Proclaimer Blog
C***c R****f Humbug
The Comic Relief Police are out in force this week. "Want to buy a pen for £1 for Comic Relief?" (Rymans, where PT staff enjoy their lunchtimes). No? You miserable so and so. Well, actually, the assistant didn't actually accuse me like that, but I could read the face.
I'm personally not a fan of CR. I think Christians should be very cautious about it, and your church should possibly be too. There are two reasons for that:
- first, it seems somewhat irresponsible to give to general campaigns without first doing some groundwork. This is not a CR dig, but a broader point. There is little or no visibility of where your giving is actually going when you donate to general campaigns. That's OK for Christian organisations (and there are plenty of worthy ones that we support corporately and personally), but for those who are not, how do you know how your money is being spent? I think churches should be nurturing specific relationships, either with individuals or projects or trusted organisations. That seems a more appropriate way to give.
- second, more specifically, some of CR's projects may be Christianly dubious. That's because they give to alleviate injustice and they have a broader view of justice than you or I. Wherever your draw the line on this (and we may all have different views), there may be one or two projects (amongst a myriad of many good and worthy projects) which cross it. For example, in the most recent published list, CR fund the Gay and Lesbian Youth Parliament. Now, Christians should be reaching out with the gospel to people from all kinds of backgrounds graciously and generously, but I don't personally think that is where Christian money should be going.
You must make your own decisions, of course. But the Christian principles remain: Give generously. But give wisely too.