By Nathan Rothwell
An excellent piece from Steve Benen over at the Rachel Maddow blog appeared yesterday on the ongoing tax-return saga with Mr. Romney. It seems that while he just wishes the issue would die already (even though he could very easily make that happen by just releasing the returns already!), he manages to keep it going by opening his mouth every now and again to put his foot in there.
I won't get into the six reasons Benen lists for how and why Romney continues to make life difficult for himself, as I highly recommend showing him some love and traffic by reading them over at the Maddow blog. However, I would like to add a seventh reason Romney dug his hole even deeper: he compared his religious tithing to his tax obligations.
Forgive me if I am mistaken, but I thought the entire point of giving to charity was to do so out of the goodness of one's heart. Romney may be required by his church to tithe 10% of his income, but this requirement comes from the idea that those who live comfortably and are well-off in life should feel obligated to make the world just a little bit brighter for those less fortunate. Unlike the tax debate plaguing this nation that centers on "fairness," charity tends not to get involved in that debate. No one argues over whether the impoverished "deserve" any help. It's done first and foremost in the name of human decency.
Granted, the Mormon Church tends to lavishly spend a great deal of its collected tithes on itself. It also uses much of that money to enter into the political arena (such as its enthusiastic and infamous backing of California's Prop 8 in 2008), which can hardly be considered charity. But like most religious institutions, it also contributes a great deal of money toward helping the less fortunate, which should be commended.
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| Mitt Romney displays "Presidential Accountability Scorecard" source: Charles Dharapak/AP Photo |
I won't get into the six reasons Benen lists for how and why Romney continues to make life difficult for himself, as I highly recommend showing him some love and traffic by reading them over at the Maddow blog. However, I would like to add a seventh reason Romney dug his hole even deeper: he compared his religious tithing to his tax obligations.
Forgive me if I am mistaken, but I thought the entire point of giving to charity was to do so out of the goodness of one's heart. Romney may be required by his church to tithe 10% of his income, but this requirement comes from the idea that those who live comfortably and are well-off in life should feel obligated to make the world just a little bit brighter for those less fortunate. Unlike the tax debate plaguing this nation that centers on "fairness," charity tends not to get involved in that debate. No one argues over whether the impoverished "deserve" any help. It's done first and foremost in the name of human decency.
Granted, the Mormon Church tends to lavishly spend a great deal of its collected tithes on itself. It also uses much of that money to enter into the political arena (such as its enthusiastic and infamous backing of California's Prop 8 in 2008), which can hardly be considered charity. But like most religious institutions, it also contributes a great deal of money toward helping the less fortunate, which should be commended.
