Unit B Week 4

Lecture Summary

The first evidence of organized charity emerged in the Middle East several thousand years ago. The moral codes and laws at the time have commonalities which have survived in the world's religions and philosophical traditions. There were taboos on killing, stealing, telling lies, and sexual misconduct (e.g. incest is a universal taboo). And these codified norms compelled people to suppress feelings of pride, maliciousness, coveting, envy, greed, and lust.

As societies developed, the phenomenon of sacrificial destruction gave way to the giving of alms (a gift of charity). Alms giving was a simple form of personal, and even anonymous giving. It took the form of giving food, taking personal care for others, and leaving things for anonymous consumption or for the gods. The giving of alms helped to mitigate the harsh economic realities of life and gave the giver empathy for the condition of the poor so they would feel a sense of solidarity with them. This mutual aid was a characteristic of the solidarity of the Jewish people. The Greeks and Romans expanded giving to a form of political economy. The morality of mutual aid and almsgiving is adopted as the sectarian morality of Christianity.

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