Some Christians are so gullible, that is why they are preyed upon
anonymous
January 17 2005, 19:05:58 UTC
I hate to say it, but these people probably target Christians because they have discovered that Christians, taken as a group, can be some of the most gullible people in the world. Anyone who comes along with a sob story, be it a televangelist who says he wants to reach the world but who really wants to put up amusement parks and air conditioned doghouses, or a bum who says he needs money for food but really intends to buy booze or drugs, can get some Christians to part with their hard-earned money (meanwhile, legitimate charities that don't identify themselves as "Christian" in some way can't get a dime out of these same Christians).
True story: The last church I attended regularly (which may well be the last church I will ever attend, in part due to silliness like this) loved to tell this story. I say they loved to tell it because I heard it so many times in the eight or nine months that I went to that church that I could almost recite it by heart.
As the story went, a mother who had promised to take her child to McDonald's for dinner. On the way there, they passed a guy holding a sign saying "Will work for food." The mother felt as though she should pull over and give the guy her last $10 bill (yes, the money they were going to use to get dinner). Now I know some people would see that as compassionate, while others would see it as really dumb, considering how the money would probably really be used. But wait, it gets better. The child, knowing that it was their food money and that the mother had given the guy all she had, protested... "Mom, why did you give him our dinner money?"
What would you reply in that situation? I can think of a lot of answers that might have involved having compassion for the poor, etc., which probably still would not have settled the child's disappointment, but might at least have been a semi-reasonable explanation. But I was taken aback when they told what the mother's response really was:
"Well, honey, I guess drugs cost a lot these days!"
Now all I could think about was, here is a child whose mouth was probably watering for a McDonald's hamburger, and his mother gave away their dinner money to a total stranger *to buy drugs*. Granted, the comment may have been intended as slightly sarcastic, but it was also probably more true than the mother realized (I doubt it was lost on the child, however - sometimes kids are more "street wise" then their parents). And somehow, I can't imagine that this incident taught ANYTHING of value to that child (except maybe "my mother needs professional help")!
And they repeated this story in the church and in the prayer group as an example to emulate! I think at the time I first heard it, I was so shocked I could not believe what I was hearing, so I didn't say anything. But in one of my final e-mails to the pastor, I recalled this story and let him know just how this sounded (to someone not yet "conditioned" to think in such a topsy-turvy manner!).
Now I have nothing against "Random Acts of Kindness", if one is using their own resources, and if one is not depriving one's own family of the necessities of life to give to others (although I doubt the lack of a McDonald's hamburger counts as serious deprivation, I still have to wonder what that child must have thought. The mother was probably very fortunate if that incident didn't plant the seeds of a permanent lack of trust in her child).
I no long attend any church - after over 25 years going to various churches, I just can't condition my mind to think the way some of these people do, nor would I want to (I have a lot of other problems with traditional churches, but I won't go into that). But if you want to know why the Nigerians may be targeting Christians, I'll just bet that they find enough gullible Christians to make it worth their time. Even when everyone else in the world knows it's a scam, some Christians would be more likely to assume the best and not use the critical thinking skills that God gave them.
True story: The last church I attended regularly (which may well be the last church I will ever attend, in part due to silliness like this) loved to tell this story. I say they loved to tell it because I heard it so many times in the eight or nine months that I went to that church that I could almost recite it by heart.
As the story went, a mother who had promised to take her child to McDonald's for dinner. On the way there, they passed a guy holding a sign saying "Will work for food." The mother felt as though she should pull over and give the guy her last $10 bill (yes, the money they were going to use to get dinner). Now I know some people would see that as compassionate, while others would see it as really dumb, considering how the money would probably really be used. But wait, it gets better. The child, knowing that it was their food money and that the mother had given the guy all she had, protested... "Mom, why did you give him our dinner money?"
What would you reply in that situation? I can think of a lot of answers that might have involved having compassion for the poor, etc., which probably still would not have settled the child's disappointment, but might at least have been a semi-reasonable explanation. But I was taken aback when they told what the mother's response really was:
"Well, honey, I guess drugs cost a lot these days!"
Now all I could think about was, here is a child whose mouth was probably watering for a McDonald's hamburger, and his mother gave away their dinner money to a total stranger *to buy drugs*. Granted, the comment may have been intended as slightly sarcastic, but it was also probably more true than the mother realized (I doubt it was lost on the child, however - sometimes kids are more "street wise" then their parents). And somehow, I can't imagine that this incident taught ANYTHING of value to that child (except maybe "my mother needs professional help")!
And they repeated this story in the church and in the prayer group as an example to emulate! I think at the time I first heard it, I was so shocked I could not believe what I was hearing, so I didn't say anything. But in one of my final e-mails to the pastor, I recalled this story and let him know just how this sounded (to someone not yet "conditioned" to think in such a topsy-turvy manner!).
Now I have nothing against "Random Acts of Kindness", if one is using their own resources, and if one is not depriving one's own family of the necessities of life to give to others (although I doubt the lack of a McDonald's hamburger counts as serious deprivation, I still have to wonder what that child must have thought. The mother was probably very fortunate if that incident didn't plant the seeds of a permanent lack of trust in her child).
I no long attend any church - after over 25 years going to various churches, I just can't condition my mind to think the way some of these people do, nor would I want to (I have a lot of other problems with traditional churches, but I won't go into that). But if you want to know why the Nigerians may be targeting Christians, I'll just bet that they find enough gullible Christians to make it worth their time. Even when everyone else in the world knows it's a scam, some Christians would be more likely to assume the best and not use the critical thinking skills that God gave them.
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