This is a pretty cool story, about a preacher (with the awesome name of The Reverend Hamilton Coe Throckmorton) who did something of an experiment with his congregation, based on a biblical parable. He gave everyone $50, and asked them to use their talents double it and donate the profit to charity. They made about $40,000.
The money raised really wasn't "profit" in the business sense. While many people did produce goods and services of value, it sounds like ultimately most of the funds raised came from within the congregation, so I think of it as more a success of charity than business, not that that's a bad thing. The article emphasizes what I see as the real value of the project: bringing the community together, giving people a reason to use their talents and creativity, and providing an opportunity to enjoy life.
When I argue that religion is a bad thing for society, I am often misunderstood to be saying that nothing good comes of religion, which is definitely not my point. One of the best things that organized religion offers people is a sense of community. Charity is also commonly associated with religion, and it is possible that religious people generally are more charitable (there are some popular studies of this subject that seem inconclusive). I would argue that religion is unnecessary for either of those things, and I'd similarly argue that the success of the $50 project had little to do with religion. Helping others and enjoying community is a natural thing, and religion can be a unifying factor, but it also causes a lot of other damage.
When I argue that religion is a net negative, it is because I'm unwilling to attribute the success of Rev. Throckmorton's idea to an irrational belief in a supernatural deity who hates gay people and will condemn you to an eternity of suffering if you cross him; I attribute that success to the basic goodness of people.
1 comment:
That's a really cool story. It really reminds you, I agree, of the goodness of people. I like that churches offer a sense of community, and that's the one thing I always regretted not having -- but some churches do a better job of it than others anyway, and the ones I went to when I was a kid were not community-building. But I agree, that really has nothing to do with a belief in how the world was formed.
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