Gates, Giving, and Gullibility

There are far too many Christians who are woefully ignorant of things they really should know something about. And there are far too many believers who think that good intentions alone are sufficient to justify a particular course of action. Often these two deficiencies coincide, and believers find themselves supporting all sorts of things which they should not be supporting at all.

There really is no excuse for ignorance in our information age, with so much info-sharing technologies available to us. And good intentions are never sufficient to determine how we should act. One can mean well but still push a course of action which may do more harm than good, or result in disastrous consequences.

Christians of all people should be discerning, wise and careful in what they promote and support, including what they help to finance. We should be careful in where our money is going, and make sure it is not subsidising causes inimical to biblical principles.

Sadly I have heard of far too many Christians praising various organisations in the naive belief they are doing some good and are worth supporting. Yet do they really know what these groups are up to, and how they spend the money these gullible Christians are happy to pour their way?

As one example, I often hear of Christians praising things like the work of Bill and Melinda Gates, believing they are doing such fine work in helping the poor, etc. But do they actually know what this Foundation is up to? Do they care where their money is in fact going to?

Last year I discussed a conference the Gates were involved in, which focused on contraceptives and abortion rights. Wendy Wright discussed this at the time with these words: “‘What are women’s attitude toward children,’ I asked a representative from a Sierra Leone family planning organization.

“‘Before the war, they were negative. Now they are positive.’ ‘Do they want children?’ I clarified. ‘Yes, they want children. They need to learn their rights. When they learn their rights, they won’t want children.’ He was among the select invited to London to witness the parade of African presidents, Asian and European leaders and drug companies make promises at the Summit on Family Planning that concluded in London on Wednesday.

“The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, along with International Planned Parenthood Federation and the UN Population Fund convened the Summit as a platform for government leaders and pharmaceutical companies to commit to supply funds and access to contraception.

“Much of the audience was those who stand to benefit richly from the multi-billion dollar windfall. Family planning groups were partners in organizing the event and will implement Melinda Gates’ vision. Many of the groups have a sordid association with abortion and population control.”

Denise J. Hunnell, M.D. discussed this fixation on flooding the developing world with contraceptives and abortifacients such as Depo-Provera. She said, “In promoting her cause, Ms. Gates links her efforts to expand contraceptive use to the fight against HIV/AIDS. However, use of an injectable contraception offers no protection against HIV transmission. In fact, researchers from the University of Washington studied women in Africa and found that the use of DMPA doubled the transmission rates of HIV.

“They cited three mechanisms to account for this increase. First, the hormonal contraceptives cause the vaginal lining to thin and develop small tears that increase the exposure to HIV during sex. Secondly, the hormonal contraceptives weaken the immune system and reduce a woman’s ability to repel HIV infection. Finally, women who are HIV positive and take hormonal contraceptives shed more HIV virus, making them more infectious.

“Clearly, increased use of an injectable hormonal contraceptive is not going to help the fight against AIDS. Hormonal contraceptives are also associated with a significantly increased risk of breast cancer. In a 2012 study published in the Journal of Cancer Research, researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center looked specifically at DMPA and found that it doubled the risk of breast cancer.

“Pushing for expanded use of a drug that doubles the breast cancer risk in developing countries with limited capacity for routine screening for breast cancer is illogical and borders on reckless. So why would the Gates Foundation advocate such a medically risky solution to the poverty of developing countries?”

And the Gates Foundation is still up to its ears in promoting all this, as William F. Jasper recently wrote about: “The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is taking fire from leaders of Black organizations and human rights advocates for funding and promoting a new form of the controversial contraceptive Depo Provera, particularly aimed at women in Africa and developing countries.

“Melinda Gates, wife of Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, recently told the New York Times that she is championing wide distribution of the drug as a result of talking to poor women around the world. But Kwame Fosu, policy director for the Rebecca Project for Human Rights, says Mrs. Gates’ claims are ‘disingenuous’ because the women she claims to be helping are not being informed about the dangers involved.

“’No African woman would agree to being injected if she had full knowledge of the contraceptives’ dangerous side effects,’ Kwame Fosu told C-FAM, the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute. ‘In fact,’ claimed Fosu, ‘in countries where women are educated on the harmful complications, Depo Provera use is negligible.’

“’Depo Provera (made by the Pfizer Corporation), the most deadly contraceptive (according to the FDA), is being marketed with malice and forethought at our precious women and girls of African descent world wide,’ said Dr. Randy Short, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Rebecca Project for Human Rights, in a scathing statement earlier this year exposing the Gates-Depo Provera scheme.

“’Many nations have outlawed it, but it continues to be used in the USA, the Caribbean, Oceania, Latin America, and Africa,’ Dr. Short noted. ‘The use of Depo Provera,’ according to Short, ‘contributes to and in several cases causes life threatening diseases and medical problems: cervical cancer, breast cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, stroke, heart attack, sterility, miscarriages, HIV/AIDS, Chlamydia, and other STIs/STDs….’

“Dr. Short notes that ‘the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation got into trouble in Niger with some vaccination project being done on 180,000 African women. The Gates know that the drug is deadly. Mr. Gates’ father was an ardent eugenicist’.”

