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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: one_less who wrote (210127)	12/7/2006 6:20:23 PM
From: Brumar89	Respond to of 281500

I think big donations to colleges - the kind that involve plaques, names on buildings, etc. are frequently given for egoistic reasons. However, I don't think most charity is given to garner influence, proselytize, or self promote (particularly for economic or political reasons). And that's especially true for religiously motivated giving imo. An example - I know of a working person now retired who has given more than 20% of his income for decades to religiously oriented charities (I've done his taxes for a long time - for free which is how I know). I know that no one except that man, his wife, and I know of it. Where is his ulterior motive? Which reminds me, I know of some folks who file elderly persons tax returns for free each year. They get no recognition for that. Ulterior motives - where are they? Do people who give blood to the Red Cross regularly do it to gain influence or self-promote? Or the people who donate a days work (painting a gym, picnic tables, bleachers, landscaping etc.) at a united way agency once a year? What do they get but sore muscles? Speaking of religious motivated giving since many here seem to know little about it, based on personal observation, I can tell you when people give money in church they generally have little envelopes they put it in with no markings on the outside - thats what is handed in and no one knows the amounts but a bookeeper or two. Now the primary way selfishness could be said to come in that I can see is that people get a good feeling from doing things for others. But I have trouble putting that down as selfishness.