World Changers

[Explodingsims 3]

HI! So, I have just returned from a week of work, work on low-wealth houses...Work like painting, roofing, and wheelchair ramp building! Pretty Intresting, Eh?

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This orginization is called WorldChangers, and is a Christian Mission Trip. Like I said, we fix up houses that the owner cannot afford to do, or just is unable to do that work. So you don't get paid, in fact, you have to pay to go, but it is worth it. You also get to walk around and spread God's word to other people living in the neighborhood. And you stay in a Church or this year, in a school, thay provide you with food and a place to stay. You also have a Church that supports you and Gives you lunch. This is for Teens ages 12-21

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So this year My youth group went to Aiken SC. We stayed in Aiken Middle School, and repared 2 houses. The First one, we built a wheelchair ramp for, and the second we repainted.

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WorldChangers!

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If you have heard of this before, let me know!

[Duke87 1,070]

"Spreading god's word"...

....this type of thing makes me want to hurl chunks. People going around performing acts of charity not for the greater good, but for the purpose of spreading their religious agenda.

The worst evil possible is the evil wearing the mask of good. If you have any proper sense of morals, you'll stay away from these guys.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Which collection of God's word are you spreading?  The Bible, Al Q'ran, The Bhagvad Ghita, The Kama Sutra?  There are many kinds of God's word, but only one God.  Since these books are often in some sort of conflict, which one have you chosen?  How do you know it is the right one?

"Albert, Stop telling God what to do."

Neils Bohr to Albert Einstein

[Explodingsims 3]

Geez...Don't you people care that there is a group of teens that is willing to give up their time to help out people who can't help themselves?

Nobody- The Bible, and don't want to start a flame war, so I'll just say, I belive because Everything God said is true, and I belive that he sent his Son for Us.

[Joesocwork 4]

It's encouraging to see youth do nice things for people.

[hamsterTK 93]

cool. was this strictly something put on by your church or is done through some organization like habitat for humanity?

The worst evil possible is the evil wearing the mask of good. If you have any proper sense of morals, you'll stay away from these guys.quote>

I dont know if helping people is really something you should ever condemn. Personally I think that attitude is wrong and making atheists look bad

[rugar12 0]

It's always nice to see people give their time to help other people.

[GingerBlokey 30]

Originally posted by: Duke87 "Spreading god's word"...

....this type of thing makes me want to hurl chunks. People going around performing acts of charity not for the greater good, but for the purpose of spreading their religious agenda.

The worst evil possible is the evil wearing the mask of good. If you have any proper sense of morals, you'll stay away from these guys.quote>

If I could agree more I would. I feel exactly the same way.

I give up every Saturday of mine to work at my local British Heart Foundation store in the town centre but I dont do it under the banner of my religious beliefs. I dont go there to spread the word about atheism. I do it because I want to help people and because me and my friends have a good time.

[Explodingsims 3]

HamsterTK- THis is just one mission trip put on by the North American Mission Board, so there are churches all over America doing this, usally 5-6 churches will attend be in the same area.

Ginger- It's not all about spreading God's word, e just want to help people because we can, and while we're in the neighborhood we take the oppertunity to spread God's word.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Well, as a nominal Christian, I can agree with using the Bible to proseletyse.  However, receiving God's word should not be a condition of action by this group.  At that point, the group becomes a Missionary, and I don't think that is in keeping with the principles of freedom of religion.

[GingerBlokey 30]

Originally posted by: Explodingsims HamsterTK- THis is just one mission trip put on by the North American Mission Board, so there are churches all over America doing this, usally 5-6 churches will attend be in the same area.

Ginger- It's not all about spreading God's word, e just want to help people because we can, and while we're in the neighborhood we take the oppertunity to spread God's word.quote>

Would you still want to do this work if you were not spreading "God's word"? I think there is always something fundementally wrong with missionary work and evanjelicism (sp).

[Joesocwork 4]

Yeah how dare people do good works and openly discuss their beliefs with others.

[GingerBlokey 30]

I think youll find a difference between "openly discussing" and evangelicism. I have no problem with them doing nice things and working, lovely, join the Scouts or something. I do have quibbles with them bringing religion into it. People don't want to be converted no matter what you think. If someone wanted to be religious they would get in touch with a church, temple, mosque or synagouge.

[Joesocwork 4]

That goes for any point of view, political, national, cultural, even gaming, you name it.  All a person has to say if approached is simply "No, thank you".

[Duke87 1,070]

I'm not against charity. I am against using it for your own selfish purposes. It's perfectly acceptable to go and help the poor. It's not acceptable to then take advantage of their impoverished state to push religious or political ideas on them.

For this reason, i refuse to help any charity which is associated with a church or religious organization, as I know their motives are impure.

Any secular charity, however, I will not object to contributing too. You should help the needy. But if in doing so you also help some group spread their agenda, you've done as much, if not more, harm than good.

Religion is one of the greatest evils in this world, and it deeply concerns me how few people see that.

[Alakazam 3]

Well, yeah... organized religion, that is.

[Joesocwork 4]

Man you guys are reallllly missing the author's point. Perhaps the good works truly are indeed  the mission of the "organized religion" that he is a part of.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Mabey, chances are slim though.

im always wary of people who are trying to "Save my Soul" by joining thier particular religion.

But that said, Its nice that you want to help people, more people should do that.

Just leave the bible at home.

[LarksTonguesInAspic 28]

Hmmmm, beware those who call good evil, and evil good. Such it will be in the last days. 

Good job, ExplodingSims. Some of us find ourselves reflected badly in your example of "putting the rubber to the road", many of us would be better served to follow the lead of people such as yourself.