Jasper concludes, “As we have reported previously in The New American, Bill and Melinda Gates are members of a secretive, elite clique calling itself ‘The Good Club,’ composed of billionaire eugenicists who champion population control. The members of this group include David Rockefeller, George Soros, Warren Buffett, Michael Bloomberg, Ted Turner, and Oprah Winfrey.

“The Good Club is a major backer of the Obama administration’s Global Health Initiative, which is working, among other things, to further empower the World Health Organization, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and other United Nations agencies and programs.”

Yet how many uninformed or uncaring Christians are not only applauding the work of the Gates Foundation, but are actually supporting it financially? As I said, ignorance is just not an excuse anymore, and good intentions alone just do not cut it.

So when will God’s people wake up and start being a lot wiser and more biblically discerning as to who they endorse and who they financially support?

http://www.c-fam.org/fridayfax/volume-15/gates-summit-raises-billions-for-abortion-groups.html
http://cnsnews.com/blog/denise-j-hunnell-md/melinda-gates-false-and-dangerous-solution-poverty
http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/health-care/item/16799-gates-foundation-pushing-dangerous-contraceptives-on-black-populations

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10 Replies to “Gates, Giving, and Gullibility”

  1. It’s a timely reminder Bill. I remember your previous article about this entitled “Do You Know Where Your Money Is Going?” in 2012 which highlighted the widely supported charities that are involved in heinous practices. There are so many ‘charity’ organisations which naive Christians support – it truly frustrates me the lack of knowledge, and the unwillingness to do the slightest bit of real research into what these charities support. And the other aspect to research is the percentage overhead which the charity takes of donations, even with charities doing good work, can be ridiculously high (ie Oxfam, World Vision etc.) often because those at the top are getting enormous salaries.

    It really isn’t hard to take a couple of hours to research, particularly as there are some wonderful missions that Christians should be supporting over worldly charities. As with the parable of the talents, surely our Lord won’t be happy with a lazy or unbiblical approach to sowing seed.

    I’d also add, that this extends to the operation and performance of boards in Christian organisations. I have been privy to (and currently involved in hopefully changing one) Christian organisations that have squandered the inheritance of the founders who often gave so much of their lives and life savings to establish fine godly ministries with much fruit, only to see them wither and die many years later, with some organisation and properties being handed over to other money-centred people/outfits for pennies. The death of great ministries through ignorance, pride and/or self-interest is unfortunately so common that it is a crying shame.

    Garth Penglase

  2. So many useful idiots supporting a cause that undermines what they believe.

    Ian Nairn

  3. Thanks Bill for highlighting this issue of giving. The best course of action is for people to either give directly to their local church for the church to decide where to direct the money, or to give to an organisation/cause approved by their church (eg TEAR Australia and Barnabus Fund, in my case). This takes the burden off the individual in deciding the merits of a paricular cause. This principle of central giving is shown in the New Testament where the Apostle Paul collects an offering from all the churches to assist those Christians suffering because of the famine in Jerusalem. He also invites representatives of each church to go with him to see how the money is distributed (1 Corinthians 16:1-4).

    Sid Avery

  4. Sid I’d agree with what you say (and Barnabus Fund are a great charity), but you are speaking from the point of view of someone who attends a church that is making the correct, prayerful and godly decisions about where it places money.

    There are plenty who don’t, and lead/represent their people without such accountability and foresight. However churches/ministries that line up with a godly missionary vision are a powerful force in the spiritual war of which we are part.

    Can I suggest that it still requires us to ask the question personally, to determine where we should place our seed according to how we are led by God. In that way we are accountable for our actions, and likewise our leaders/representatives are accountable for theirs.

    Can I suggest a very good book to read on this issue is K P Yohannan’s book “Revolution in World Missions” – it’s not just about him and GFA, but about how we are all part of the Body, and need to be subject to God according to His will in regard to our missionary activity and giving, and how we should be supporting the persecuted church and the spreading of the gospel through natives in all lands, and challenges us in our own lives to find our place in that.

    Garth Penglase

  5. Jo, great godly ministries abound. It depends on what you believe God is calling you to support or be active in.

    Iris Ministries https://www.irisglobal.org/? (Rolland & Heidi Baker)
    CFI http://www.cfaithministries.org (Kent & Ruth Hodge)
    Gospel for Asia http://www.gospelforasia.org.au/? (K P Yohannan)
    are three of my favourites as they are bleeding edge ministries solely occupied with a Christ-focused gospel.
    Barnabas Fund and Open Doors, amongst others are actively and directly supporting our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ.

    Closer to home are local organisations involved in the war on abortion such as Right To Life and Project Ultrasound, and ministries reaching the homeless (Salvos Street Level etc.) with the gospel.

    And last but not least there are individuals that you can support in these fights such as Melinda Tankard Reist and our very own Bill Muehlenberg who constantly place themselves under persecution for the truth.

    But whatever you are drawn to, the underlying focus should be on changing the world through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not on social welfare programs. Because, ‘the poor will be with us always’ however our commission is to reach the lost and the world is only changed as hearts are changed.

    Garth Penglase

  6. Hi Bill thanks for your ever wise words. Only this week i read about Drs without Borders now being involved with pro abortion group to ensure safe self abortion (chemical). Using medium of cartoons to explain. I used to have so much respect for them. Not any more.
    And yes true we should be alert to where we donate.
    Keep well and God bless .
    Anne Lastman

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