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1AugustSon7
Guest
This.And probably will soon be feeding the Walmart workers whose wages are too low to feed their families…
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DebbieS
Guest
A Facebook friend posted something not too long ago about WalMart workers being among the largest recipients of food stamps and other public aid. Sad, isn’t it? WalMart came into the small town where my late MIL lived and wiped out all the little privately owned shops and stores. I went there once on a quest to find something made in the USA. Nothing!And probably will soon be feeding the Walmart workers whose wages are too low to feed their families…
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curlycool89
Guest
Although I support the charity’s right to decide who to take donations from, this was a downright stupid and imprudent move.
There is nothing immoral about shopping at Walmart, nor is there anything immoral about accepting a donation from Walmart. I’m sure this charity could have used this money to care for the poor in feeding them and sheltering them and clothing them. This rejection does not seem to be based on faith at all, but based on Mr. Flagg’s personal political view.
Mr. Flagg seems to have had a misunderstanding of what it means to live in solidarity with the poor. It means that you live with them and understand that they have just as much dignity as any other child of God, but it is not to be used as some social activism project where you feel like you get to lecture everyone else from your high horse. I’m sure he does good work, but in this case it feels like he’s using the poor as nothing more then a soapbox to climb on because he’s “holier then thou”. Especially this last line:
I realize that he did not seek this out (Walmart started it by making a donation), but the correct Christian charitable response ought to have been “no thank you” without making a fuss out of it. By intentionally making a fuss out of it (it was Mr. Flagg who contacted the paper to almost do a retraction), it makes me question their motives and their understanding of Catholic Social Teaching. CST is about recognition of the dignity of all peoples from conception to natural death, not about scoring political points.
As a footnote, I will say that I did work at Walmart at one time, and it was not a bad experience. The customers were much worse than corporate was.
Actually, my experience of non-unionized jobs was generally better then the 1 job where we had a very activist union. Another job had a union that worked very closely with the employer and was not very disruptive and I largely didn’t even know they existed.
There is nothing immoral about shopping at Walmart, nor is there anything immoral about accepting a donation from Walmart. I’m sure this charity could have used this money to care for the poor in feeding them and sheltering them and clothing them. This rejection does not seem to be based on faith at all, but based on Mr. Flagg’s personal political view.
Mr. Flagg seems to have had a misunderstanding of what it means to live in solidarity with the poor. It means that you live with them and understand that they have just as much dignity as any other child of God, but it is not to be used as some social activism project where you feel like you get to lecture everyone else from your high horse. I’m sure he does good work, but in this case it feels like he’s using the poor as nothing more then a soapbox to climb on because he’s “holier then thou”. Especially this last line:
He really looks like he’s saying “Look at me! Look at how I live! I’m all high and mighty, we live mercy and justice!”, which is completely opposite to how the Gospel says you are suppose to live. Generally if you are doing something to get recognition then you’re probably doing it for the wrong reasons.
I realize that he did not seek this out (Walmart started it by making a donation), but the correct Christian charitable response ought to have been “no thank you” without making a fuss out of it. By intentionally making a fuss out of it (it was Mr. Flagg who contacted the paper to almost do a retraction), it makes me question their motives and their understanding of Catholic Social Teaching. CST is about recognition of the dignity of all peoples from conception to natural death, not about scoring political points.
As a footnote, I will say that I did work at Walmart at one time, and it was not a bad experience. The customers were much worse than corporate was.
Actually, my experience of non-unionized jobs was generally better then the 1 job where we had a very activist union. Another job had a union that worked very closely with the employer and was not very disruptive and I largely didn’t even know they existed.
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datritle
Guest
i am not surprised that eventually, if a thread goes on long enough ,someone will hate on social justice and groups who practice it. not me! GOOD FOR YOU CATHOLIC WORKER!
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iloveangels
Guest
Charity groups don’t have to accept donations that they don’t like, and they don’t owe the general population any explanation either.
If the ever-present whiners of our society think they can do better, then they should get off their BUTTS and do it themselves… or or be quiet.
If the ever-present whiners of our society think they can do better, then they should get off their BUTTS and do it themselves… or or be quiet.
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curlycool89
Guest
I’m not saying they had to. Heck, if they would have said nothing then I would have no complaints.
The problem is when they waive it around and go “Look at what a great person I am” as if refusing a donation from Walmart is worth SuperCatholic-Points or something. What I’m saying is that they didn’t have to stick it in Walmart’s face and go on a power-trip saying “Your money’s not good enough for us”.
Just think about it. In the future when Walmart opens up another one (because given everything it’s likely to happen again), will they think of donating to a Catholic charity again? Will they think twice about donating to a Crisis Pregnancy Centre because it’s Catholic-affiliated? Or St. Vincent de Paul? What about other large businesses that routinely donate to charity too, because nobody is going to go look for a situation where they try to donate to a charity and instead it’s thrown back at them with near-libel in the newspaper (“blood-money” is fighting words, it’s not just some meaningless phrase).
