It is often said that conservatives tend to give more to charity… if it is with motivations like this, the point is lost.
I tend to agree. I think if churches want to provide services to the poor, they ought to set up a separate non-profit that deals with doing that. Contributions to that should be tax-deductible, but contributions to the church itself to pay for overhead and services for members aren't really charity so much as they are an unofficial membership fee in a private club.
