In a world where most of the things that are done for self gratification and are aimed to serve as a means of publicity, there is a certain class of people that believe in the rhetoric ‘The left hand should not know what the right hand is doing.’ It is this principle that many wealthy Christian philanthropists have adopted as a way of life.
More than being prone to fame and open to critique by political and business adversaries, these wealthy Christian philanthropists also profess that when they give away their wealth for a cause that they believe in and have their names openly credited, they are in fact working against the will of God. The idea of giving for a worthy cause that may have its effects on various differing aspects stems from the concept of tithe, which when introduced was made compulsory to the members of the church by the clergy and the ruling class at that time. However, with the passage of time and the discovery of new lands that were later colonized, tithe was toned down from compulsory to being voluntary. This was done so that the citizens of England would view the rulers as benevolence personified and would score the brownie points in the eyes of the English public.
On the other hand, colonies in the East added to the coffers of Britain and countries like India contributed more than willingly because of the perceived advantages that the lower strata of the Indian society readily accepted Christianity as their religion. They saw a release from the oppression of their Hindu overlords who had ruled over them for thousands of years because of the cast system. Over the years, these converts started venturing out of their immediate vicinities and travelled abroad, where they worked their guts out and in turn could send princely sums of money back home. Thus, started the realization that this religion not only was benevolent in religious practice, but also was quite practicable.
It is this new found confidence that then translated into their allegiance to the church. The sense of giving back to the community that spurred these new wealthy Christian philanthropists to further the cause and spread the word of this religion and the God who cared, as against the religion that had oppressed them for the centuries before the introduction of Christianity in their dreary lives. This is also one of the contributing factors in the widespread reach of the religion.
This can be further attributed to the classic principle of ‘One thing leading to another’ that creates a virtual juggernaut that sucks everything in its path. Further, people will always support an institution that puts foods in their mouth rather than prophesying about the way life should be lived. This is because an empty stomach can never think straight.
