Tiptup said:... tries to pretend a "vow of poverty" (and worthless Mother-Teresa-style shit like that) has any value in the sight of God. Hard work aimed at wise productivity in a free market is far more pure and helpful than some supposedly high and lofty individual that spends her life obsessed with death and suffering (as apposed to someone who works hard to alleviate and heal death and suffering). You know this and, as such, running off to India would not be a righteous use of your energy and time (you would be doing what you know to be wrong).
I resent that comment. I have no idea why "Mother-Teresa-style" selfless living for others should be called shit. Sure it isn't for everyone, but to me it is just unbelievable that you'd claim a life is better spent living for youself and your family, working hard and productively in a free market society than it is living your life for others. Even more stupid is that you claim it has no value in the eyes of God.
I'd find it terribly inappropriate for somebody to leave their family in such an effort, but I find it indescribably admirable when someone who has no other family obligations (like a guy out of college, or a single individual) gives up their Xbox, their internet and their cell phones to go live and work with orphans in African villages without electricity or running water. When they see beyond their own lives and decide to live serving others. Please explain to me the part where that is shit? Or better yet, don't. Because I probably don't even want to hear it.
How exactly are you working hard to alleviate and heal death and suffering by working a 40 hour a week job and collecting a pay-check every two weeks? Do you think that kind of life has merit in the eyes of God? Taking care of family is something even animals do, why should doing what is natural to do be such a high and mighty thing to do? While we can say it is wrong to abandon your family in order to move overseas and help people, what is wrong if a whole family decides to move overseas to do something like this? Are they wrong in not contributing to the precious free market of American economy? Unrighteous because they are living off of the donations of others? BS!
Of course I see no merit in the self righteous actions of guys like Sean Penn or Bono, those guys are just ridiculous. If you are going to go help others with camera crews chronicling your every move and capturing your every "selfless" actions on film for people to gawk at and praise you about, then your motivations are pretty obvious.