One day this past July, I logged onto my Facebook, took a scroll down my newsfeed, and was unexpectedly assaulted with a video (thank you, Facebook’s autoplay feature) of a few girls dumping buckets of water over their heads, screaming, “Ice bucket challenge!”
T
he what? By now almost everyone has heard at least something about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, designed to raise awareness and support for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. A person is given a choice: either dump a bucket of ice water over her head or make a donation to the ALS Association (ranging from $100 to $10 to “a donation of any amount”). She then posts a video online, challenging friends to do the same.
ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a crippling disease affecting around 30,000 Americans each year. It causes the body to fail, eventually leading to death. A person will start losing muscle function, first in his legs and hands, later in his throat, until finally he asphyxiates. The disease shows no discrimination against gender, race, ethnicity, or socio-economic status. There is currently no known cure.
This in itself is enough motivation to care about ALS, isn’t it? Thanks to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, $115 million has been raised for the ALS Association this year, which provides aid to those affected by the disease and conducts research in hopes of soon finding a cure. Let me be clear in saying that this is a good thing. Aren’t we as Christians especially called to serve others with acts of charity? Shouldn’t we strive to be aware of the world’s needs and do our part to help?
And yet, I did not donate, nor did I film a video of water being dumped over my head for all of my Facebook friends to see. No, I’m not a heartless heathen—but I have a list of charities I support every year and it isn’t feasible for me to support everything. I can’t help but worry that some who jumped into the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge with guns ablaze will now feel less obligated or unable to help other charities they may have previously supported. I wonder what kind of impact this challenge will have on the equally important charities that didn’t go viral.
Additionally, think back to that first video I stumbled upon, with the girls gaily informing me of the Ice Bucket Challenge. Nowhere in their video or Facebook posting did they say a single thing about ALS. If I had asked, I’m fairly certain they wouldn’t be able to tell me any information about the disease. I had to wonder, did they themselves even know what they were doing this for? Did they realize the whole point is to shock your body into stillness with freezing water, mimicking the symptoms of ALS? Did they care at all about the need to raise ALS awareness? Countless videos I personally watched merely said, “Ice Bucket Challenge! Do it or donate!” without any further information or explanation. This isn’t to say all, or even the majority, of these videos were so flawed. Yet, this is what happens when charity becomes a trend and not a heartfelt desire—we see some people joining along for the ride while missing the meaning entirely.
Then there’s this idea of “donate or dump water on yourself.” Why the or? Why are we treating this challenge like a choose-your-own-adventure book? Of course not every person has the means to donate money; the option to raise awareness for the cause even if you can’t financially support it was a great idea. Why not word it, though, to dump the water over your head and give a donation if you are able? I feel this challenge has a tendency to turn charity into an avoidance tactic, a coerced measure—you’d better just give the money so you don’t have to do something unpleasant!
Support for the ALS Association is a great thing. However, we must consider the impacts of this type of “challenge.” It shouldn’t be a fun trend, completed with ignorance, or a pressured act we begrudgingly agree to do. With an attitude like that, true service and charity are overlooked and undervalued.