Good Samaritans in other cultures and traditions?
September 16, 2024 9:20 AM Subscribe
Please tell me about non-Christian stories, legacies, traditions, and philosophies for helping the poor, hungry, and homeless?
I was raised evangelical Christian. At a young age, I learned of the good Samaritan, and that the Holy Spirit told the early church to sell all worldy possessions to help feed and cloth the poor and hungry. I often read those comic books and listened to those radio dramas and testimonies where individual healing came only through personal sacrifice by the Believer.
But, now, almost 40 years later, I don't believe in the existence of a spirit or salvation. Yet, these two stories are the emotional kernal of my sympathy for the many homeless and addicted people I see everywhere I go. So this has been on my mind.
Do other cultures or traditions have a "good Samaritan" story, calling all individuals to provide healing to any individual in need?
I am interested in any traditions outside of Charasmatic Evangelical Christian. I know many Christian sects are very devoted to charity and healing, and would be curious if they trace their charity to something besides the good Samaritan story.
I was raised evangelical Christian. At a young age, I learned of the good Samaritan, and that the Holy Spirit told the early church to sell all worldy possessions to help feed and cloth the poor and hungry. I often read those comic books and listened to those radio dramas and testimonies where individual healing came only through personal sacrifice by the Believer.
But, now, almost 40 years later, I don't believe in the existence of a spirit or salvation. Yet, these two stories are the emotional kernal of my sympathy for the many homeless and addicted people I see everywhere I go. So this has been on my mind.
Do other cultures or traditions have a "good Samaritan" story, calling all individuals to provide healing to any individual in need?
I am interested in any traditions outside of Charasmatic Evangelical Christian. I know many Christian sects are very devoted to charity and healing, and would be curious if they trace their charity to something besides the good Samaritan story.
This may not be exactly a story on the Good Samaritan model, but it's a story I've heard recently that comments on things in a way you may find connected. It's something that's recently been making the social media rounds as "something a Rabbi said", so there's a slight chance it's apocryphal.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:28 AM on September 16 [23 favorites]
Would the practice of Langar from Sufi or Sikh cultures qualify?
posted by straw at 10:39 AM on September 16 [2 favorites]
posted by straw at 10:39 AM on September 16 [2 favorites]
Charity is pretty core to the Islamic faith. Here is an overview.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:39 AM on September 16 [3 favorites]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:39 AM on September 16 [3 favorites]
It’s hard to pin it down to a specific religion or ethos, but the Chinese government has raised 700 million people out of extreme poverty in the last 40 years. At a societal level they decided it was important so communally they did it.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:01 AM on September 16 [1 favorite]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:01 AM on September 16 [1 favorite]
You may be interested in this article on almsgiving, and how it is dealt with in various religious faiths. In many cases stepping up to help those in need is not just an example to be followed, but an actual obligation.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:11 AM on September 16 [2 favorites]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:11 AM on September 16 [2 favorites]
In the more secular world, many people believe there is an ethical duty for those who have resources to use them to either give relief or hopefully uplift those who do not.
Some notable billionaires who have put their money where their mouth is are Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffett, and the Rockefeller family.
But that’s just the big fish. I and many of the people I volunteer with help people in need because we think it’s the right thing to do. Public service itself is a value.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:47 AM on September 16
Some notable billionaires who have put their money where their mouth is are Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffett, and the Rockefeller family.
But that’s just the big fish. I and many of the people I volunteer with help people in need because we think it’s the right thing to do. Public service itself is a value.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:47 AM on September 16
Suggest you read Old Path White Clouds compiled by Thich Nhat Hanh. It's collected stories of the life of the Buddha. Abundant acts of charity abound. Great book too!
posted by jasper411 at 12:22 PM on September 16 [1 favorite]
posted by jasper411 at 12:22 PM on September 16 [1 favorite]
Charity is also a core tenet of Judaism. (Other than Objectivism, I think it's pretty central to all religions and philosophies.) The Hebrew word tzedakah literally means "righteousness," but it's often translated as charity. Here's a historical overview. Maimonides, perhaps the greatest rabbi of the Middle Ages, famously described 8 levels of giving, from the worst (giving grudgingly) to the best (enabling people to be self-supporting, so that they do not need future charity).
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 12:30 PM on September 16 [4 favorites]
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 12:30 PM on September 16 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Although not necessarily specifically about healing, many cultures have stories and legends about hospitality to strangers and how you should treat the foreigner in your midst.
The Ancient Greeks, for example, had the concept of Xenia and one of the aspects of Zeus was Zeus Xenios, patron of travelers. The Greeks were one of many cultures that had stories about the gods traveling in disguise to see how the stranger was treated among the people and whether the laws of hospitality were honored (for example the myth of Baucis and Philemon found in Ovid's Metamorphoses).