Do you no understand the possible consequences that could extend to any Catholic-affiliated group and involving any big business that likes to donate to charity? This puts a stain on all of our groups if they acquire the reputation that they all "don’t want your ‘blood money’ " when many of them would be glad to receive a donation.
Like I said, I support their freedom to refuse donations, but the statements after the refusal are both short-sighted and imprudent.
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Dale_M
Guest
I agree that there was no need to publicly rebuke Walmart. A quiet correction to the misreported news would have sufficed to make a principled stand.
But Walmart seems to be taking it in stride
azstarnet.com/business/local/casa-maria-rejects-funds-from-walmart/article_efddf2ef-e543-5756-823a-a2bd7ddec932.html
Casa Maria, and perhaps other Catholic Worker houses, might have trouble getting unsolicited corporate donations in the future, though.
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curlycool89
Guest
And there’s that old adage that goes “don’t bite the hand that feeds you”.
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iloveangels
Guest
Whatever. They don’t owe you or anyone else any explanations. Period.
Suudy
Active member
Hmm, seems some small businesses welcome WalMart. From a local paper where I was living during the battle against WalMart:
news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2026&dat=20051021&id=WdgyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GPAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6589,2690512
Local small businesses in support of WalMart…
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Swiss_Guy
Guest
Fair enough, I stop. But I still think it is relevant.
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curlycool89
Guest
And that’s exactly what I said, they didn’t need to say anything.
I just think they should be a little more prudent, especially when it comes to anything that gets published.
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iloveangels
Guest
I agree. They should just glare and slam the door. No explanation required; no explanation given; got better things to do today.
The busybodies of the world need to go to something else with themselves. Life is not an episode of Jerry Springer no matter how much some people want it to be.
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Joe_5859
Guest
I’d be interested to see if the non-profit’s donations don’t go up because of the media coverage. How many of us would have heard of the place otherwise? Perhaps they’ll end up bringing in much more than Wal-Mart was going to give them.
It seems to me like the guy from the charity was just calling up the paper to correct the story and the paper decided to do another story just on that. I don’t know that he was necessarily seeking out the attention. But maybe I misread things.
It seems to me like the guy from the charity was just calling up the paper to correct the story and the paper decided to do another story just on that. I don’t know that he was necessarily seeking out the attention. But maybe I misread things.
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epan
Guest
It raises and interesting question. Let’s say that a known drug dealer offers to make a donation to a charitable drug treatment center. Should the donation be rejected.I’d be interested to see if the non-profit’s donations don’t go up because of the media coverage. How many of us would have heard of the place otherwise? Perhaps they’ll end up bringing in much more than Wal-Mart was going to give them.
It seems to me like the guy from the charity was just calling up the paper to correct the story and the paper decided to do another story just on that. I don’t know that he was necessarily seeking out the attention. But maybe I misread things.
Globalization has created great hardship in the US, and Walmart is on the leading edge of businesses taking advantage of the huge profits to be gained through globalization. If a business is not competitive in this respect, then it dies. So, the picture is not so simple. WalMart is more exploitive of its employees than many other large companies. The effect of a WalMart opening, is to put many small businesses under, and force their employees to accept lower wages. Does this make their profits immoral gains? And, what difference does that assessment make in considering whether to accept a donation from them?
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Cider
Guest
Tuscon is really liberal, I’m not surprised at all that a group there would reject Walmart’s donation.
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iloveangels
Guest
Here we go again with busybodying. It would be up to the charity to decide if they want the donation. NOT YOU. You have nothing to say about it and neither do I.
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epan
Guest
But apparently, you hold the moral high ground to tell others what their opinions should be? Is that a fair assessment?
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epan
Guest
Thank you for telling me what I should think. I was momentarily confused.
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curlycool89
Guest
I’m so sorry, the rest of us where trying to having a frank discussion about consequences and such. This thing called CAF happens to ben an internet discussion forum where we, well, discuss things from the important to the mundane because we feel like it.
But apparently you have taken it upon yourself to infallibly and dogmatically declare that there can be no more discussion on this because you said so. Apparently you are the censor deciding what is good or bad for us to talk about.
Frankly, if you don’t want to have (sometimes pointless) discussions about things then don’t join an internet forum. There is nothing banning the discussion of such a topic as this (to my knowledge at this persent time), so if you don’t want to discuss this topic then don’t. Stay out of the thread and don’t comment. If all you’re going to add is “none of you should be talking because none of you are part of this charity” then you are adding nothing to the discussion. As free agents, we are free to accept or reject your recommendation as we see fit, and if we choose to reject it and the moderators don’t close the thread, then we will continue to discuss it.
And if you don’t like that, then too bad. If you don’t have anything to say about it then don’t say anything. Meanwhile, the rest of us do, so if you don’t mind we’re going to have a discussion. If you want to join the discussion, then by all means please join, but if you have nothing to add then don’t add anything.
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