Shocking and disgusting discovery. . .

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ May 1 2007, 02:25 AM) [snapback]433102[/snapback]</div>

Specially when they come from an interest group and they are not published in a journal but in a book...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ May 2 2007, 02:47 AM) [snapback]433813[/snapback]</div>

I didn't accuse you of not doing volunteer work. I just suggested you go do some instead of posting crap.

 

Putting aside the fact the people are shades of gray and not black/white, conservative/liberal, etc....

I would wager a bet that if you took a sample of say 1000 liberals and 1000 conservatives, you would find that not only would the conservatives have donated 30% more to "charities" (a loose term), but also that those same conservatives are more wealthy than the liberals by the SAME %.

If you want to have statistics that show charity donations, it should be as a % of wealth, not straight amounts. A CEO making millions might donate 1% of their salary, and it would be more than a common liberal makes in a year.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zapranoth @ May 1 2007, 07:19 PM) [snapback]433603[/snapback]</div>

You're right. You should judge people by their actions.

But donating to charity does not make up the totality of a person. What about promoting bigotry towards homosexuals and minorities, advocating an agenda to withhold women's reproductive rights, holding fast to an outdated allegory of genesis vs teaching scientific thinking to our kids, and steadfastly adhering to a "christian" administration that promotes war not peace, business interests instead of helping the poor, and destruction of our environment? Is it possible that this can nullify the good that tithing 10% of your income does?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Darwood @ May 2 2007, 09:04 AM) [snapback]433901[/snapback]</div>

http://atheism.about.com/b/a/257812.htm

Gates and Buffett. Agnostics, probably too polite to be atheists.

Buffett:
“He did not subscribe to his family’s religion. Even at a young age he was too mathematical, too logical, to make the leap of faith. He adopted his father’s ethical underpinnings, but not his belief in an unseen divinity.†--from Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist, by Roger Lowenstein

Gates:
“Isn’t there something special, perhaps even divine, about the human soul?†interviewer Walter Isaacson asks Gates “His face suddenly becomes expressionless,†writes Isaacson, “his squeaky voice turns toneless, and he folds his arms across his belly and vigorously rocks back and forth in a mannerism that has become so mimicked at MICROSOFT that a meeting there can resemble a round table of ecstatic rabbis.â€

“I don’t have any evidence on that,†answers Gates. “I don’t have any evidence of that.â€

He later states, “Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There’s a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.â€

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ May 2 2007, 09:53 AM) [snapback]434039[/snapback]</div>

Discussions in this forum are useless when people traffic in nothing but stereotypes. I'm guilty of that too.

You're holding up a whole fistful of stereotypical conservative Christian failings. I'm not arguing that there are not some people who call themselves "Christians" who do those things. But they aren't Christians -- they are not really trying to follow Christ's teachings, at least not as I see them.

For my part, I'm a scientist; my life's work is based in application of science. That said, I'm certainly a Christian, in that I try to follow Christ's teachings. I try to help with poor with my income, I teach scientific thinking daily (including to my kid), I do not promote war (I oppose the war), and I'm certainly not a bigot. I see patients who are straight and patients who are gay; I treat them all the same, at least as much as any human being possibly can, within the limitations of being human.

The kind of hyperbole you are indulging in just makes you seem narrow-minded and quick to judge. I'm hoping you are actually not like that. You brand all Christians as equally guilty of all of the that paragraph, but I'm pointing out to you that it isn't so.

Can we just can the stereotypes, please? They serve no purpose except to close discourse.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zapranoth @ May 3 2007, 03:11 AM) [snapback]434592[/snapback]</div>

Why is it that people are quick to welcome the 'good' stereotyping that christians are all charitable(I'm sure there are many who aren't) but then are quick to whitewash many of the negative stereotypes? Maybe people do good things and bad things and some of those people are christians and some aren't. This thread was started to place the christians on top of the charitable pedestal. Why should they enjoy that claim without acknowledging the bad things they've commited?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zapranoth @ May 3 2007, 03:11 AM) [snapback]434592[/snapback]</div>

Sadly we live in a world where some prefer to put their interests above others and inject negativity - they just don't care.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dir @ May 3 2007, 08:41 AM) [snapback]434673[/snapback]</div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bulek @ May 3 2007, 11:07 AM) [snapback]434783[/snapback]</div>

Nothing - the ones that should be asking "what did I do wrong" could not care less.