Sunday, January 4, 2009

Outside Reading Post 5

When learning about the many negative affect of drugs, we were introduced to the idea that the money spent on them world go to helping many illegal organizations around the world. My health teacher traced through the money that was spent on heroin would hurt the environment and help fuel wars, while also hurting your body. The idea of bad money is one that many people understand, and no ethical person wants to use the money a drug dealer made. Mortenson needed a lot of money to finance his many projects in Pakistan, and few Americans were willing to donate to his cause. As Mortenson saw his funds dwindle and became scared for the future of his organization, he accepted money from anyone that would donate to him. Mortenson thought of the conflict when he was paying his respects to Mother Teresa just after her death. He recounted how she had been criticized for he acceptance of money from corrupt persons, but Mortenson agreed with her actions (237). Mortenson saw how difficult it had been for him to collect even the 20,000 dollars he needed for a school, and understood Mother Teresa's actions.
Should money be accepted to help a good cause that came from a corrupt source? The point can really be argued either way. On one hand the money would go to help many people, such as the children the Mortenson was helping in Pakistan, and any money received would help. However, accepting the money indirectly contributed or supported the corrupt persons actions. Mortenson believed that the fact that the person donated the money may have showed a change in heart, and accepted any money thankfully. I agree that for the most part his actions spoke to the more ethical choice, however there will always be special cases that do not fit with his generalized assumption.

Mortenson, Greg, and David Relin. “Three Cups of Tea”. New York: Penguin Group, 2006.

2 comments:

Lida said...

Wow, your post really makes a person think. I've never really considered the question of whether or not it is right to recieve money from un immoral source for moral reasons. However, I'm a little unclear about how it relates to your book (maybe I should have read the other posts). What corrupt sources is Mortenson considereing taking money from? Or is it just a general question?

Samantha said...

I agree with Lida this post definalty makes one think. Personally I belive that money is money and if it's going to a good cause then it shows that the person lending it out may be trying to better the community. However, sometimes it depends on where the money is coming from, if its brought around because of murder or drug use, depending on the circumstances I think at these times it is indecent for people to take the money.