mmmm, perhaps. Seems also possible that Chritians give other places, and so don't necessarily give direct to a person.

Brooks found some years ago that the religious giver far more than the non religious, but that's not the same as giving to a guy on the street. I've given to people like that, but NOT money. My anaecdotal experience is that the money turns into booze... while buying them a sammich... is food.

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2006/12/10/who_gives/

Nice anecdote, bad joke, but if you're serious about the question, it has been answered. The backward, religious South donates more to charities, per capita that the compassionate, generous-with-the-money-of-others, liberal and enlightened North.

I've seen articles about religious states being more charitable, but those numbers seem to include giving to their own religious organizations. I'd like to see the stats if you take giving to religious organizations out of the equation.

I don't give money to people begging directly either. Frankly, I'm with SwissArmyD. Odds are, the money you give them isn't going to feed any "families"; It's going to help them feed their addiction. I give it to charitable organizations that I trust when I have it to give. I would also much rather give my time to an organization than money. That, to me, worth so much more.

We have a lot of beggers in South Florida. They stand on the medians holding signs about thier sob stories. I've been known to have a few extra bottles of water to give these folks. (I don't care if the person REALLY needed it. It's fuckin' hot down here and that bottle of water will go a lot farther than a spare quarter.) I've had two experiances with this:

1) A grateful thank you with a huge smile.

OR

2) They tell me they wanted money, not my water. That is usually met with me taking the water back and leaving them with nothing.

When I lived in New York, I did the same thing only with hot cocoa or coffee in the winter instead of water. I even bought them an extra sandwich or hot dog from the street cart if I could swing it.

These actions don't make me a saint by any means but it was the best I could do on limited resources. I certainly don't think that how much money I give to a homeless person is what defines me as a "good" Christian just like my swearing like a sailor isn't what defines me as a "bad" Christian.

In my experiance, most people are grateful for whatever they get if they are truly needy and have fallen on hard times. The ones that were entitled before becoming needy, tend to remain entitled afterwards. It's like they believe that the world owes them something for being in thier situation, even if it was self-inflicted.

I have to add:
I did make one exception to my 'not giving money to a beggar directly' rule recently, though.

The guy's sign said
"Probably just gonna buy a beer. But, then again, so are you."

In my car, with all my groceries, was three bottles of wine for me a 6 pack of beer for my hubby.

I gave him 5 bucks along with the bottle of water. Maybe it was a gimmick. Who knows? But I do appreciate the orginality and candor.

I've seen articles about religious states being more charitable, but those numbers seem to include giving to their own religious organizations.

Yes, and? you'll have to break things down from there, but unless that particular faith-based group has things backwards[*], you'll find some of the money going to their congregation will be spent on the poor, in addition to supporting the church.

[*] for an instance of that, when church leaders go to the local government asking them to do more for the poor. Jesus didn't instruct Caesar to take care of the poor.

Also: is it wrong that I chuckled over the Goldman joke?

My point is that when you're donating to your own church, there's also a self-serving element to it. You're going to benefit directly from that money, which reduces the charity element. I'm sure some of the money does go to the poor, of course. Money may also go to things like pro-life lobbying, which may or may not fit the average person's definition of charity.

Personally, I never give to beggars.

Because far, far too many of them are scammers*.

(* Like the lady at the I-5 rest stop with the sign about needing gas money to escape her abusive husband.

Who was still there a month later when I came through again.)

"My point is that when you're donating to your own church, there's also a self-serving element to it." - MonicaP

Interesting, guess I never thought about it... Offerings to my church, I don't consider charity, though they use it for various things like that... maybe mission work overseas, or the nice church office lady, paying the pastor and keeping the lights on. Plus the charity work that the CHURCH does.

But that is not me, that's a general fund.

"Something BAD has happened, somewhere... and we need to get together a truck of food."
'OK, I'm in, what do you need?'

This is entirely above offerings, and separate. A church may give out of their general fund for a food pantry, but that doesn't mean I don't donate to the pantry myself.

That's charity. This may be wrapped in the definition of of the church

I wonder how many others think of it that way. I don't look at an offering to a church as charity. That's what I myself, do.

This couldn't be less scientific. And yes, a lot of people do consider their church giving to be charitable giving. And considering something like 85% of the nonprofit hospitals, food pantries, shelters, and soup kitchens in this country are run by religious organizations, I'd say they're right.

I'm christian. I almost never give money to beggers. I give lots of money elswhere. If I'm going to buy someone's beer, it's going to be my own.

Nor do I consider what i give to my hcurch charitable giving.

I don't give to the homeless or the church.

If you're homeless and crazy, you'll inevitably find your way to the psych ward.

If you're homeless cause you're broke, lost your job, etc, there's welfare and city living. And shelters.

No other good excuse for being homeless. I've seen too many people in shelter's for no reason other than they can't stop spending money on booze. They live at the shelter to afford booze money and no other reason.

The church on the other hand, that's a whole different kettle of fish. I seriously question their brand of charity.

"All hell nah, Atheists are not more charitable than Christians"

I call bullshit.

Nobody really gives that much of a shit about it, really.

"My point is that when you're donating to your own church, there's also a self-serving element to it." - MonicaP

Yes, but there is to a lot of charities. Was having this discussion with an athist friend who said we shouldn't incude religios donations, I asked him where he donated, his reply mainly political action groups. Political action groups, sounds self serving to me.
If I donate to a blood bank, theres a chance I or someone I care about will need blood.
If I donate to NPR/PBS, well I'm most likely a fan ensuring my favorite shows stay on.
Donate to fire and ambulance for new equipment, well I might someday need it.
Give to cleanup the local park, that you use.
So why limit the self-serving part just to church giving?

Way back when, I would have friends that went to visit relatives on long weekends and invite me along for various reasons. Some of them had an obligatory Sunday church session.

I don't know how many times they were looking for cash to send or support someone doing missionary work on the African continent. But I have as yet to hear a plea from the pulpit to work in the local soup kitchen or non-perishable donations to the local food bank.

I basically gave up on 99.5% of them.

I always carry a $10 bill in my front pocket and give it to any panhandler who asks for a handout - no judgment and no questions asked. I get hit up maybe one to four times a week. I don't care if they spend the money on drugs, alcohol or cigarettes. Most homeless people are mentally ill, and probably living their lives the best they can. If drugs, alcohol or tobacco make their day a little more tolerable, then I'm fine with it.

I know that some of the people I've given money too are probably frauds, but I've decided not to let it bother me. I don't have the desire or ability to determine the authenticity of their sob stories or sort out who's real and who's fake, so I'd rather not waste my time listening to them. Anyway, ten dollars isn't going to make any difference in my life, but for someone who is genuinely hard up it might make a difference.

As to the homeless amateur social scientist with his orange bowls, I'd put my $10 bill in the "Christian" bowl, which, from what I can see in the picture, would make it contain more than the other bowls. But it still wouldn't say anything about the relative generosity of the individuals who contributed to the other bowls. Ten dollars is easy for me; a million would be easy for Oprah; 25 cents might be a sacrifice from someone else.

"Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two pennies. So He said, 'Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.'"

I wouldn't give that asshole the time of day. He's not down on his luck--he's a professional grifter and begger.