Differences in attitude and outreach

Just to share a story I heard. Not certain about the accuracy of it, but it cant be far off from the truth.

Remember the New World Hotel collapse? About thirty over people died in that accident.
As with all other disasters, religious groups will step forward to provide aid to the victims… well, it appears that a church came forth the next day, announcing that they will set up bursary funds for children whose parents perish in the building, to support their education, etc.

And then a temple stepped forth, to say that they will provide free prayer services for the deceased victims (I assume either during the wake or the lunar 7th month).

It was a very good example to me, of the differences in attitudes and outreach actions between the different religious groups. The different sort of needs that they perceived were required.

Both groups were right, in their own ways, but the general population will have a different interpretation.

Is the living more important than the dead?
Coming from my limited Buddhism knowledge point of view, I would say both are equally important. Maybe the western world/educated might think that the living matters more than the dead. But if there is a cycle of birth and death, if energy can never be destroyed, than both the living and the dead matters.

We will always “exist”, even in different forms after death (just think of energy). So it would be important to also take care of the dead. And for that, I applaud the temple, who had the foresight of providing for the “forgotten”.

Yet sometimes the shortsightedness in me will only see what is visible, in the present world, and think that the living is more important….