Ethics & Raising Money

This afternoon, someone called our home and asked to speak to my wife. Since I am very skeptical of people who call & ask to speak to my wife, I asked him to identify himself. He said he represented a Christian legal organization (he gave the specific name of the organization, well-known in Christian circles, but I am not going to identify the organization). I told him that he could talk to me instead of my wife. He asked if I would listen to a message from the founder of the organization in order to add my name to a petition concerning the Freedom of Choice Act, a pro-abortion initiative. I agreed and listened to the brief message. Then another representative spoke to me about signing the petition, which I agreed to do since I support pro-life issues. Then the real reason for the phone call: he asked for money. He claimed that his organization was the "last line of defense" on this issue, and he claimed that, if I gave $100 or $200, another person/group would match the money, thereby theoretically doubling their money.

By this point, I was disgusted with what I was hearing. The only time I ever hear from Christian organizations is when they want money. And they use whatever the current "hot-button" issue is to pump Christians for money, exaggerating the importance of their organization in order to get more money. Later, my wife told me that they had called her several times over the past few days, giving her the same pitch for money (which she declined).

Is this legal? Yes. Is it ethical? I think it is pushing the limit of what is ethically appropriate, especially for Christian organizations.

1. Exaggerating the importance of the Christian organization

2. Not stating the real purpose of the phone call until several minutes into the conversation

3. Not identifying themselves right away, but waiting until asked

4. Using current events to raise money, playing on fear and frustration

We wonder why our society is skeptical, even antagonistic, to Christianity. Here's one reason why: Our ethics do not appear to be any better than nonChristian groups. But, of course, we do it all for Jesus Christ, so that justifies what we do. I wonder—We complain about the lack of respect Christianity has in Western culture, yet how much of this lack of respect have we brought on ourselves?