{"id":83768,"date":"2020-03-21T20:09:28","date_gmt":"2020-03-22T02:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=83768"},"modified":"2020-03-22T21:01:02","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T03:01:02","slug":"coronavirus-church-is-helping-iran-italy-china-and-13-other-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/03\/coronavirus-church-is-helping-iran-italy-china-and-13-other-countries.html","title":{"rendered":"“Coronavirus: Church is helping Iran, Italy, China and 13 other countries”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Tehran,<\/a>
Tehran is much more populous, of course, but, during my stay in the city, I was struck by the area\u2019s resemblance to Salt Lake City and the Wasatch Front. \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anybody out there who is still zealously stuffing illustrative examples into his or her Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em> is likely to feel himself or herself in proverbial \u201chog heaven\u201d these days. \u00a0And I\u2019m happy to help. \u00a0Consider this specimen, for example:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCoronavirus: Church is helping Iran, Italy, China and 13 other countries with medical supplies, ramps up food production\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDue to its global reach and long trajectory, this emergency situation is like no other. \u2026 We believe that there is hope and that the best way to cope with emergency situations is to help each other,\u201d according to Latter-day Saint Charities.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s a story from slightly more than two weeks ago, before the coronavirus seized control of most headlines:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cElder Bednar Makes Historic Visit to Sudan\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think that this is an excellent question:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJana Riess: What kind of people will Latter-day Saints be in a global apocalypse?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And then, back to the theme of the misery that religion invariably visits upon humankind, there\u2019s this horrific specimen, out of Singapore:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMuslim Charity, Mosque Raise Funds for Coronavirus Victims\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And this outrage, from Scotland:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAsiyah and Jawad own a corner shop in Scotland. They are giving away kits to the elderly to help fight the #coronavirus\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And this one, from a different area in Scotland:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCorner Store Owner Gives Away More Than $6,000 in Free Goods to Seniors Preparing for Quarantines\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Please notice the names of the shopkeepers in these last two examples.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you would like to learn about the organization Islamic Relief USA<\/em>, you can do so at this site:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Islamic Relief USA<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here are some Islamic quotations on charity:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t feel ashamed when giving little for charity; that is because there is always goodness in giving no matter how little.\u201d \u00a0(\u2018Ali b. Abi Talib)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cConvert your wealth into good deeds that will follow you into the hereafter by just spending it as charity. If not it will leave you as you leave this world.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGod is not unfair by making some people rich and others poor; it is God\u2019s way of testing the fairness of those He gave more.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you give someone charity, be thankful to them. You may be fixing their life in this world, but they are fixing your life in the next.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the Creator blesses you financially, don\u2019t raise your standard of living, rather raise your standard of giving and helping to needy and poor people.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not fear poverty. Rather fear of being rich because the more you have, the more you will be accountable for.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Incidentally, a health care expert who is prominently involved in Utah\u2019s response to COVID-19 and who is also a reader of this blog (when he can catch a moment of leisure these days) has shared with me (and other readers) his lack of enthusiasm for the two articles on the subject that I recently recommended (and sought feedback concerning)<\/a>. \u00a0(See the comments of Sam LeFevre\u00a0here<\/a>.) \u00a0And, separately, another reader, physician who is on the very front lines of dealing with respiratory illness in my adopted home state of Utah, has expressed cautious optimism based on his own experience of the past few days. \u00a0(See the comment of baxter999 here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I thought that you should know.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Anybody out there who is still zealously stuffing illustrative examples into his or her Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File is likely to feel himself or herself in proverbial \u201chog heaven\u201d these days. \u00a0And I\u2019m happy to help. \u00a0Consider this specimen, for example: \u00a0 \u201cCoronavirus: Church is helping Iran, Italy, China […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1809,8031,9108,66,2905,788,1769],"class_list":["post-83768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-islam","tag-latter-day-saint","tag-mormon","tag-muslim"],"yoast_head":"\n"Coronavirus: Church is helping Iran, Italy, China and 13 other 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