In what way is it sinful to help non-believers?

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fakename

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That is, is it ever wrong to help non-believers because they are non-believers?
 
No, unless you are encouraging them to persist in their non-belief.

We are, in Christian charity, to help all people in need. That is the basis of much of Catholic missionary work.
 
I suppose it depends on what you are helping them to do. If it would be wrong to help a Catholic in that way, it’s still wrong if they’re a non-believer.
 
OraLabora said:
No, unless you are encouraging them to persist in their non-belief.
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could anyone give some precise examples of this, for there are many ways to “encourage” people. For instance,roundabout, by selling food to a distributor who sells to someone who is a non-believer.
 
fakename said:
could anyone give some precise examples of this, for there are many ways to “encourage” people. For instance,roundabout, by selling food to a distributor who sells to someone who is a non-believer.
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I don’t see why you would think Catholic morality promotes keeping food from non-believers. :confused:
 
fakename said:
yes.

But what is the reason?
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What do you think Christ meant with the parable of the Good Samaritan? Despite the differences (religious or otherwise) we have with our fellow man we are still called charitable to them; for example I doubt feeding a starving Protestant or Muslim would make them continue rejecting Christ and His church as much as it would help them persist in living.

While in Auschwitz, a Polish Catholic asked St. Maximillian Kolbe if he should or should not give a piece of bread to a starving Jew. The Jews being viewed as the killers of Christ, each one with a personal guilt (as was thought at the time), the man was worried he would condemn himself to Hell. St. Kolbe told him that it would not, “for all men are brothers”.
 
You asked why? Here’s why:

*But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you… *Luke 6:27

and

The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:31
 
Crusading_Canuk said:
What do you think Christ meant with the parable of the Good Samaritan? Despite the differences (religious or otherwise) we have with our fellow man we are still called charitable to them; for example I doubt feeding a starving Protestant or Muslim would make them continue rejecting Christ and His church as much as it would help them persist in living.

While in Auschwitz, a Polish Catholic asked St. Maximillian Kolbe if he should or should not give a piece of bread to a starving Jew. The Jews being viewed as the killers of Christ, each one with a personal guilt (as was thought at the time), the man was worried he would condemn himself to Hell. St. Kolbe told him that it would not, “for all men are brothers”.
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well granted that we should love our neighbors, still how does that not conflict with other Catholic aims -like spreading catholicism?

For instance, if you feed a starving Jew, it is highly likely that he will live and if he lives, it is highly likely that he will continue to be Jewish. Does that not conflict with the mission to spread the church (which alone offers the path to human happiness)? Or is spreading the true religion somehow less important, than loving one’s neighbor? I’m sorry for my apparent thick-headedness but I am honestly quite confused by this.
 
As Paul tells us…we are to do good to everyone…and especially those of the household of Faith (see Galatians 6:10).

So we do good to all. Not just those of the household of faith…though we give them particular brotherly love etc…

Now are there things we should not help them with?

Yes of course. Sin.…or other things that are not for the good…such as spreading errors of their particular religion etc… (things like feeding them…or saving their lives…is not the same thing as giving them money to support the cause of promoting Islam)

Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1867 The catechetical tradition also recalls that there are “sins that cry to heaven”: the blood of Abel,139 The sin of the Sodomites,140 The cry of the people oppressed in Egypt,141 The cry of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan,142 injustice to the wage earner.143

1868 Sin is a personal act. Moreover, we have a responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them:
  • by participating directly and voluntarily in them;
  • by ordering, advising, praising, or approving them;
  • by not disclosing or not hindering them when we have an obligation to do so;
  • by protecting evil-doers.
 
By helping the nonbeliever you are promoting Christianity. Do your part of loving each other as Jesus commanded us, and show it by helping the nonbeliever. It is only up to that person having the free will that they were given to accept or reject Jesus, but you at least showed them how Jesus taught us to behave.
 
In the early Church…it was the charity of the Christians for even their quite pagan neighbors…which lead to the conversion of many…especially in the various plagues…where even the doctors ran for the hills and Christians took care of anyone in need.

