Chuckles for the Day.

On a blog thread discussing whether or not Christians can act on behalf of their fellow man, even if they seemingly have "no skin in the game".

Funny, but I thought this line of thinking dropped (Whites are for Whites. Blacks are for Blacks. Only.), after JFK died and thus the 1964 Civil Rights Act passed Congress. Didn't JFK die to set the blacks free? In the story, I mean...

"The man rejected the idea that people might do something because it was right? I feel sorry for him."

You made a logic error there. He pointed out something in the race context that is completely normal to observe generally, that people tend to do what is in their own interest. When people offer to do something out of altruism, it's a good idea to test it by asking: What's in it for them? Are you doing something out of benevolence for other people or are you posing as benevolent when what you want to do serves your interests.

You're a politically vulnerable naif if you don't know how to practice that kind of skepticism.

And you're a calloused cynic, who doesn't know much about history either, if you think that abolition, suffrage, (choose your group) rights were only supported by those directly affected, who stood to directly benefit.

Sometimes, some folks,
especially those mocked religious ones,
have a pretty decent track record of action in helping to cure societal problems, based solely on good will and the brotherhood of man. (The thinking goes: All men are created equal in the eyes of God. or, Whatsoever you do, to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me.)

I know it's hard for those more calloused cynics to believe, let alone understand why people would altruistically dedicate their lives to helping others, and having actual real-life results to show for it (see... Catholic schoolteachers -- Sisters and Brothers) but it's sad when the skeptics try to sweep everyone else into their cynical, factually untrue, worldly ways of thinking.

Maybe for you, but thankfully, not for All...

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ADDED: Do they still teach this one in the public schools by any chance?

The quality of mercy is not strained;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
'Tis mighty in the mightiest;
It becomes the thronèd monarch better than his crown.
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this scepter'd sway;
It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute of God himself,
And earthy power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this:
That in the course of justice, none of us
should see salvation. We do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, the strict court of Venice
Must give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.

ADDED:

"Isn't that a cool thing about parables? It opens up the conversation and give us a new jumping off point.

Think of the parables in the Bible. Why did Jesus use parables? Why didn't he just give us straight answers? I'd suggest that he did it because he valued conversation and the development of the human mind as he invited us into a religion of choice and not just accepting orders."

Actually, I don't think He really wasn't being all deep and hypothetically challenging like a law professor. The opposite, in fact.

He understood that some could comprehend the words he was sowing through his parables, and some -- already infected by the cynical Satan, perhaps? -- would miss the point and let the Gospel truths fall by the wayside.

Remember, he was speaking to illiterate farmers and fishermen who instinctively knew the ways of their trade.

Jesus says he is teaching in parables because he does not want everyone to understand him, only those who are his followers. Those outside the group are not meant to understand them. Thus one must already be committed to following Jesus to fully understand his message and that without that commitment one will never fully understand him or be helped by his message. If one does not correctly understand the parables, this is a sign that one is not a true disciple of Jesus.