Never Strayed From Religion
As we mentioned earlier, Rockefeller’s mom was a devout Baptist, and her religious and moral beliefs rubbed off on her son. He applied them to his business dealings (in his mind) and to his children. The reason he liked charity was because of the Christian belief documented in the Gospel of Luke that ‘the more one gave, the more one would have given to him.’
John D. Rockefeller Sr. giving a dime to William Gebele circa 1930. Photo by Everett Collection / Shutterstock
A lot of Rockefeller’s donations were of a religious nature, and somehow, he saw no moral conflict between the ruthless way he conducted his business, and the act of sharing the wealth he acquired, oftentimes at other people’s expense. For example, when he eliminated the middle man delivering kerosene to customers cost hundreds of people’s livelihoods but increased profits for his company – which increased the money he could give to charity.