Goodwill finds

                   

At the goodwill you can find a plethora of odds and ends that are sometimes super confusing and random. I go to the goodwill often and each time I am there I look at all the religious stuff I can find. Over the course of the semester I was able to find 4 different religious objects that stood out to me. I found a religious T­shirt, a change purse with Mary and Jesus on it, a catechism book and a St. Teresa postcard. These items are blatantly religious. These Goodwill excursions bring up the question does something lose its religious value when it is found in a place like the Goodwill?

The Goodwill is a store that people donate the clothes and odds and ends that they do not need or want anymore. The objects you can buy at the Goodwill are usually much cheaper than they would be at the original store they were bought in. Does donating a religious object make you less religious or make the object less religious?

The objects I found still have the same inherent value they did if I bought them at the original store at the original price. Sometimes people think that the price of something determines its worth. However, it is the value that you put on the object that determines its worth. The catechism book still holds the items needed for a mass service. Just because it is cheaper does not mean it cannot be used to serve God. The person that donated the religious item is still religious. Maybe they got a new catechism book and there was no need for another one. Another question that can arise from the example of the catechism book is, is it ethical to donate a book or item of high religious value? To me donating a book or item of high religious value is not unethical because it might be giving someone who may not have the means to purchase the book or item the chance to delve into the same religious activities that someone else may be able to do.

The coin purse and the shirt are a different story to me. These are not sacred objects they are profane objects with a religious meaning to them. Finding them at the Goodwill may not be as bad as finding the catechism book. Maybe the shirt didn’t fit anymore or they had no need for a change purse anymore.

I personally do not think that donating the item makes it less religious or it does not make the person less religious. The value is personal and not inherent. If the new owner puts the value in it the value will stay.