True charity without strings :: The Daily Herald, Provo Utah

True charity without strings :: The Daily Herald, Provo Utah: "True charity without strings

The Daily Herald

Is it charity if you get reimbursed for your good works?

Logic says no, and so does the LDS Church and other private groups. Mormons will not be accepting money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the aid church members rendered in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
FEMA announced it would pay back religious groups that responded to the crisis on the Gulf Coast.

Many church-based groups were quick to respond to the disaster, in many cases moving faster and more efficiently than the federal government. FEMA reimbursement may seem a small way to say thanks, as well as for the government to take responsibility. But it's a bad idea.

Charity ought to mean giving without expecting something in return. After World War II, the LDS Church sent tons of food, clothing and other necessities to the people of war-ravaged Europe, expecting nothing in return, a stance that stunned President Harry S. Truman."