The red states are really green? Not really, just living IT out...

Generosity, Red and Blue Style
-Michael Medved

A Massachusetts group called The Catalogue for Philanthropy just released its 2005 "Generosity Index"--comparing each state's ability to give (in terms of average adjusted gross income) with the percentage of taxpayers who actually report charitable donations. The results reveal a stunning political pattern: all 25 of the most generous states are red states that gave their electoral support to President Bush.

But of the bottom 12--the stingiest states of them all in terms of charity--11 of 12 are blue states that backed John Kerry--with Massachusetts itself second to the bottom.

The reason GOP states are so much more generous is both obvious and profound: conservatives view compassion as a personal responsibility, but liberals tend to see it as the government's job. One approach leads to individual commitment, while the other encourages the belief you can best help others by leaving it up to tax collectors and bureaucrats.

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You know, this doesn't really surprise me in the slightest. But, I don't really think it has anything to do with Bush v. Kerry or politics at all. Those are simply analogous side effects of the underlying cause. If you look deeper in this study, you'll find that the poorer Southern citizens are by far more charitable than their wealthier, and dare I say "more sophisticated" Northern brethren. And therein lies the crux of the issue. In many parts of the South, and in red states in general, IT still exists--religion. The church is stronger in the South, evangelicals more numerous. It follows, therefore, that those Christians would, by and large, be following the teachings of the church to personally give and provide for the downtrodden. In the North, many of the elite and sophisticated among us feel that they have learned to get along pretty well without religion. Knowledge and worldly understanding have taken the place of Biblical methods. Thus, charitable giving has tanked in the blue states as that international elite mentality has increasingly turned to the government, UN, etc. to meet the needs of the "less fortunate." (Don't you just hate that term!) Those poor, ignorant red staters still don't mind getting their hands dirty to help people, just like Jesus would. The blue staters are too smart to be bothered with doing IT themselves. My two cents.

More to come...

What's next?

When I started this blog, I thought, "I'll be bursting with ideas all the time. Keeping this up-to-date and fresh will be a snap!" Well, as you can see, I have been woefully lacking in that department. Most days, I scold myself for not posting something, but I simply can't drag myself to the keyboard to coax out an interesting thought, much less a profound one. So, if you eagerly await a new post to my blog every day, I apologize.

Since I got back from my trip, I've been extremely busy. It seems like every spare moment has been taken up with life in general. This weekend past was a good one, though. My wife and I celebrated our sixth anniversary on Sunday, December 4! I really cannot believe it's been six years already. We have been so blessed that it's indescribable. Both of us kind of agreed that this year has been the hardest in our relationship as we endured more than our normal (for us, read 'not many') amount of marital hiccups. But, we sat down last night and looked back over the calendar from the last year and realized that it has really been a VERY good year, full of blessings and wonderful experiences together. So much for our pessimism!

Our big OSL weekend at church was this past weekend, too. All of the team members from the various trips taken in 2005 shared their stories and impressions. Plus, the 2006 sites were revealed. In 2006, I'm heading back to Romania and on to Bulgaria to further our International Reformation work! Cool! We're going to try to build upon our foundation laid in Romania this year and work with the contacts we made. In Bulgaria, we will scout things out much like we did in Romania this year. Another Cyrillic alphabet country! Yikes. So, Sofia for me in '06!

More to come...