Charity?

[FalcoColumbarius]

How does one describe Charity and should it be a Virtue?

Falco.

[rezdiver]

How does one describe Charity and should it be a Virtue?

Falco.

I'll play. depending on the context you are asking....

How does one describe Charity?
Self-righteous feeling to justify ones own greed

Should it be a Virtue?
Yes, because it fills a necessary emotional void that is inherent among humans.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Okay Rezdiver, looks like it's just you and I.

To my surprise it turns out that I am from another world. To me Charity is a Love that is greater than all the rest, from the Latin "Caritas". What Kongzi (孔子/Master Kong or "Confucius") would refer to as "Ren". Most current references to Charity refer to what I would call "Benevolence". Charity is the love of Mankind for the sake of Love itself.

Where with Benevolence we cut a cheque to one's favourite cause. It is not connected or personal. I also think if one gets a tax receipt then it is no longer even benevolence, but a business transaction.

For me Charity is very personal in a greater good kind of way, yet anonymous. The ideal act of Charity is action, opposed to donation. To give of your time for the sake of your fellow creature without the recipient being aware of your actions or with any expectation of return, anonymous Love. Perhaps ideally doing it in such a way that the recipient thinks that they themselves have done this act for themselves, thereby removing any debt and rising their self esteem. A personal anonymity.

Ultimately, like forgiveness, Charity will become a selfish act as although one behaves with personal anonymity ~ they still accumulate Karma points. That being said I feel Karma points by far trump air mile points, as it were.

Which brings us to Virtue. If Charity ultimately awards Karma points, a form of return ~ can it truly be a virtuous act?

Falco.

[psilosin]

I think air miles points are better than karma points because not only can you redeem them for flights but also for merchandise like a new hammer or ballet shoes. Karma points just help you get reincarnated as something 'better'. Thats not a lot of choice. What if I loved being a clam a couple lives ago and want to be that again? Being a human ain't all that and a handbag you know. Clams know how to have a good time and do so with a low carbon footprint and minimal plastic waste going to landfills. Be strong be wrong be reincarnated as a clam.

[rezdiver]

Falco,

your post all comes back to the idea of self righteous. whether it is anonimous or for reward it comes back to the need and want to fill a personal void.

to the question of "can it be a truely virtuous act?" I think you have to go back to the original reason of why the virtues were set in place. remember we are primal animals without the existence of control and guidance. virtues have been engrained into us to guide our behaviour and give us answers where answers may not exist.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Rezdiver,
Self righteous... I feel that an "holier than thou" demeanour requires a certain degree of narcissism and smugness. So to be anonymous but say to one's self "God, I'm good".... I could see your point. But what about acting purely out of Love for your fellow creature?

Code of Virtues: Chivalry, more than just opening doors for pretty young women ~ it's a full on discipline, like Kung Fu ~ it is how you approach everything in your life. Ever wonder how it came about in the first place? Far older than Christianity or the other two children of Abraham, it has been recorded in Pagan Europe and of course in ancient Asia, as demonstrated by Confucius. Why? And how is it that two distinctly separate societies feel the urge to develop a similar code of ethos?

Psilosin,
One doesn't just redeem Karma points on point of transition between incarnations, Karma points also has a short term benefit programme: Such as helping someone out, only to find shortly there after that someone helps you out when you need it. Or in the case of stealing some poor monkey's banana, only to find around the next corner his hungry big brother ape... Agh! Agh! Bo-nana!!

Falco.

[Mr. Flibble]

Code of Virtues: Chivalry, more than just opening doors for pretty young women ~ it's a full on discipline, like Kung Fu ~ it is how you approach everything in your life. Ever wonder how it came about in the first place? Far older than Christianity or the other two children of Abraham, it has been recorded in Pagan Europe and of course in ancient Asia, as demonstrated by Confucius. Why? And how is it that two distinctly separate societies feel the urge to develop a similar code of ethos?

Why?

Such a great question. And the answer seems to be surprising. It seems to be in our Genes. It seems that much of what we define as our moral compass and our virtuous nature is in fact hard wired into our genetic makeup. Very similar (and indeed the same) behaviors can be seen in the other apes that are our closest relatives. It seems that altruism is a strong positive genetic trait to have in a hunter-gatherer culture. Since we are born from millions of years of evolution from said culture, it is now part of who we are. The very fabric of our genes and the hard wiring of our brains.