Comments about ‘In our opinion: Religious beliefs are partly why Americans are so generous’

In my experience in utah, a true philanthropic attitude toward giving is not as much a motivating factor as guilt, expectation, and the need to be seen keeping up with the next guy. It all works, however.

Giving money to your church so it can maintain buildings and pay its staff is no different than me paying my membership fees to a professional organization. In other words, it's not charity. What the report really showed is not that religious people are more charitable, but that religious people are more likely to donate money to their own church.

in regards to Hutterite (8:45 a.m. Aug. 22, 2012)...

Wow. That mirrors my 2 cents in not only charity but the rationale for the Lions share of behavior here in Zion.

My kudos to the DN for yet another religion is phenomenal article. Sarcasm off?

We can pat ourselves on the back because we give, on average, 10.6 percent of our income to "charity," including churches, but before we do, maybe we ought to redefine some terms. I do claim the tithing I pay as a "charitable deduction" on Schedule A of Form 1040, but I really don't consider it a charitable contribution. More realistically, it is some form of "institutional support." I do donate to the LDS Church's humanitarian aid program and its Perpetual Education Fund (although with the new donation slips the latter is no longer possible), both of which which I do consider charitable contributions. Anyway, for what it's worth . . .

Hutterite and Willington speak for themselves. It's high to be a judge of others. They have no idea why other individuals may or may not be charitable. Tithing status in most churches and charitable contributions need not be publicly known and therefore the Joneses don't know if I'm keeping up with them or not.

I am speaking only for myself. It would contradict the definition of opinion if I were to preach a sermon.

Tithing is not a charitable contribution in the sense of helping the less fortunate. It supports BYU/church educational system, maintains buildings/temples etc. So while church goers pride themselves for their charitable contributions, tithing should not be part of that picture.

What percent of money collected by churches actually goes to help the poor? We would want to know that figure of any charitable organization. Charity navigator rates charities on how they spend donations. Churches in the U.S. operate in the dark. Should we take it on faith that churches spend money appropriately or should churches be more open. I would vote for the latter, since churches are run by imperfect mortals. After all, isn't sunlight the best disinfectant?

Its nice to see that the Pharisees and Sadducees are alive and well in modern days. Judging and condemning others generosity because it doesn't fit your narrow definition of charity.

Charity is voluntarily giving something you have (time, talent, money) to someone else whether or not they "deserve it".

Sometimes it is nice to be recognized for helping others, but most charitable acts are done in secret. It is nobody's business but mine and God's (and the IRS's if I decide to take the deduction) as to how many dollars I give and to what causes I give them to.

Is guilt a mental defect? Of course not. We SHOULD feel guilty if we have been given much and do not strive to give back.

This exaggerated nonsense about expectations and impressing "the next guy"; are just malicious attacks against good people. No one knows what a person pays in tithing except one church leader and some faceless IRS worker. The "next guy" knows nothing about it.

Church buildings are used to serve others. So why would it be less charitable to give money to their construction and upkeep? Even Mother Teresa needed a place to do her work. I noticed that these hyper-critical comments didn't condescend to mention the millions that go to welfare programs and to disaster relief.

Even if every tithing penny went only to support BYU football, that would not mean that the tithing payers intended for it to go there. They paid it to please God and help others. If I donate to the Christian Children's Fund, I may have actually paid for gas in some doctor's BMW on his way to buy medicine. That doesn't mean that I donated the money to pay for someone's gasoline.

Ah, I have no way of knowing if the "Joneses" pay tithing or not, and if they do the Joneses simply tell the Bishop if they pay a full tithe or not...no checking tax returns, no looking at pay stubs, it's honor system, end of story. So no, it's IMPOSSIBLE for tithing to be about "keeping up with the Joneses."

And I know the bitter anti-Mormon & cynical types on here don't want to think of tithing as charitable, mostly because they simply don't like what the church is doing with it. Well, there are a LOT of charities out there that I don't agree with, but I still recognize that giving money to them is still charitable giving.

The LDS Church has done more for the good of humanity than any other single religious or secular institution in existence. You may not agree with that, but giving money to them is still charitable giving. Simply because you disagree with the Church doesn't magically make tithing a non-charitable "club dues fee".

"The LDS Church has done more for the good of humanity than any other single religious or secular institution in existence."

I sure hope Mr Romney leads with that statement next time someone asks him about his religion.

JoeBlow,

Unlike me, Mitt Romney is going to be representing all Americans, while I only have to represent myself. So I doubt he'll be saying something like what I am completely free to say.

That is true that religious belief drives donations to churches.

I can say I give happily but in the back of my mind in stark terms my choice is to give to my church or burn. I don't want to rob god.

So either way I guess is about religious belief. If I were a secular person I guess I would only be compelled by compassion and how much need I saw around me. Many times I wish I could give to more causes but I'm allready broke.

Screwdriver: Amen!