[honeychile]

For those who are offended that I used the term Bible Belt, it was the least offensive term that I could think of at the time. I could have used "fundie" or some of the other derogatory terms for committed Christians, but I also don't use the "n" word (or a lot of other words I find offensive).

Bottom line: those who are taught young that the first 10% of their income is not theirs to keep tend to be very charitable in general. Not just Christians, but anyone.

I'm mindful of the woman who gave Jesus her last coin, and how greater He considered that donation. I think someone who makes $20k a year, gives $2k, and lives on $18k has made a bigger sacrifice than someone who makes $200k, gives $20k, and lives on "only" $180k a year. At least, that's how I read the statistic.

As for donating one's time, I once had a camp counselor challenge us to "tithe" 10% of our time on acts of Christian kindness (including Bible study). That's 2 hours, 40 minutes every day, or 17 hours, 20 minutes a week. The pro bono attorney easily spends that much time, but I'm not so sure about the rest of us - I know that I fall short!