Mon 16 Jul 2007
Why Charity and Tithing Isn’t For Me
Posted by RichSlick under Money Management
[4] Comments
As I was reading the Sunday paper, I came across an AP that reported that the L.A. Catholic Diocese has shelled out $600 million dollars to settle their child abuse allegations. That’s not a typo, it is SIX HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS!
I wasn’t sure what really bothered me the most with this story. The fact that a church has $600 million in cash stashed away for lawsuits like this is somewhat ludicrous. Don’t they have something…er….more charitable to do with this money?
Other congregations seem to spend their tithing funds building that offer all the amenities of a gym, health spa, entertainment complex and more.
The United States is one of the richest countries in the world yet 40 million people don’t have health insurance and tithing or charity hasn’t seemed to solve this problem (or many other problems) despite billions given.
What’s the solution? I prefer the “teach a man to fish” rather than “give a man a fish” philosophy so to that end, I spend a great deal of time lobbying the companies I’ve worked for to invest in training, incentives, and career advancement opportunities and out reach programs by providing internships to as many people as possible.
4 Responses to “ Why Charity and Tithing Isn’t For Me ”
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Pingback from Top 5 Things I Outsource in My Life and You Probably Should Too » Get Rich Slick
October 4th, 2007 at 10:32 am[...] 1 hour per day but it is worth it. I’ve written about my personal philosophy when it comes to charity and tithing, I’d rather teach a man to fish than give a man a [...]
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Pingback from Repost - Top 5 Things I Outsource In My Life » Get Rich Slick
June 9th, 2008 at 8:03 am[...] 1 hour per day but it is worth it. I’ve written about my personal philosophy when it comes to charity and tithing, I’d rather teach a man to fish than give a man a [...]
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Pingback from Resetting Goals For Yourself » Get Rich Slick
June 9th, 2009 at 8:03 am[...] those jobs “high risk low reward” and many of these organizations have questionable philosophies on what charity (or public office) really is that I just can’t bring myself to do [...]
July 16th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
I think your last paragraph answered your question about why giving to the charities you listed has not solved some of our social and economic problems.
Because, generally, people are lazy about their finances. They just want a quick mind-less answer or direction — “you tithe here, don’t think about it, just send it here.”
When in fact charity or tithing should be a “thought-out” process. I mean good investor thoroughly examine and process information about an investment before submitting money to it right? They then watch the investment carefully to make sure it is gaining or losing . . . and if it loses consecutively (not doing it’s job) then they pull the money out and put it in another investment vehicle.
Truly, we should be doing that when we give to charity and when we tithe. We should ASK and KNOW where our money is going . . . there are churches out there that have homeless shelters, feed the poor, have job placement programs (see GLIDE MEMORIAL CHURCH in San Francisco), build houses for the poor, have apartment complexes for the poor and generally try to make the world a better place for the cities they reside in.
Again, you last paragraph is very profound because if we did as you suggested with these charities (watch them closely and if they don’t perform withdraw and put the money in another social investment vehicle), then I think we WOULD see charity making a difference in our world.
Don’t be disappointed about the “concept” of giving, be disappointed in the lazy way that people have participated in charity.