God wants to relieve poverty as much as abortion

[Usually Lurkin]

I saw a nun on Bill Moyers this weekend arguing that God is interested in taking care of the less fortunate as much (implying more than) reducing abortions, so we should raise taxes on everyone and vote Democrat. (She was also arguing that GWBush and the religious right are wrong because they are trying to push their religion on people. Isn't her argument for taxing people the same thing??).

Anyway, Sister Chittister, if you are reading, here's a reply:
The Catalogue for Philanthropy ranks states based on a "Generosity Index", which is a ratio of personal income levels and dollars given to charity. They are ranked from most to least generous below. If you have the time, go through and color the rows red and blue based on how they voted in the last election. You'll find great blocks of color. It's amazing what people are willing to do with their money given a choice.

State Having Rank Giving Rank Rank Relation Generosity Index
Mississippi 50 5 45 1
Arkansas 47 6 41 2
Oklahoma 43 8 35 3
Louisiana 42 10 32 4
Alabama 38 7 31 5
Tennessee 34 3 31 6
South Dakota 44 14 30 7
Utah 31 2 29 8
South Carolina 40 12 28 9
Idaho 41 20 21 10
Wyoming 21 1 20 11
Texas 23 4 19 12
West Virginia 48 31 17 13
Nebraska 35 19 16 14
North Dakota 46 30 16 15
North Carolina 27 15 12 16
Kansas 25 18 7 17
Florida 20 13 7 18
Georgia 17 11 6 19
Kentucky 39 33 6 20
Montana 49 43 6 21
Missouri 29 24 5 22
New Mexico 45 40 5 23
Alaska 24 21 3 24
Indiana 28 29 -1 25
New York 5 9 -4 26
Iowa 36 44 -8 27
Ohio 32 42 -10 28
California 6 17 -11 29
Maryland 4 16 -12 30
Illinois 10 22 -12 31
Maine 37 50 -13 32
Delaware 13 27 -14 33
Washington 11 25 -14 34
Vermont 33 47 -14 35
Oregon 26 41 -15 36
Hawaii 30 45 -15 37
Virginia 7 23 -16 38
Arizona 22 38 -16 39
Nevada 14 32 -18 40
Pennsylvania 18 36 -18 41
Michigan 16 35 -19 42
Colorado 8 28 -20 43
Connecticut 1 26 -25 44
Minnesota 12 37 -25 45
Wisconsin 19 46 -27 46
New Jersey 2 34 -32 47
Rhode Island 15 49 -34 48
Massachusetts 3 39 -36 49
New Hampshire 9 48 -39 50

[madape]

Why do people think that Republicans are in favor of poverty? They aren't. Republicans want to end poverty just as much as Democrats. They just have a different, and in my opinion more effective, strategy.

[kg_veteran]

That nun has some really odd priorities.

[Usually Lurkin]

Here's what I was looking for:

How could anyone argue that faith-based initiatives is a bad idea?

[kg_veteran]

The only way they can is if they believe that the government is better suited than the people (specifically, people "of faith") to help those in need.

[madape]

If anything, I think God would be in favor of a flat tax. Isn't that essentially what tithing is? Or maybe he wouldn't be in favor of taxing at all, preferring that society should rely instead on voluntary gifts to help people who can't help themselves. There's certainly plenty of scripture to support that argument.

[Drbio]

That is an amazing figure UL. Thanks.

[Smiles]

Originally posted by: madape
If anything, I think God would be in favor of a flat tax. Isn't that essentially what tithing is? Or maybe he wouldn't be in favor of taxing at all, preferring that society should rely instead on voluntary gifts to help people who can't help themselves. There's certainly plenty of scripture to support that argument.

I never saw it like that, ape, thanks for opening my eyes! I think God did essentially institute a flat tax in the form of the tythe. Obviously, he seems to still want people to give out of the generosity of their hearts on top of that.

Wow, crazy revelation, Ape! I'll have to think on this a bit... The room in my brain that holds the theological arguments and memorized ancient texts is pretty unused and dusty. Thank you for stirring it up a bit.

[Mavdog]

Originally posted by: Usually Lurkin
I saw a nun on Bill Moyers this weekend arguing that God is interested in taking care of the less fortunate as much (implying more than) reducing abortions, so we should raise taxes on everyone and vote Democrat. (She was also arguing that GWBush and the religious right are wrong because they are trying to push their religion on people. Isn't her argument for taxing people the same thing??).

Anyway, Sister Chittister, if you are reading, here's a reply:
The Catalogue for Philanthropy ranks states based on a "Generosity Index", which is a ratio of personal income levels and dollars given to charity. They are ranked from most to least generous below. If you have the time, go through and color the rows red and blue based on how they voted in the last election. You'll find great blocks of color. It's amazing what people are willing to do with their money given a choice.

State Having Rank Giving Rank Rank Relation Generosity Index
Mississippi 50 5 45 1
Arkansas 47 6 41 2
Oklahoma 43 8 35 3
Louisiana 42 10 32 4
Alabama 38 7 31 5
Tennessee 34 3 31 6
South Dakota 44 14 30 7
Utah 31 2 29 8
South Carolina 40 12 28 9
Idaho 41 20 21 10
Wyoming 21 1 20 11
Texas 23 4 19 12
West Virginia 48 31 17 13
Nebraska 35 19 16 14
North Dakota 46 30 16 15
North Carolina 27 15 12 16
Kansas 25 18 7 17
Florida 20 13 7 18
Georgia 17 11 6 19
Kentucky 39 33 6 20
Montana 49 43 6 21
Missouri 29 24 5 22
New Mexico 45 40 5 23
Alaska 24 21 3 24
Indiana 28 29 -1 25
New York 5 9 -4 26
Iowa 36 44 -8 27
Ohio 32 42 -10 28
California 6 17 -11 29
Maryland 4 16 -12 30
Illinois 10 22 -12 31
Maine 37 50 -13 32
Delaware 13 27 -14 33
Washington 11 25 -14 34
Vermont 33 47 -14 35
Oregon 26 41 -15 36
Hawaii 30 45 -15 37
Virginia 7 23 -16 38
Arizona 22 38 -16 39
Nevada 14 32 -18 40
Pennsylvania 18 36 -18 41
Michigan 16 35 -19 42
Colorado 8 28 -20 43
Connecticut 1 26 -25 44
Minnesota 12 37 -25 45
Wisconsin 19 46 -27 46
New Jersey 2 34 -32 47
Rhode Island 15 49 -34 48
Massachusetts 3 39 -36 49
New Hampshire 9 48 -39 50

Did anyone notice the correlation of income to this ranking? For the most part, the states that have higher than average income are at the bottom while the states at the lower end of average income are listed at the top. What that appears to say is that the amount of giving is in a relatively narrow band while the other factor in the analysis, income, is much broader of a band.

[Rhylan]

You could be onto something Mavdog, but the original post says it's a ratio of personal income to dollars given. If that's true, then all things are equal.

[Usually Lurkin]

Originally posted by: Rhylan
You could be onto something Mavdog, but the original post says it's a ratio of personal income to dollars given. If that's true, then all things are equal.

Not quite a ratio, I guess. The first column of numbers is the state ranking for personal income. The second is the state ranking for charitable giving. The third column is the difference between the income rank and giving rank. The final column is the 'generosity index' which is a ranking based on the third column.