Agreed. Generally, it's not for most people. Most people are of the position that "I'll donate when I have the extra money".. The term "extra money" is about as realistic for most as an extra rock is to a crackhead. :lol:
For my wife and I, charitable donations happen weekly at the church collection plate. We decided some time ago what we could give, and it is now a fixed amount. If something extra comes up that makes us tighten our budget, we find somewhere else to cut. Not exactly "off the top", but not "extra money", either. And before some anti-church TFers jump in and tells me that the collection plate doesn't help the needy, it does indeed at our church. Second collections are occasionally held to cover the church maintenance fund, or some other direct need of our parish.
Tax deductions for church contributions seem like a violation of the separation of church and state, for sure. But I give them a pass because many churches do indeed help the needy and offer support in both civil and family crises. There are a few that spend far too much on gold statutes, silk robes, impressive cathedrals, holy objects, political lobbying and other foolishness, but even those do widespread charitable work. But there are some dubious charitable organizations out there that deserve scrutiny . . . like the Supriya Jindal Foundation for Louisiana’s Children. Widely criticized as a back door way for corporations maxed out on political contributions to put more money in the hands of Jindal, so that he can make political hay with it. Beats the hell out of paying Uncle Sam doesn't it? So BP (for instance) funds Jindal's foundation that he turn into publicity and then acts favorably towards BP some day. There are thousand of "foundations" out there whose primary mission is not charity, but politics. I have donated to the United Way for decades, but I have started donating directly to those charities that I approve of instead of donating across the board through UW. They fund some of those dubious charities along with some very important ones. While I don't object to tax deductions for a members church offerings, I object to the United Way funding the CYO and some other religious charities from publicly solicited funds. The Catholic Church is very rich and powerful and I'm sure can fund activities for Catholic youth from their own tax-deductible coffers.
