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So I'm wrong, am I?
Get your facts straight, Offbeats. Read as Prof. Brooks explains his methodology in Policy Review Magazine:
"From these data, I have constructed two measures of religious participation. First, the group I refer to as “religious” are the respondents that report attending religious services every week or more often. This is 33 percent of the sample. Second, the group I call “secular” report attending religious services less than a few times per year or explicitly say they have no religion. These people are 26 percent of the sample (implying that those who practice their religion occasionally make up 41 percent of the sample). The sccbs asked respondents whether and how much they gave and volunteered to “religious causes” or “non-religious charities” over the previous 12 months..."
This study is comparing non-religious people (including atheists & agnostics) to very religious people (people attending church at least once per week). It is NOT comparing conservatives & liberals!
Oh, BTW, it took a whopping 30 seconds to discover this on the web. Do you people read anything besides Newsmax & the Republican talking points? Learn to think for yourself, sheeple!!!
posted by
Professor_Peabody
on November 18, 2006 at 9:19 PM
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I go to church, believe in Christ and I tithed, Offbeats, and I'm a liberal
They are not mutually exclusive and it was Bill O'Reilly who came up with the term "Secular Progressives". so that part is real.
posted by
Blanche.
on November 18, 2006 at 8:13 AM
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Actually Peabody is wrong in his comment. It does not state sectular liberals. It states quite simply that conservative people will give more then a moderate. This finding was concluded after many areas of charitable environments (volunteering,etc) showed that people who learned to give tend to be church goes and have learned to give over the years. On the other hand the moderate does not give because they believe the government should be responsible for the needs of the people. Bottom line...it's little wonder why so many refuse to take personal responsibility. Another bottom line...taxes go up everytime we implement a social program..
It does not mean that moderates don't give...it's their way of giving that is interesting. After all these are the same people who say they want to lower your taxes..
posted by
Offy
on November 18, 2006 at 8:09 AM
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Writer, I will second your last line, but I would add "Judge not lest ye be
judged". I am a Liberal/Progressive Christian, who tithed one-tenth of my income to a church for over a year, to help with the church's building fund.
I can't help but think Jesus would be a Democrat, helping the sick, the prisoners', the poor and afflicted, the ones the Republicans want to kick off of the social welfare system. Compassionate conservatism, my sweet aunt fanny.
posted by
Blanche.
on November 18, 2006 at 8:00 AM
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I don't go to church and I am a cheap bastard because I have little money
to give, but I have found that most people don't want to be helped and if you try to help them they will bite you in the ass as soon as they get a chance. But the neocons chisel as much money as they can out of the poor taxpayer and like dubya, most of the money they contribute they never even earned in the first place. Big deal.
posted by
SlyCy
on November 18, 2006 at 7:57 AM
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Figures don't lie...but liars will "figure"
Writer, you are making a faulty generalization by establishing a flawed dichotomy (look it up, if you need to).
Your tagline says "generous conservatives" give more than "stingy liberals" but that is not what the book and journal report says!!!
The book compares practicing religious conservatives to secular "liberals" and finds that conservatives who attend church services regularly give more than liberals who don't. Straightforward enough. But what about LIBERALS who go to church? Ann Coulter aside, many, nay, MOST liberals are religious, believe in God, and help their fellow man. And what about conservatives (Like Karl Rove) who aren't practicing Christians?
The professor's statistics are most assuredly accurate, but you draw a faulty conclusion from them. It does not say that conservatives give more, or a higher percentage or their income, than liberals. It says that some conservatives give more than some liberals. The data is good, but your interpretation of it is wrong.
posted by
Professor_Peabody
on November 17, 2006 at 11:00 PM
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