I see it again and again. A person receives a "good deed", and they become TOTALLY blind to what a company, organization, political party, religious group, priest, or other public person does in the future. It's as if that good deed, that piece of advice, that website URL, that booklet or book, is a "get out of jail free card" for the rest of their life. That little act of kindness earned them a life-long slave of sorts. What a deal!
Nostalgia is a powerful drug! And perhaps gratitude is a powerful drug as well?
How many times have YOU seen this in YOUR life: (I've seen it many times, it's becoming quite a pattern to me)
Joe Catholic converts to the Faith thanks to various efforts of Fr. John (usually something small, like a good word, some advice, a book, 10 minutes of their time, etc.), and now Joe Catholic goes out of his way to defend Fr. John, even if the latter gets ensnared in a scandal involving altar boys -- or something equally grave. Perhaps heresy, schism, or slander against good Catholic prelates. "But Fr. John gave the Last Rites to my parents, so I will be FOREVER IN HIS DEBT. I don't care WHAT grave sins he commits which cry to heaven for vengeance. I will always have his back, because he helped my parents/wife/family members to convert/prepare for a good death/etc."
Can't we be grateful, decent individuals without becoming COMPLETELY BLIND to present/future evils in the person?
Or Mary Convert was going astray, and this or that layman or priest gave her a book or a tract, or a few webpages which set her on the path to the True Faith and perhaps salvation itself. Now NO AMOUNT OF DEFENSE IS TOO MUCH. Even if that layman or priest has serious, grave issues that need attention.
Sorry, but giving a homeless man some money does NOT make up for living in concubinage! Come on, can anyone REASON anymore? Is everything just emotion, feelings, and living on the level of feelings like a dog?