If my religion were based on the teachings of Donald Trump, I would try to make a lot of money and keep it all. And I’d feel good about it because I was being true to my beliefs. I’d hate to go through life feeling like a hypocrite.
Non-believers have it good too. They can keep their money or give it away – whatever feels right. Bill Gates is the biggest philanthropist on earth and he’s a non-believer. So is the second biggest philanthropist on earth, Warren Buffet. George Soros too. You’d expect rich guys who have no moral compass to build their own countries on barges so they can legally rape and kill the citizens all day. For some reason they don’t.
Things get trickier when you base your religion on a nice fellow who wants you to give most of your money to the poor. How do you justify buying a third television set when people in New Orleans are living in rolled-up carpets? That’s not a rhetorical question. I actually wonder about the answer. Here are some of my best guesses about your rationalization:
1. Jesus likes me better than poor people. He’d approve of my second iPod.
2. If I give a poor person a fish, he’d only eat for a day anyway. What’s one day?
3. I give 10% of my money to charity. God says that’s exactly the right amount. 11% would anger God.
4. Poor people are lazy or crazy. My money won’t fix that.
5. There’s a loophole in the Bible that says I can keep my money. Woo-hoo!
6. I am bad at economics and I am convinced that keeping my money stimulates the economy and helps poor people indirectly.
Am I missing any reasons? I am actually curious.