Starfield:Charity in a Godless Universe: Part II

Charity in a Godless Universe

Amelia Sang

Part II:

My settlement was founded as a commune by the members of my family's church: a place where the congregation could worship in peace, without interference.

But word travels fast, and our small colony began to grow. Our success attracted those in need of help, and those with nowhere else to turn.

When I was 10 years old, I watched two officers lead a frail-looking man down our street. He had been stealing from our settlement's emergency rations. Our local security had been trying to catch the thief for weeks.

I asked my parents if the man was hungry. If he didn't have enough to eat, couldn't we feed him the same food he had been stealing?

My parents explained that while our settlement probably could afford to feed the man, stealing is a sin, and the thief must ask God for forgiveness. That night, my family gathered to pray for the soul of the man. They asked God to help him see beyond a life of sin.

That man's name was Edgar, and he didn't need our prayers. Edgar needed food, and work. Since no one gave him either, Edgar would be in and out of our settlement's prison for several years to come.