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In this year of bailouts and spreading the wealth, one of the more persistent stereotypes about conservatives being dragged out of the mud by liberals is that conservatives are greedy and only want to keep the money they make for themselves. This is why liberals believe in income redistribution by the government through taxation and entitlement programs; if the government doesn’t take it and do the right thing with it, their logic goes, those conservatives certainly won’t. The book, “Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism,” by Syracuse University professor Arthur C. Brooks, blows this stereotype to pieces, and no one was more surprised by its findings than the author. Brooks is a behavioral economist, a child of academics who was raised in a liberal home and educated in the liberal arts.  He has no political affiliation, declaring “I have no comfortable political home.”

 

Professor Brooks analyzed ten years of data adjusted for variables such as age, gender, race and income, carefully documenting his methodology so the results could withstand the scrutiny of other researchers. His conclusions? Religious conservatives donate far more money than secular liberals to all sorts of charitable activities irrespective of income. Professor Brooks also points out that liberals give less than conservatives in every conceivable way, including volunteer hours and donated blood. Not only do religious conservatives give more to charity, they give generously - four times as much as others. Their giving is not confined to their religious denominations, either. Brooks states in an interview that “Religious Americans are more likely to give to every kind of cause and charity, including explicitly nonreligious charities. Religious people give more blood; religious people give more to homeless people on the street.” 

 

Liberal New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristoff writes, "A study by Google found an even greater disproportion: average annual contributions reported by conservatives were almost double those of liberals. Other research has reached similar conclusions. The 'generosity index' from the Catalogue for Philanthropy typically finds that red states are the most likely to give to nonprofits, while Northeastern states are least likely to do so." Mr. Kristoff complains in his column "Bleeding Heart Tightwads" that "We liberals are personally stingy" and his intent is to "shame liberals into being more charitable" and putting "your wallets where your hearts are."

 

Before we applaud Mr. Kristoff for seeing the light, he also suggests a significant portion of conservative giving goes to churches and a fair amount of the money goes to "constructing lavish spires." To be fair, he also criticizes liberals for funding the arts and elite schools that don't help the poor. Nonetheless, his presumption on church giving mustn't go unchallenged. My home church's food pantry feeds thousands of families in our region every year and helps them find jobs, housing, medicine and educational opportunities.  Our counseling center offers mental health counseling to hundreds of families without health insurance, our meals ministry prepares pre-cooked meals for delivery to homebound senior citizens, and our men's ministry provides home repairs, firewood for the winter, and free basic car maintenance to poor families. It's the faith community that responded immediately and is still engaged on the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike while the government tries to get out of its own way. It's the local church that's aiding and comforting AIDS victims, sheltering the homeless and caring for unwed mothers-to-be and their unborn children so both can live. As my pastor always tells us, "the local church is the hope of the world."

 

As we celebrate Christmas, we must show the world that Jesus' ministry on earth was not to expand government to help "the least of these" but to expand the hearts of mankind so we as individuals would be the manifestation of his love. Our acts of charity to the world are an expression of gratitude for God's gift of salvation, a gift we didn't deserve but which He gave sacrificially and without hesitation. If there's any message I hope Americans learn from the little-known fact of conservative generosity, it's that personally giving to our neighbors in need is immeasurably more rewarding to the recipient and the giver of the gift than paying taxes in the hope that after passing through the government maze, someone might be helped. Merry Christmas!