Read this novel (not Tolkien…it is light reading…but I like it)

scepterpublishers.org/product/index.php?FULL=35
 
fakename said:
That is, is it ever wrong to help non-believers because they are non-believers?
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can you think of a situation where it might be wrong? what do you mean by “help”?
fakename said:
. For instance,roundabout, by selling food to a distributor who sells to someone who is a non-believer.
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please help me out here
what have your read or heard, in the bible or Catholic teaching, which makes you think it could in any way, shape or form, be wrong in any way at all to get sell food to “non-believers?” I don’t think you could have asked such a question unless someone has seriously been misleading you.
 
fakename said:
well granted that we should love our neighbors, still how does that not conflict with other Catholic aims -like spreading catholicism?

For instance, if you feed a starving Jew, it is highly likely that he will live and if he lives, it is highly likely that he will continue to be Jewish. Does that not conflict with the mission to spread the church (which alone offers the path to human happiness)? Or is spreading the true religion somehow less important, than loving one’s neighbor? I’m sorry for my apparent thick-headedness but I am honestly quite confused by this.
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Oh my! Doing good, charitable works for those of other or no faith is the Catholic church’s leading tool for evangelization. It is the basis of the whole mission philosophy. We don’t go door to door banging on people’s heads and demanding they convert by force. As the hymn goes, “they will know we are Christians by our love.” That includes love of all God’s children.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Paragraph # 2044
by the witness of the life of Christians. "The witness of a Christian life and good works done in a supernatural spirit have great power to draw men to the faith and to God

Also: Paragraph # 2105
5 The duty of offering God genuine worship concerns man both individually and socially. This is “the traditional Catholic teaching on the moral duty of individuals and societies toward the true religion and the one Church of Christ.” By constantly evangelizing men, the Church works toward enabling them “to infuse the Christian spirit into the mentality and mores, laws and structures of the communities in which [they] live.” The social duty of Christians is to respect and awaken in each man the love of the true and the good. It requires them to make known the worship of the one true religion which subsists in the Catholic and apostolic Church. Christians are called to be the light of the world. Thus, the Church shows forth the kingship of Christ over all creation and in particular over human societies.

We don’t evangelize men by withholding food or medical care or shelter. We evangelize by feeding the poor, binding the wounds of the sick, visiting those in prison, providing shelter from the cold, giving our coat to the shivering, caring for the disabled. We are called to be the visible Christ for the non-Christians. This is how we witness Christ to non-believers.
 
puzzleannie said:
can you think of a situation where it might be wrong? what do you mean by “help”?

please help me out here
what have your read or heard, in the bible or Catholic teaching, which makes you think it could in any way, shape or form, be wrong in any way at all to get sell food to “non-believers?” I don’t think you could have asked such a question unless someone has seriously been misleading you.
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From the Summa Theologica’s teachings, we are called to love our neighbor in his nature, not in his accidental qualities. And also, we are allowed to kill if the exigencies are too extreme. Now when we kill we don’t sin against loving our neighbor, so if we kill by starvation, its unlikely that we sin against loving our neighbor.

Also, to kill a sinner is not to hate a person according to his nature (as a person) but according to him being a sinner. So again, there’s no sin in that.

and finally, it is worse to love our neighbor above God. But God is opposed to falsehood and our neighbor teaches and believes what is wrong. So it would be wrong to help our neighbor as against God. So it would be wrong to provide material relief for our incorrect neighbor lest we go against what is right.
 
fakename said:
From the Summa Theologica’s teachings, we are called to love our neighbor in his nature, not in his accidental qualities. And also, we are allowed to kill if the exigencies are too extreme. Now when we kill we don’t sin against loving our neighbor, so if we kill by starvation, its unlikely that we sin against loving our neighbor.

**Also, to kill a sinner is not to hate a person according to his nature (as a person) but according to him being a sinner. So again, there’s no sin in that. **

and finally, it is worse to love our neighbor above God. But God is opposed to falsehood and our neighbor teaches and believes what is wrong. So it would be wrong to help our neighbor as against God. So it would be wrong to provide material relief for our incorrect neighbor lest we go against what is right.
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Am I the only one who is confused by this post?
 
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