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:59 PM on September 16
The Ancient Greeks, for example, had the concept of Xenia and one of the aspects of Zeus was Zeus Xenios, patron of travelers. The Greeks were one of many cultures that had stories about the gods traveling in disguise to see how the stranger was treated among the people and whether the laws of hospitality were honored (for example the myth of Baucis and Philemon found in Ovid's Metamorphoses).
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:59 PM on September 16
You might be interested in Graeber & Wengrow, The Dawn of Everything, for their account of Native American reactions to Europeans. The Native Americans were particularly bothered by European neglect of the poor. E.g. a French friar in 1632 said of the Wendat people:
“For our excessive and insatiable greed in acquiring the goods of this life, we are justly and with reason reproved by their quiet life and tranquil disposition. …They reciprocate hospitality and give such assistance to one another that the necessities of all are provided for without there being an indigent beggar in all their towns and villages.”
From another source, a man named Tom Newcomb writing in 1919:
"I never saw more kindness or real Christianity anywhere. The poor, the sick, the aged, the widows and the orphans were always looked after first… After every hunt, a good-sized chunk of meat was dropped at each door where it was most needed. I was treated like a brother; and I tell you I have never seen any community of church people that was as really truly Christians as that band of Indians."
posted by zompist at 3:38 PM on September 16 [5 favorites]
“For our excessive and insatiable greed in acquiring the goods of this life, we are justly and with reason reproved by their quiet life and tranquil disposition. …They reciprocate hospitality and give such assistance to one another that the necessities of all are provided for without there being an indigent beggar in all their towns and villages.”
From another source, a man named Tom Newcomb writing in 1919:
"I never saw more kindness or real Christianity anywhere. The poor, the sick, the aged, the widows and the orphans were always looked after first… After every hunt, a good-sized chunk of meat was dropped at each door where it was most needed. I was treated like a brother; and I tell you I have never seen any community of church people that was as really truly Christians as that band of Indians."
posted by zompist at 3:38 PM on September 16 [5 favorites]
Best answer: As a child, I read many Indian (often Hindu, sometimes Buddhist) folktales and myths, mostly via the Amar Chitra Katha line of educational comic books. Many of them included stories about the importance of altruism, and especially taking care of strangers.
You mentioned: "the Holy Spirit told the early church to sell all worldy possessions to help feed and cloth the poor and hungry." This reminds me of stories told about the Hindu spiritual leader Ramakrishna: As a child, he loved giving stuff away. Once, his mom was so desperate to stop him giving away the family's stuff that she locked him in an upstairs bedroom. He got around that, though, because he opened the cabinet containing his mom's best sarees and dropped them out the window to give them away to poor people.
Separately: One folktale that sticks with me is the story of the half-golden mongoose.
A rich king conducts a gala prayer event to make a huge ritual sacrifice, generously giving away a ton of stuff to everyone who comes to the event. The attendees are astonished to see a mongoose whose fur is half regular and half golden, who rolls around on the ground a bit and then says "nope, still not as good as the poor family's sacrifice." And then explains:
posted by brainwane at 9:07 AM on September 17 [2 favorites]
You mentioned: "the Holy Spirit told the early church to sell all worldy possessions to help feed and cloth the poor and hungry." This reminds me of stories told about the Hindu spiritual leader Ramakrishna: As a child, he loved giving stuff away. Once, his mom was so desperate to stop him giving away the family's stuff that she locked him in an upstairs bedroom. He got around that, though, because he opened the cabinet containing his mom's best sarees and dropped them out the window to give them away to poor people.
Separately: One folktale that sticks with me is the story of the half-golden mongoose.
A rich king conducts a gala prayer event to make a huge ritual sacrifice, generously giving away a ton of stuff to everyone who comes to the event. The attendees are astonished to see a mongoose whose fur is half regular and half golden, who rolls around on the ground a bit and then says "nope, still not as good as the poor family's sacrifice." And then explains:
A stranger came to a family's doorstep and asked for a meal. The family, though poor, obliged. The stranger was not full after the family gave what it could comfortably share, so the family stretched its resources further, going hungry and straining itself in an effort to satisfy the stranger's appetite. The stranger revealed that this had been a test and the family had passed it, and rewarded the family heartily. A mongoose nearby rolled around in the few crumbs left from the meal and was astonished to find that half of its body had turned gold-colored, reflecting how virtuous the family's sacrifice was.So, ever since then, the mongoose has roamed around other sacrifices, hoping to turn the other half of its body gold. But is doubtful that this can be achieved.
posted by brainwane at 9:07 AM on September 17 [2 favorites]
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments