can react to the chant of 'Allahu Akbar' (God is Great) that the murderers made sure everyone heard. It infuriates me that they would even invoke God. It distresses me that God did not rip their tongues out before they called out his greatness. For they have no right to be associated with God. They have no right to be associated with God's greatness. They have no right to be associated with humanity. And they certainly have no right to be associated with Prophet Muhammad.

Muhammad had gone to the home of a woman to check how she was doing, when she did not throw garbage on him as she did everyday, and offered to bring her something she might need. Muhammad ignored it when Meccans regularly placed filth on his back as he prostrated to pray. Muhammad forgave Hind for killing his beloved Uncle even though he could not bear to be around her. Muhammad forgave the people of a city that were extremely cruel to him, so cruel that an angel offered to crush the entire city for him. Muhmmad declared that one cannot sleep on a full stomach if the neighbor is hungry. Not Muslim neighbor, or poor neighbor, well-behaved neighbor, or child neighbor. Neighbor. All kinds, every one. Those are the stories of my Prophet. That is the religion he conveyed to us.

Muhammad would probably have simply laughed off the cartoons himself. And be confused by the attention he was getting. A majority of Muslims do just that.

The Quran is even clearer on responsibility of actions. We cannot 'punish' those we think are doing wrong.We cannot dictate anyone else's behavior, let alone beliefs. 'Say "Unto you your religion, unto me, mine" the Quran exhorts.

So when those freaks declared "God is great", they better know that they belong to nothing in this world, and will belong to nothing nice in the next. And when they screech out- God is great, I will just say - exactly.