Candidate Romney gave 30 % of his income in 2011 to charity. Ten percent is the tithe he paid to the LDS church but he probably paid more than that, just like he paid more in taxes then he owed. Just thought I’d insert a little reality into this discussion, because you know that people who don’t belong to the LDS (Mormon) church know so much more about it than people who’ve actually been members for 30, 40, 50 years.
First Tithing is a commandment and just like any other commandment, it is up to the individual whether or not they are obedient to it. No one comes to your door with guns or a warrant for your arrest if you don’t pay tithing. It won’t get you thrown out of the church or shunned (which Mormons don’t do, that would be the Amish – very fine, upstanding folks as well). True there are things you can’t do but you couldn’t do them if you were disobeying other commandments as well. They’re commandments not suggestions. So giving to your church is a choice just like giving to Planned Parenthood, PETA, MoveOn.org and Acorn. All of these groups have agendas. Makes no difference whether they’re religious or secular (and some might argue that all of them are religious in nature as people choose which god to worship whether they admit it or not) and some people have engaged in uncivilized behavior in behalf of all sorts of causes on the left and on the right.
As for what constitutes a charity, those who don’t give at all don’t get to decide who’s eligible to receive someone’s money. PETA to me is a political entity not a charity and I wouldn’t give them a moldy sock. There are plenty of scams out there to take peoples money for things they didn’t plan to give to. That said the main difference between the Romneys of the world and the Obamas of the world is one thinks giving should be up to the individual, un-mandated. The other thinks giving should be not only mandated but that the individual doesn’t get to decide who gets their money.
Remember while the Mormons don’t come to your door to extort money from you (just to share their message, which takes a few moments and when you say thanks but you’re not interested, they go away) the government doesn’t even bother to contact you directly. They simply access your paycheck and take whatever they want for whatever reason they deem necessary.
I don’t know choice versus compulsion? It seems like I’ve heard that argument before.
Revelations 12:7 , 17
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,…………
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the COMMANDMENTS of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Same war different battlefield.
Romney was a great man, I really grew to respect the guy. It was so hard when he lost. It’s still hard to swallow that loss.
Thanks for the comment. Yes it was a dispiriting loss. Eventually I may regain some faith in the American people but for now we have gotten leaders that are just like the majority of Americans. How terribly, terribly sad.