Without religion, what reason is there for charity? If there is not ultimate accountability, what difference is there between helping the poor old lady cross the street, or helping yourself to her pension check?  I would recommend the book What if Jesus Had Never Been Born? by Dr. D. James Kennedy, which illustrates the utter lack of charity in human society (outside Judaism) before Christianity. 

Hold the flaming, atheists. We will each likely not convert the other, and it will not do the discussion any good. If need be, agree to disagree and call it even, for now. This is only an SC4 site, after all. And I would point out, even Antony Flew has had to admit, there must be a God, there is no other rational conclusion for a reasonable man. Look up Pascal's Wager (which I referenced in another thread) and decide which side you would bet yourself on. 

 

To call religion the greatest evil on earth is ignoring the ghastly body count of communist-enforced atheism, even to this very day; not to mention 1.5 million unborn slaughtered every year in this country alone. Few truly "religious" people of any persuasion believe this to be a good thing! 

SkiGeek: As someone of partial native american descent, I can say I believe the downfall of native culture was inevitable, even without missionaries. This was due to differing paradigms, and the overpowering ambition inherent in European culture that was lacking in Indian society. When those with a written language, any form of technology, and a need to expand meet those who have none of those, the outcome is really very predictable. 

A lot to chew on? Sure! But it's much easier without polemics, which only hurt the ST community as a whole. C'mon, be cool.

[Meg 368]

First, let me say that the following are my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the management of this site.

Second, I believe it is admirable for anyone, especially teenagers, to spend their time helping others less fortunate than they are. I know little about the organization in question or what their motives are.

On different level, I am intrigued by Duke’s statement.

Originally posted by: Duke87

Religion is one of the greatest evils in this world, and it deeply concerns me how few people see that.quote>

I almost agree with this. I find I want to change the wording slightly before I can agree with it completely. Maybe something like: 

The misuse of religion is one of the greatest evils in this world, and it deeply concerns me how few people see that.quote>

On one hand, religion can be a source of comfort and strength for people. That is a good thing.

On the other hand, a large percentage of evil throughout the history of the world has had a religious justification.

When Group A wipes out the culture of Group B in the name of bringing them to --- insert name of religion here ---, is Group A being evil?

Throughout history, this has happened. (Pick any native culture on North or South America and see what colonists did to that culture.) But that was considered to be okay because "heathens" were being converted.

This doesn’t look quite okay when you are the one being considered the "heathen".

Which brings me to a bumper sticker I saw recently that I like:

[The_Dalai_Llama 15]

Any group performing good deeds for those less fortunate, whether it's a secular group, a church, synagogue, or mosque, or a even a political group, should still be applauded.

WorldChangers seems like a fine organization, and I'm sure they're helping others for the sake of helping others, not just to spread their brand of faith.

[Joesocwork 4]

Exactly. All I know about the organization is what Explodingsims has presented and I've not read any reasonable arguments here to indict it, let alone the youth involved, as evil.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Originally posted by: SkiGeek

quote>

 

I saw one of those last week.

Unfortuantly that Fatal Human Flaw( the 0.01% of us that screw it up for every one) prevents it.

But again i do support  anyone who helps others.

[rugar12 0]

Without religion, what reason is there for charity? If there is not ultimate accountability, what difference is there between helping the poor old lady cross the street, or helping yourself to her pension check?  I would recommend the book What if Jesus Had Never Been Born? by Dr. D. James Kennedy, which illustrates the utter lack of charity in human society (outside Judaism) before Christianity. quote>

Morals, such as deciding to help or rob the old lady you used as an example, are not exclusively a product of religion. I do believe morals tend to be a product of society in order to help the society, as a whole, survive. And when looking at charity through out history, I think it would also be important to take in to account the differences between cultures between time periods. Some cultures had a tendency to be more charitable, sharing material goods and food amongst all members, because it was beneficial to the survival of their society. I will have to read this book that you recommended.

On the topic of religion being evil, I think that such a statement is unfair. As someone else mentioned, it is people who ultimately make the decision to use religion as a tool for evil deeds, personal gain, etc.

[Alakazam 3]

I recommend everyone here to read "Small Gods", by Terry Pratchett.

Man, this guy is funny, but at the same time that single books raises a lot of questionings. It's truly a great book to anyone (with at least a little open mind). Someone not interested in morals and religion will find it funny and well though, and someone who is interested in those will surely cherish the book 'till his death.

[Mikemat5150 0]

Ok I'm going to make this clear I have no problem with religion at all. The thing I have a problem with is people using religion for bad things. The Crusades were a horrible war were thousands of people died. The Muslims were protecting their lands and the Pope told people to take back Jerusalem for their cause. Also Muslims using Jihad to attack non muslims is absolutly horrible. I have to problem with using Religion as a motivator for doing good acts, like you said Explodingsims, of fixing up people's houses who cannot affourd to do so. Without the motivation from religion many charitable acts probobly wouldn't get done. But that's just my two cents.

[Explodingsims 3]

Okay, so after a freakin' Firestorm of Contreversy, I Have some pictures from the trip:

First, the house before we got to work

Okay, what really Should have been first, our crew:

Next, our crew Cheif:

Some work,

A guy with a Saw

A guy with a pole digger:

and the final product:

oh, and here's the lady we built it for:

She's 98 now...

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Now, let's see if you people can figure out which one of those people is me!

>Edited the Picture size<

[Easy Bakes 253]

Good job

[JanYpe 17]

That old dear looks like she used to babysit Methuselah.

[Meg 368]

Nice ramp!

I'm going to guess you're the guy in the gray USA 76 shirt.

Your pictures are great, although they are over sized.  Can you reduce them to 800 x 600?

Looks like a good job by a good work crew.