I was thinking of romney actually.
but i don’t think we should downplay that he really did give all that money. i think he was doing the best he can. and it’s easy to imagine that, with that much money, we’d all give a lot to our favorite causes, but i don’t think that’s really true. and i also dont think it is a coincidence that he is one of the only republicans to stand up to trump.
but like all of us, he has a limited imagination. and philanthropy can become an act of power in itself.
When there are no more kids in group homes in our country, I’ll start to believe the church is stepping up to do even a tenth of what Jesus commanded us to do.
Romney is one of the better ones for sure, but he is far from a saint, imo.
Are you saying that the government is an efficient machine to get money where it’s most needed? I mean, I’m still highly disappointed that the schools that need funding the most is still severely lacking it.
When I used to donate t my church, about 98% of what I donated covered things like salary and plant. A pittance went to charities. This was a very liberal church as well. We had special offerings that raised a couple hundred dollars at a time for specific charities that the denomination supported. I wouldn’t be able to say that my annual contributions (well over 4% of gross) was used for charitable works.
The federal government is likely the most efficient approach to providing a baseline to the broadest group possible. Local government and charities will do a better job at targeted funds.
School districts lack money because they are funded mostly by local and state levels, rather than by the federal government.
So I guess you could say local governments have the same problem as churches, in that they tend to prefer neighbors.
I assume??? if the federal government did the funding, then there would be fewer “poor” schools.
The federal government does do funding.
Some interesting history about No Child Left Behind:
No Child Left Behind: An Overview (edweek.org)
Article that covers current legislation around educational accountability:
The Every Student Succeeds Act: An ESSA Overview (edweek.org)
A considerable chunk of federal funding comes in the form of “block grants”, but the historical source of funding (since 1965; often referred to Title 1, Title 2, etc. funding) is still in place.
While the majority of local taxes are devoted to the schools, schools that need funding the most are in areas where such local funding is severely lacking.
And FWIW, I live in a state whose educational structure is bloated (extremely!) in the higher administrator ranks that eat up most of the funding (regardless of source).
The Google tells it’s about 7%, so not really.
U.S. Public Education Spending Statistics [2022]: per Pupil + Total.
I mean, it’s a nontrivial slice, but my point is more like, if schools were like Medicare or Medicaid.
Pishposh, kids don’t vote!
Obviously we don’t mind bashing religious people here. If I started talking about any race, sexual preference, or gender like you all are talking about religious people I would be banned from this site forever. I’m all for free speech though so go for it.
I know it upsets you to hear it, but you do understand the difference, right?
People are born with a religion, one’s religion is not determined through ideas indoctrinated (brainwashed) by others early in childhood (or later, in times of emotional despair or coercion from a partner), ideas that can be disproven or at least questioned.
So, same as being born a race or gender or a preference of sexual partners.
I thought that was obvious, Tri.
I kinda doubt it’s all religious people. Most likely just Christians. Even if a member of another religion does something heinous in the name of their faith people are generally pretty careful to criticize the specific people or actions, not the entire faith.
But those rules don’t seem to apply to Christian-bashing.
I think it’s the majority status and the political power.
If we were having to deal with Sharia laws, we’d be Muslim-bashing.
Sure they do. It’s the heinous actions that are taken in the name of religion that are abhorrent to nonbelievers. Typically it seems to be extremists who find a way to justify their actions via a perversion of their faith that cause the issues. In this country we just see more Christian hypocrisy because it’s so much more prevalent than other religions here. If christians actually lived up to the ideals of Christ I think there would be a lot less criticism.
Scary thing is we seem to be heading toward a Christian version of sharia laws.
It amuses me. The very same criticism of socialism can be applied to organized Western religions. Relying upon good intentions and the compassion of humans has failed throughout centuries. Whether it’s the serfs in obeisance of their divine rulers, the untouchables in Hindu, or just outright chattel slavery, the bottom of the power structures got scant relief from charities - religious or otherwise.
Expecting a different out come in the 21st century is a fantasy born of greed.
Then, stoned for Muslim-bashing.
Hey, save that kinda talk for the Christians.