Would you volunteer/work for an odd place?

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aroosi

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Not long ago I had to renounce volunteering for an organization because they were trying to quietly fund/introduce a new program against Church teaching.
Now I may find myself soon in the opposite scenario. An organization openly criticized for certain ideological positions by the Catholic Church has a very interesting small project that is in line with Catholic teaching. I am very tempted to apply.
Would you?
 
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aroosi said:
An organization openly criticized for certain ideological positions by the Catholic Church has a very interesting small project that is in line with Catholic teaching.
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How can that be though?
 
aroosi said:
An organization openly criticized for certain ideological positions by the Catholic Church has a very interesting small project that is in line with Catholic teaching. I am very tempted to apply.
Would you?
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I’d have to know more, but I doubt it.
 
I prefer not to enter in many details but the organization has some educational/outreach programs that definitely are not ok for Catholics, but some other educational/outreach programs very interesting and more ‘neutral’ from a religious/ideologic point of view and definitely not against Catholic teaching.
 
It depends on the situation, the organization, what I’d be asked to do, and whether there’s any chance I’d be asked to do something against my religion or otherwise somehow support something I don’t believe in. Also whether the organization is so notorious for anti-Catholicism that it would be scandalous for me to work there (e.g. Planned Parenthood).
 
aroosi said:
the organization has some educational/outreach programs that definitely are not ok for Catholics
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Then, no.

There’s no such thing as a little bit pregnant or a little bit poisonous.

If they are actively and publicly promoting or doing work that is against the moral law, volunteering in some other capacity at that organization probably gives scandal and would be a no-go.
 
Ask them the pertinent questions. If they don’t give you straight answers, don’t apply with them.
 
aroosi said:
I prefer not to enter in many details but the organization has some educational/outreach programs that definitely are not ok for Catholics, but some other educational/outreach programs very interesting and more ‘neutral’ from a religious/ideologic point of view and definitely not against Catholic teaching.
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Without details, it is difficult to answer. But my feeling is that even a broken clock is right twice a day. Planned Parenthood MIGHT do something good somewhere in its existence. Maybe some employee somewhere advised a scared girl to talk to her parents. I don’t know.

But I still am not going to work for an organization whose primary mission is to kill unborn children.

Think of the old story about brownies made with the finest ingredients–but a smidgen of dog poop baked in. Would you eat them?

If this organization in general is going against Catholic teaching, no I wouldn’t work for them.
 
Just for the record. The organization I am talking about is NOT Planned Parenthood (ot any other abortion related organization).
 
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I would think more details are required for anyone to comment.

To illustrate, many Planned Parenthood centers offer physical exams and cancer screening for men.
 
What would happen if you were up front with the volunteer coordinator?

“I have to be honest. I have some faith-based opposition to X, which I know your organization actively promotes. Even though I won’t be directly working with X, do you see my convictions as posing any conflict with my volunteering here?”

Neither you nor the organization would want a bad match. If you feel too awkward asking this, at least ask yourself how s/he might respond.

Are there any other organizations doing something similar? Could you launch something on your own?
 
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I think it’s impossible to say without having more details, which you are unwilling to share, presumably for good reasons. All I would say is that I wouldn’t rule it out entirely. For example, I feel unable to be an individual member of Amnesty International. I also would not support Amnesty financially. However, I am more than willing to cooperate with Amnesty on specific campaigns against the death penalty, corporal punishment, torture, arbitrary detention, abridgement of freedom of speech, etc. In short, I’ll do anything I can to support most Amnesty campaigns but will not actually join the organization or give them money, as I do not wish to support their policy on abortion. However, I can recognize where good work is being done and see no problem with strategic partnerships where Catholic and non-Catholic agendas coincide. On the other hand, if the local chapter of the Klan started a soup kitchen, I doubt I’d sign up to volunteer there.
 
As others say difficult to answer without more details but if any of the company is against Catholic principles it wouldn’t be a good idea to work there as even if your project isn’t then you are still making a profit for the whole organisation. Also you don’t know how you might get drafted into other projects in the future or joint projects. It sounds like a slippery slope to me, but only you can know the situation fully. Its reasonable you don’t want to give full details on an internet forum. Perhaps discuss it with your priest, there may well be finer points that the details contain which make the decision suitable for you. Pray on it as God is your first go to, if he wills it there will be a way. God bless you.
 
Thank you all for the feedback. After posting here I decided to do some more in deep search about the project and the organization (that I visited once a long time ago in a semi-professional role and seemed ok). To make a long story short I found the public Twitter account of the person responsible of the project and of part of the organization. What I found was very disturbing. I decided to abandon the idea to apply there. A part of me is still hoping to start something similar in a more neutral settings but I don’t have the right connections/funding so for the moment I just leave it to the Mercy of God. Thank you again.
 
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