The World is Turning Me Into a Skeptic

The bible talks about the story of the good Samaritan who helped a stranger who lay at the side of the road dying after he was badly beaten and robbed.   How many of us today dares to do that these days?  Most of us fear that this is likely to be a trick and there will be robbers waiting to pounce on us if we were to stop and help.

There was also scandal of the t.v. evangelist – Jim Bakker.  Many people believed in him but at the end it turn out to be for the money.  

Nowadays, we see a lot of disasters happening.   Immediately, after these disasters, we see request for funds to help provide relieve victims.  How much of the funds that we contribute to these aid relieve actually reaches the victim if any.  I remember reading articles of people boasting how easy it is to make money by pretending to collect money for causes and how generous the public is in giving.

There was a time, when somebody approaches me and congratulate me for winning a competition or a prize, I would be ecstatic.  That time is gone, there are now so many scams going on.  Somebody can come to your door and tell you that you have won’t a prize and turn around and ask for deposit, or pay other fees to collect the prize.   Read the newspaper, the forums, you can see many examples of people falling for these scams and losing a few hundred dollars or even their life savings. 

There was a time when I used to play in the park or run around with the neighborhood kids.  Nowadays, how many parents dare to let their children out unsupervised?  With all the kidnapping, snatch thieves, mugging – it is not save anymore.  As a result, neighbors no longer know each other.  There are just less interactions between neighbors.  This is made worst with people staying in high-rise.    We are strangers to each other.

It used to be that if you find money on the ground, it is good luck.  However, I read that in certain parts of China, it is a trap.  If you see money on the ground and pick up; a group of people will surround you and accuse you of stealing and then will extort money from you before they will let you go.

Used to be drinking milk is good for you.  But as we know from the recent tainted milk from China, that is no longer true.

Each of the above incidents make me more skeptical about the world around me.  So next time somebody is suddenly nice to me and I don’t accept the treatment gracefully; please be patient, the skeptic in me is asking why?