The Difference between Charity and Obligation

The Difference between Charity and Obligation explains some thoughts about giving and receiving charity, and what the recipient should give back.

In recent days, I have read that illegal immigrants have crossed the border entering their promised land, California. The United States government has prohibited and sworn off against making a border wall, but the Mexican government hasn’t, so they put up a regular wire fence. The reason is easy to understand. They have emergency services just as the United States does, and when an illegal immigrant tries to cross at any place, some places are more dangerous than others. When get into trouble crossing, they call emergency services.

So the government wants these people to cross at bridges and established places of crossing and dealing with Visas and immigration permissions etc. From what I understand (I live in Mexico), the United States is giving expedited entry to everybody, and they are letting all of these people work until they have their asylum hearing, but the hearing dates are 10 years in the future. For most of these hearings, the immigrant doesn’t show up. A few have returned to their country, others are in the United States for the jobs, and they do not want to take the time to go to any hearing.

As the Mexican government puts up chain link fences around the Tijuana crossing area, the illegal immigrants just go further East. But now, crossing illegally into the United States, and in places where there are not “civilization”, out in the desert. These illegals are demanding that the Border Patrol set up “way stations” in these isolated and distant places. Their cry is, “It is the border patrol’s obligation to have facilities for these illegal immigrants out in any part of the border with Mexico that they want to cross.” Imagine if the same is said of the US Canada border. “We want coffee and doughnuts anywhere along the border between the US and Canada.”

What is Charity

The failure in all of this, as I see it, is that we are dealing with different cultures that “are not communicating with one another.”

An Aside: What is the Mentality of an Illegal Immigrant

Let me take a minute to talk about the mentality of these people. Like most people in our world, their lives are all that matter to them. They do not think about other people’s problems, only their own problems. So firstly, “what benefits me is what I am interested in.” Secondly, thirdly, fourthly etc. to last of all, is what benefits me. They want the “good life” but what about in their own country where they are coming from?

The point is very acute and important here. If they had put as much energy and effort in making their country a capitalist country, with fair elections, and good government, they would be in a paradise (like the United States) and they would not have to think about moving to another country. But they didn’t. The only thing that motivates most people is what is beneficial to themselves.

This works itself out in the following way. The people allow and endorse, support and make completely possible a government that works on corruption. Because the thieves they elect and let into their own government “GIVE THEM SOMETHING”, most of the time food goods, cash, and other such things, which these people do not deserve, then the system works on corruption. After some point, the system fails completely, like in Haiti, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, etc. When it fails, the people are looking for some other “government official” offering them freebies that they do not work for, and they go wherever this is offered.

If you think that these kinds of people are going to obey the laws and pay taxes, you do not understand them at all. They have a mentality set deeply against personal sacrifice, even if it is their obligation to do so. Why do people do what they did in California some years back, where they took any social cause that they can use at the moment and use that cause to justify breaking into stores and stealing whatever they want? Deep down, they are thieves that take without paying for what they are taking. Force is okay for them, as long as it is not used against them. Whatever benefits them personally is just.

Here in Mexico, a sudden hurricane hit Acapulco. While the hurricane did a lot of damage to the city, it was small in comparison to what the people did to the city in the hours afterward. They entered into the stores and took everything. Okay, so some (down here) justified that by saying that some mothers needed formula and diapers for the babies, and people here never buy more than what they can consume in 24 hours. Many women will have to go to the store both for breakfast food to prepare and for lunch food to also cook. So they justified them, until photos came online of these people stealing big plasma TVs! In a place that didn’t have electricity for days afterward, what good does a plasma TV do you?

But my point here is that the ideas of people are what we are dealing with, and you cannot project your ideas, your cultural norms and standards into other people of very different ideas, just because. It doesn’t work that way.

America as a Religious Lighthouse

Many people attack the United States because they are associated with Christianity, and America (used to) export their religious standards and ideas around the world. That pretty much isn’t so anymore. What America exports is perversion and filth. Even within America, Christian norms are not accepted from others, and people are morally corrupt.

But there is a key point to understand here also. What has made America what it is, is exactly that Christianity and those Christians norms. Charity is a Christian concept. Most religions in the world have a very muted sense of charity. If you sacrifice greatly for Allah in Arab countries, then maybe somebody will be charitable with you. But to give bread and water to your enemies is a Christian concept. Acting decently to everybody, even your enemies, is a Christian concept that few religious groups around the world will fully embrace.

Using America’s Christianity against itself

The problem that we are seeing is that Muslims are using the “good-natured” sense of Christians against themselves. For example, Gaza and the Palestinians. Why does Gaza have an underground city in their sewer systems? It is because of all the money donated to the Palestinians, they use most of it in attacking Israel. Their hate is greater than even their love for their own families. Today I read that the Israeli soldiers found suicide jackets for children. In other words, you strap explosives on the backs of your own children and send them out to get near to Israeli soldiers and then blow up. What kind of perverse people would even think of this? Much less actually build these suicide jackets? Perverse people who have no love for anyone but their mistaken god, Allah.

Any reasonable person would draw a line way before this, and just say no. It is wrong. Any concept of deity that condemns or worse commands people to hurt and kill innocents is mistaken.

The Illegals want Doughnuts and Coffee

Okay, these illegals go way out into the desert to cross into the United States, they see the border patrol out there, run up to them, and say “Give me money, give me entrance”. But there is a problem. Firstly, two to four border patrol elements cannot handle 3,000 illegals at once. They have to use a bus, and then make many trips. So the border patrol puts these ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS sitting on the ground in the sun, and basically, people have to go to the bathroom, so grab a bush to be gross.

