Today Bob interviewed Arthur Brooks, author of Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth about Compassionate Conservatism. The idea in the book is that conservatives give more money to private charities than liberals do. So of course Bob wanted to have him on his show!
Brooks claims to be an independent, but he's really an independent like Bill O'Reilly is: He'll say he is before ripping into liberals like thanksgiving dinner.
Brooks claims that a persons political inclinations have nothing to do with how much they give to charity, but their religious upbringing does. In his book, he says:
91% of religious* conservatives give to charity, and 67% do charitable work.
91% of religious liberals give to charity, and 2/3rds do chairtable work.
19% of secular liberals gave to charity.
But get this: Brooks says secular conservatives are the worst out of everybody! He didn't give an exact percentage, but said that not only were they less likely to give to charity than everyone else (including secular liberals), but that they were just genuinely selfish people. He said "They are less likely to let someone in front of them in line, to give up a seat on the bus, to give a stranger directions, and to help a homeless person."
Man! Conservatives are mean!
Of course the difference between Bob and a liberal Christian is that the liberal believes in helping the poor through private charities AND by social programs created by the Government. Bob just likes to pick and choose when he helps a homeless man.
*By religious person, Brooks refers to people of all faiths, not just Christianity.
5 comments:
Good observation, DJ.
This interview was just another example of bob attempting to prove that conservative Christians are superior to those mean, nasty, lying liberals.
It's too bad that Bob ignores the parable of the poor widow in Luke 12:41-44. She gave from her meager possessions, without concern for outwardly appearances.
Because Bob needs to prove the generosity of the Christian conservatives, he comes off like the scribes in Mark 12:41. The scribes were constantly seeking places of honor, with charity being and act of pride and pretentiousness.
Jesus held them out for severe condemnation.
For Bob, Christianity isn't about being a good person. It's about feeling morally superior to everybody else.
Irl, I mean this completely seriously and without the slightest bit of sarcasm.
That was deep, man.
Northwestern University Law Professor James Lindgren reports his criticisms of Mr. Brooks' book at the Volokh Conspiracy (hardly a left-wing blog). I've also noticed several other concerns about the book on the internets, such as what is considered "charity" by Mr. Brooks? Is charity giving money to feed, clothe, and train the poor or is it giving money to your alma matter so you can get better football tickets? Also, what role do tax deductions have on charitable giving? It seems that there may be greater motivation for the rich to be charitable, especially if you can drop into a lower tax bracket...
Silly Irl, do you think that Bob would actually read, comprehend, and live by the teaching of Jesus?
DJ, Thanks for the compliment.
I do have to correct something though. In my flipping between the Books of Luke and Mark, I got my citations wrong.
The story of the generous widow comes from Luke 21:1-4 and Mark 12:41-44. My reference combines the two citations in error.
The condemnation of the scribes is found in Luke 20:46-47.
A slight error that doesn't detract from the truth of my assertion that Bob is a scribe.
Thanks, Irl. I was wondering why you showed the same story in two different verses:).
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