Friday, April 28, 2006
The Ruby Community proved McGovern wrong?
A little over thirty days ago, I made a challenge to the Ruby community in this blog entry and have finally been proven wrong. Now it is time to put my money where my mouth is...
Before I post facts, I wanted to thank the person who has taken the most adversarial position against my perspectives on Ruby which is David Heinemeier Hansson and his thoughtful response to a posting where I asked him challenging questions. The responses from James Robertson of Smalltalk fame have been equally enlightening.
I promised in an earlier blog to donate to charity. It is important though for me to explain what the real definition of charity is as most people don't practice it. I am firm in my belief that there is a distinction between charity and acts of giving money that are obligatory. Whether you are Catholic and believe in Tithing or are of the Islamic faith and give Zakat, this is not charity but a commandment from our creator and therefore is obligatory.
My family has a history of Diabetes, so giving to a "charity" that supports finding cures is not really charitable as I stand to benefit from the donation. Charity really should be about giving to causes in which the individual or their family members doesn't personally benefit and even should consider demographics outside of the one in which you belong. Imagine how much the world would improve if say folks of the Jewish faith donated to charities in Palestine or immigrants to the United States from India who now have high paying jobs were to donate to local homeless shelters and folks who aren't so lucky?
Since no one in the Ruby community ever indicated a preference as to once they prove me wrong, what charity they wanted me to contribute to, I have chosen two. I would have normally chosen a charity such as the American Family Association and their recent campaign to Boycott Ford but figured in this situation, I should do the exact opposite. For David, I will be making a contribution in his name to the Yes Institute. For James Robertson, I will contribute to Children of the Night. Hopefully, they will find these charities suitable.
Anyway, for the record, the Ruby Community actually didn't find a single fact to prove me wrong but at least it generated a lot of discussion. Hopefully, new insights will emerge and that they will consider alternative perspectives going forward...
| | View blog reactionsBefore I post facts, I wanted to thank the person who has taken the most adversarial position against my perspectives on Ruby which is David Heinemeier Hansson and his thoughtful response to a posting where I asked him challenging questions. The responses from James Robertson of Smalltalk fame have been equally enlightening.
I promised in an earlier blog to donate to charity. It is important though for me to explain what the real definition of charity is as most people don't practice it. I am firm in my belief that there is a distinction between charity and acts of giving money that are obligatory. Whether you are Catholic and believe in Tithing or are of the Islamic faith and give Zakat, this is not charity but a commandment from our creator and therefore is obligatory.
My family has a history of Diabetes, so giving to a "charity" that supports finding cures is not really charitable as I stand to benefit from the donation. Charity really should be about giving to causes in which the individual or their family members doesn't personally benefit and even should consider demographics outside of the one in which you belong. Imagine how much the world would improve if say folks of the Jewish faith donated to charities in Palestine or immigrants to the United States from India who now have high paying jobs were to donate to local homeless shelters and folks who aren't so lucky?
Since no one in the Ruby community ever indicated a preference as to once they prove me wrong, what charity they wanted me to contribute to, I have chosen two. I would have normally chosen a charity such as the American Family Association and their recent campaign to Boycott Ford but figured in this situation, I should do the exact opposite. For David, I will be making a contribution in his name to the Yes Institute. For James Robertson, I will contribute to Children of the Night. Hopefully, they will find these charities suitable.
Anyway, for the record, the Ruby Community actually didn't find a single fact to prove me wrong but at least it generated a lot of discussion. Hopefully, new insights will emerge and that they will consider alternative perspectives going forward...
