Believing that Mortenson was telling the truth made it easy for people who want to do good” to donate to a “good cause” and thereby, by proxy, do good. We have it pretty good here in America, and there is a natural tendency to feel a pang of guilt for our good fortune of living in a place where, even in these tough times, it is so much easier to survive, and thrive, then in other places in the world. To absolve ourselves of our original sin of being born into such good fortune, and to absolve ourselves of guilt at our comfortably mundane lives, we give money to others to do good in our name. (this is not to say all charitable giving is motivated by this, or that charity is not virtuous)In essence, Mortenson serves as an individual and collective Christ figure. What a relief– he suffers, acts, and redeems us through his good deeds. We just have to have good values, feel bad, write a check, and absolution is granted. (Not intended to be negative about Jesus, just about those who are pretenders to the role.) Let’s be honest, we need the Mortensons of the world to make us feel better- that is why we want to believe, even if it requires suspended disbelief to do so.
