Originally Posted by
fantom1
Its pretentious and arrogant to tell people what you think they are morally obligated to do.
Its even more so in a case where a person accepted kindness from a stranger and suddenly has a bunch of people on a BICYCLE forum jumping down their throats over it. Honestly, really?
i don't believe it is either pretentious or arrogant to extend one's belief and moral system onto others; ever heard of organized religion ?? i think we all, consciously or not, use our own values as the basis for how we see others.
from a moral standpoint, i am of the belief that we are all, in society, generally expected to be able to manage our own affairs. i would say that this is especially true of cycle touring,and its metaphor of life in general.
it seems, in this case and IN MY OPINION, the reactions here are based on the fact the "he" accepted a paid hotel room from a stranger when not in a desperate situation. what is not determined is whether or not "he" had the means to pay for his own affairs. assuming he did, he should have paid for his own way, even if the pastor was kind enough to locate said hotel room. accepting kindness from strangers (or offering kindness to a stranger) is, of course, a positive thing. taking advantage is quite another.
i'll extend that point a little further and refer to how many cycle tourists not only avail themselves of hospitality (i.e., Warmshowers), which is fine and great (i am a WS host...), but go out of their way to plan and structure their tours to utilize these "free' services as much as possible or entirely, almost to the point of abusing them. while many will say this is ok, that's what these sites are for, i believe this still goes against my idea of bike touring being a self-sufficient / independent endeavor. if you can't afford it, don't do it.