Abortion

Runnin said:
I agree. I see a Christian community that has largely passed on taking a meaningful stands on poverty/economic inequality, compassion, non-violence and racial tolerance, all more central Christian ideals/morals I thought, for this relatively minor issue. It's easier to attack young, single mothers and a few doctors than the powers that be. It would be easier to join Christians on this issue if one saw them also fighting for the big issues that affect so many more people.

From a cynical point of view, abortion is the perfect issue for the right to take a sanctimonious stand on. It gets to decry the immorality of abortion while at the same time exacerbating the situation that causes it.
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It's anecdotal and we all tend to have confirmation bias but the Christians I know aren't the caricature you make them out to be. They are the ones operating soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters for abused women, clothing closets, and pregnancy crisis centers and seeking to heal racial divides in my community.
 
BedellBrave said:
It's anecdotal and we all tend to have confirmation bias but the Christians I know aren't the caricature you make them out to be. They are the ones operating soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters for abused women, clothing closets, and pregnancy crisis centers and seeking to heal racial divides in my community.
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Not anecdotal at all.

I'll try to find the study by Christians are by far the largest givers to charities in this country and its jot even close.

They also donate their time in volunteerism much more than any other group
 
The differences in charity between secular and religious people are dramatic. Religious people are 25 percentage points more likely than secularists to donate money (91 percent to 66 percent) and 23 points more likely to volunteer time (67 percent to 44 percent). And, consistent with the findings of other writers, these data show that practicing a religion is more important than the actual religion itself in predicting charitable behavior. For example, among those who attend worship services regularly, 92 percent of Protestants give charitably, compared with 91 percent of Catholics, 91 percent of Jews, and 89 percent from other religions.

https://www.hoover.org/research/religious-faith-and-charitable-giving

kinda dated 2003
 
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sturg33 said:
Not anecdotal at all.

I'll try to find the study by Christians are by far the largest givers to charities in this country and its jot even close.

They also donate their time in volunteerism much more than any other group
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You are right -- meant my perspective was. :-)
 
nsacpi said:
The differences in charity between secular and religious people are dramatic. Religious people are 25 percentage points more likely than secularists to donate money (91 percent to 66 percent) and 23 points more likely to volunteer time (67 percent to 44 percent). And, consistent with the findings of other writers, these data show that practicing a religion is more important than the actual religion itself in predicting charitable behavior. For example, among those who attend worship services regularly, 92 percent of Protestants give charitably, compared with 91 percent of Catholics, 91 percent of Jews, and 89 percent from other religions.

https://www.hoover.org/research/religious-faith-and-charitable-giving

kinda dated 2003
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Thanks friend. Runnin's view is something of an old saw.

I think for secularists, there's more of a reliance on government to be the provider. For my ilk, it's our calling. Yes, our taxes can be used, but so should our tithes and time.
 
BedellBrave said:
Thanks friend. Runnin's view is something of an old saw.

I think for secularists, there's more of a reliance on government to be the provider. For my ilk, it's our calling. Yes, our taxes can be used, but so should our tithes and time.
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Absolutely. One does not preclude the other.

At the risk of preaching to the choir, personal involvement is often very rewarding.
 
nsacpi said:
The differences in charity between secular and religious people are dramatic. Religious people are 25 percentage points more likely than secularists to donate money (91 percent to 66 percent) and 23 points more likely to volunteer time (67 percent to 44 percent). And, consistent with the findings of other writers, these data show that practicing a religion is more important than the actual religion itself in predicting charitable behavior. For example, among those who attend worship services regularly, 92 percent of Protestants give charitably, compared with 91 percent of Catholics, 91 percent of Jews, and 89 percent from other religions.

https://www.hoover.org/research/religious-faith-and-charitable-giving

kinda dated 2003
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From reading that I am guessing they count giving to their church to be charity. If they give 2,000 to their church in a year and they run a few lunch for homeless people one day doesnt mean they donated 2,000 to charity. I also think religious people are more likely to lie about giving.
 
BedellBrave said:
It's anecdotal and we all tend to have confirmation bias but the Christians I know aren't the caricature you make them out to be. They are the ones operating soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters for abused women, clothing closets, and pregnancy crisis centers and seeking to heal racial divides in my community.
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Many of the church goers I grew up with did and perhaps still do those things too, but then the majority of them go home, vote Rep and keep the cycle going.

I still find it telling that the abortion issue has become the one big issue where the political wing of the Christian coalition wants to take a public stand. Maybe it's an old saw because there's some truth in it.
 
If they are doing those things and are pro-life they are being consistent.

If others are pro-right-to-abort and don't actually put skin in the charity game, yet act like they actually care, what are they being?
 
cajunrevenge said:
From reading that I am guessing they count giving to their church to be charity. If they give 2,000 to their church in a year and they run a few lunch for homeless people one day doesnt mean they donated 2,000 to charity. I also think religious people are more likely to lie about giving.
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From the article:

"Some people might object to my conflation here of religious and nonreligious charity. One might argue, for example, that religious charity is more likely to take place for non-altruistic reasons than is nonreligious giving and volunteering: Religious people might give because of social pressure, for personal gain (such as stashing away rewards in Heaven), or to finance the services that they themselves consume, such as sacramental activities. Therefore, disparities in charity might disappear when we only consider explicitly nonreligious giving and volunteering. The sccbs data do not support this hypothesis, however: Religious people are more generous than secular people with nonreligious causes as well as with religious ones. While 68 percent of the total population gives (and 51 percent volunteers) to nonreligious causes each year, religious people are 10 points more likely to give to these causes than secularists (71 percent to 61 percent) and 21 points more likely to volunteer (60 percent to 39 percent). For example, religious people are 7 points more likely than secularists to volunteer for neighborhood and civic groups, 20 points more likely to volunteer to help the poor or elderly, and 26 points more likely to volunteer for school or youth programs. It seems fair to say that religion engenders charity in general — including nonreligious charity."
 
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