Anthony Flew coined a famous fallacy to describe that kind of argument....It's a reflection of the way religious people feel good about themselves for being charitable to their local church without actually donating to charity.
Isn't what you did right there an example of that fallacy; by defining religious giving as not charity when they clearly believe their donations are doing good, however they define 'good'. Whether you believe religious giving is charitable or not does not negate the fact that a person has chosen to give up a share of their economic resource. =P; haha, jk, hope it doesn't come off that I'm arguing with you or anything.
But in general I agree with you, people whether religious or not need to be more proactive in understanding where their money is really going.
Many religions, including Christianity, make religious donations an obligatory part of membership which is frequently non-negotiable. When your charitable giving primarily consists of donations to your church you're teaching your kids that the only people who deserve your charity are those who identify with your group. Now, I may be guilty of a No True Scotsman fallacy here but that doesn't strike me as being charitable at all, especially when you examine how the majority of churches use those funds.
We definitely agree, everyone needs to be mindful of their charitable giving and take the time to research the organization they're donating to. However, the core premise of the study is still valid when you examine charitable and empathetic behavior demonstrated by children of religious parents versus secular parents. Whatever religious parents think they're teaching their children, it's clearly not as generous as they think it is.
Isn't what you did right there an example of that fallacy; by defining religious giving as not charity when they clearly believe their donations are doing good, however they define 'good'. Whether you believe religious giving is charitable or not does not negate the fact that a person has chosen to give up a share of their economic resource. =P; haha, jk, hope it doesn't come off that I'm arguing with you or anything.
But in general I agree with you, people whether religious or not need to be more proactive in understanding where their money is really going.
Many religions, including Christianity, make religious donations an obligatory part of membership which is frequently non-negotiable. When your charitable giving primarily consists of donations to your church you're teaching your kids that the only people who deserve your charity are those who identify with your group. Now, I may be guilty of a No True Scotsman fallacy here but that doesn't strike me as being charitable at all, especially when you examine how the majority of churches use those funds.
We definitely agree, everyone needs to be mindful of their charitable giving and take the time to research the organization they're donating to. However, the core premise of the study is still valid when you examine charitable and empathetic behavior demonstrated by children of religious parents versus secular parents. Whatever religious parents think they're teaching their children, it's clearly not as generous as they think it is.