I have been reflecting on your idea that now that religion is not a part of a lot of people's lives how does that affect monetary giving, and I think it probably does lessen dollars given. However, there are some people who are simply generous and give from their sense of the common good of humankind. Thanks for the great review.
Dear Kat, I agree. Religious belief is no guarantee of generosity, financial or otherwise. John D. Rockefeller seemed compelled, psychologically, to distinguish himself from his father by leading an exemplary life religiously and philanthropically. His father claimed to be a doctor (he wasn't) and cheated sick people with fake cures and fake medications, and abandoned his wife and children to take up with another woman, and wander small towns under an assumed name cheating people. John considered his deeply religious, long-suffering mother a saint. It's hard to know whether he was motivated by shame or the desire to redeem the family name from what his father did and from his own ruthless business practices, which he never admitted to.
I have been reflecting on your idea that now that religion is not a part of a lot of people's lives how does that affect monetary giving, and I think it probably does lessen dollars given. However, there are some people who are simply generous and give from their sense of the common good of humankind. Thanks for the great review.
Dear Kat, I agree. Religious belief is no guarantee of generosity, financial or otherwise. John D. Rockefeller seemed compelled, psychologically, to distinguish himself from his father by leading an exemplary life religiously and philanthropically. His father claimed to be a doctor (he wasn't) and cheated sick people with fake cures and fake medications, and abandoned his wife and children to take up with another woman, and wander small towns under an assumed name cheating people. John considered his deeply religious, long-suffering mother a saint. It's hard to know whether he was motivated by shame or the desire to redeem the family name from what his father did and from his own ruthless business practices, which he never admitted to.