MVTimes Online - The Martha's Vineyard Times: Island News Now: "Essay: Picking and choosing - one donor's deliberations
December 29, 2005
By Julian Wise
Somewhere between the rash of direct-mail charity appeals before the holidays and the inevitable moral inventory prior to the coming of the new year, I realized with dismal clarity that I'd been uncharitable in 2005. Beliefnet.com's message board suggests that faith-based tithing of your annual salary ranges from two percent for Muslims to 10 percent for Jews and Christians (one pagan claims they tithe 13 percent). A rough calculation suggests I donated less than three tenths of a percent of my income in 2005.
I consider myself a reasonably upright person. I work with children, remove trash from the beach, tip well in restaurants, and obey the speed limit most of the time. Yet when it comes to charity, I'm a skinflint. When confronted with a solicitation, I develop a vague feeling in the pit of my stomach, convincing myself that I'll get around to donating later when I have more time to think about it. My desk often collects piles of appeal letters which, months later, I throw out during a clean up. Sometimes I tell myself I'd love to give, but decide that there's no point in donating unless I can pony up $25 or $50, which would take too big a bite out of my checkbook. These excuses work to keep my charitable giving at a subterranean level"
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