A friend at work gave me a book to read, Idols for Destruction by Herbert Schlossberg. Schlossberg's idea for the book seems to come from the Biblical story in Hosea 8:4, "...they made idols for their own destruction." In his chapter on Idols of Humanity, Schlossberg quotes from a book entitled Resentiment by Max Scheler. Resentiment "begins with perceived injury that may have a basis in fact, but more often is occasioned by envy for the possessions or the qualities possessed by another person." Schlossberg writes that altruism "has its source in this poisonous brew." Altruism "permits demeaning the successful, or those who display any form of superiority, by pulling over that act the mask of concern for the poor and weak."
I am afraid this describes the work of my friend Saul Alinsky. I came to realize that Christian love is something very different than the hatred of the people in power espoused by the Alinsky method of organizing. As Schlossberg writes, Christian love "avoids helping the weak as a means of causing harm to the strong." Christian love asks what needs to happen to enable the weak to become strong. The answer usually lies in what opportunities can be made available to that person. What that person does with the opportunities is up to that person.
1 comment:
The most wonderful Christian love to me is the one that says just do your part to help out and don't worry about judging what they do with it. If I have a few bucks to spare, I give it. If they drink or drug it, that was their choice. And I have my own addictions who am I to judge anyway. It's very freeing when you chose to exercise true Christian love.
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