Here's an idea that I don't expect to be popular with everybody. If you look at charitable giving in 2007 we can see that over $100 Billion was given to religious congregations last year.
that's 50% of ALL individual donations. Now, I know there are many good people out there locally doing good work. I also believe there are likely to be some/many local clergy getting rich off donations that were given under the assumption that they'd be put to different use, often by people who can not easily afford to tithe or donate in the first place.
I wonder if there were a system in place to check in on how that $102,320,000,000 is spent, and how much of it actually finds its way into helping the community. Making that information public would do one of two things:
1. We'd all find out that every dollar is pretty well optimized, and being put to good use within the context of the purpose for which it was given, and people can feel comfortable continuing to give
2. We'd find that NOT every dollar is being optimized, and there are individuals in power taking advantage of their congregations. In those cases, perhaps some of the members of the congregation would choose to give their money to charities that are more accountable.
$102 Billion is nothing to sneeze at, and if we can find that even 1/4 or 1/3rd of it is going towards enriching an individual at the expense of the community, and that money can be redirected, what kind of a difference could THAT make?
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