The illegal immigrants don’t like this. Wherever they want to cross, they want a welcoming party on the US side with full bathroom facilities, food, shade, medical services, etc. This is like prisoners who are criminals complaining that they don’t get dessert with their meals, or their TVs don’t have a full cable selection for them.

What motivates Charity

To understand charity, you have to understand God. God is love. God shows love on both the good and evil. The Bible says that God sends rain on the wicked’s fields just the same as the righteous man’s field. So in a sense, yes, charity is for everybody. But let’s understand this very well first.

Charity is supposed to be present in a person who fully embraces Christianity, Jesus Christ as Savior, and is truly “saved” as Christians use the term. This is not an obligation that other human beings can use to force money out of our hands. It is given from a loving heart, TO WHOM THAT PERSON DEEMS AS BEING NEEDY. It is totally out of the biblical norm to sacrificially give to rich people, in the name of charity.

Proverbs 22:16 He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.

God says that it is wrong and will come back on you in a harmful way, if you oppress the poor for you to be rich, or to show charity to the rich.

Here in Mexico a few years back, there was a lady from Guatemala who tried to enter into the US, and under Trump, they were ordered to wait their asylum hearing in Mexico. The Mexican government set up migrant camps, complete with blankets and food. What most Mexicans eat to sustain life are tortillas and beans. That is considered normal food in Mexico.

A television station was interviewing the migrants in this camp, and asked her about the conditions. She said that in Guatemala they feed their hogs beans, but they would NEVER EAT BEANS THEMSELVES. She accused the Mexican government of treating her like a pig. That commentary by that woman went over in Mexico like a lead balloon. Before this interview, many Mexicans were complaining that the Mexican government should not be giving anything to these illegal immigrants, and that food and lodging expenses should be going to the poor in Mexico. The interviews were to quiet these complaints, but her comments went viral immediately.

“When gratitude dies on the altar of a man’s heart, he is well nigh hopeless.” – Dr. Bob Jones Sr.

America’s History

Before we take all of this wrongly, let’s be clear about some things. Firstly, it is right to be charitable towards others. But charity has to be responded to correctly, or it should stop. When a person receives something THAT WAS NOT ANY OBLIGATION ON THE PERSON GIVING THE CHARITY TO GIVE, then that person receivin should be grateful. While they should not necessarily convert to that person’s religion, they should respect them and their religious beliefs and practices, because the charity they receive is coming through a religious element in them.

The Palestinians do not understand this. ALL CHARITY OF ANY KIND SHOULD BE STOPPED TO THEM. If they misuse charitable gifts to them, to pay for food for the women and children who are starving, then everything should stop. When Israel flushed the toilet in Gaza, many Gaza soldiers surrendered. The Israelis made them strip down to their underwear and sit in the streets. The images show overweight men. But the Palestian news agencies are saying that the Israels are causing the women and children to die from starvation. So putting one plus one together, it is the Palestians (the men, the soldiers, the rulers) who are causing their own women and children to die in order to further the war with Israel. Again, ALL AID TO PALESTINE NEEDS TO BE REEVALUATED.

In cases like this, you don’t give food, gasoline, nor anything to anybody in Gaza. If you are so concerned, set up a tent, and make a soup kitchen. But again, when those who are controlling things on the Palestian side of things shoot up the soup tent feeding their own people, then universally stop all help going to them. What would happen is that the soldiers would get fed, and the women and children that they are using as propaganda elements against Israel would still starve to death.

Charity is one thing, and it is a good thing, but letting your charitable acts to be abused by others is another thing entirely. We have no spiritual obligation to give into these tactics of malicious people.

What about the Suffering Illegal Aliens in the Desert?

The answer is simple. Make things as hard as you can for them. There has to “be an adult in the room” in all of this, and this means, the fact that they are breaking the law removes any rights on their part as far as “what is for dinner” or “where is the nice bathroom” or “why don’t you have air conditioning out here in the desert for us?”. Sweat, be thirsty and hungry until we get to you, and sleep on the ground. If you don’t like these things, don’t cross illegally into the United States.

Some may say that crossing at Tijuana means that you have to pay the drug cartels to let you through. Okay. I am against the traffic of people. It is wrong. But until the United States government gets itself in order, gets rid of Joe Biden and the open door policy, none of that people trafficing is going away.

So in the end analysis, people go further into the desert to cross, WHY? Because they don’t want to pay. They don’t want to do things legally and correctly. If they were to apply for a VISA to get into the US, they could fly in, use the food, water, and clean bathrooms of an airplane. But money is what is behind everything here.

Here in Mexico City, we have been invaded by Haitian migrants. They are everywhere it seems. What is universally true is that all of these Haitians have cell phones. You begin to wonder if they really can walk without a cell phone in front of their faces. It is that bad. But what you rarely see (some exceptions though) are these people working. They are forming long lines at the ATM machines, but very few are working here. They do not have problems with money as one would think. From some mexican business owners, they tell me that these Haitians know exactly what the minimum wage is, and they won’t accept work for less than that. Incredible that people needing help put out limits on what help others are giving them.

If the truth were to be told, there are a large section of Mexicans working that don’t make the minimum wage even though they are Mexican citizens. That is not right, but they prefer making an income rather than fighting. In the end, the fight and they still lose their jobs.

More Articles about Immigration

• How much do we really want to give away?
• Illegal Immigration and Health Issues
• Let’s not Separate Migrant Families
• Why Hispanics are turning Republican
• Is unlimited Immigration a Human Right? NO!
• Do Illegal Aliens have a Right to Anything in the US?
• Waiting in Line to Get in
• Border Crisis Fix Make them Pay
• The Difference between Charity and Obligation
• Why do Immigrants get any Welfare or Service?

The Difference between Charity and Obligation