Charity

(Caution...this is a more intelectual post, straying from my normal style)

I stumbled on this interesting book review article about a book called "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism".

(Personal note: Liberal does not equal Democrat and Conservative does not equal Republican. For example, I am a registered Independent and consider myself conservative.)

The compelling facts shared in the article (no doubt there are many more in the book) highlight what I have long felt was the hypocrisy and fallacious myth that somehow liberals are more charitable than their conservative counterparts.

You know the myth I speak of. The conservative is the cigar smoking, balding, old white male with a little bit of racist undertones in his behaviors. He's the oil tycoon who wants to kill all the whales. In the meantime, the liberal is the gentleman/woman who loves all people and just wants to solve social injustices.

For me it comes down to two ideological underpinnings:

• 1.) I believe my response to Christ's love is to love the world and to share any blessings I am given. 1.a.) Any monetary blessings I have are not mine, but are God's.
• 2.) I believe government by definition is innefficient. That is, the private sector (not-for-profits and for-profits) can serve the poor and needy much MUCH more effectively. Translation: If given the choice, I would willingly give my money and time to charity, rather than funneling it to the government and abdicating my personal responsibilty.

Many liberals on the other hand feel the government should collect money into a vast centralized pool, and distribute it from there. (Note to John Edwards: That might help the cultural "elites" sleep at night but it feeds a lot fewer mouths.)

Check out some of the facts in the article (and perhaps the book) and you may come away feeling (as I do) that many liberals talk-the-talk, but (speaking in a generalization) more conservatives walk-the-walk when it comes to helping the poor and needy through personal sacrifice. It's easy to give someone else's money away, but we should all remember God's personal calling for us.