Various themes in the culture of Catholicism make it easier to be charitable because they help Catholics avoid the rational arguments that would discourage them.
The most difficult hurdle to giving to a charity is determining if the charitable gift is worthwhile. Will the gift do enough good? Is the charity deserving? Are you just enabling poor people to stay poor? Catholicism by-passes all of these rational arguments with irrational beliefs*. These beliefs may not be universally held, but I believe they are part of the culture:
(1) Sacrifice is a good thing in of itself. Value is placed on the sacrifice itself, not just the good that comes out of the sacrifice. Thus the giving Catholic doesn’t have to worry (as much) about whether the charity is really deserving.
(2) People in need have an elevated status. No need to argue within oneself about whether poor people deserve help and no need to weigh their utility function with your own—as a Catholic, believe that they deserve the money or time more than you do.
(3) The reward is intangible. You don’t need to expect or require that there will be an immediate benefit as a result of your charity. This prevents discouragement when the charity doesn’t seem to be working.
Any person who gives to charity may hold any of these beliefs to any extent. I would bet that the more rational a person is, the more good they will do with a given amount of money. However, it is the irrational components that are probably most responsible for the amount of money that is given—and the more money that is given the better, perhaps. Even though some money is wasted, there’s more money going to the worthwhile charities as well.
*You could argue that the irrational beliefs are just assumptions that are made in the game. There may actually be rational arguments behind them, but the belief is a short-cut because the arguments need not be constantly re-examined, especially by the set people who are not interested in arguments.
Various themes in the culture of Catholicism make it easier to be charitable because they help Catholics avoid the rational arguments that would discourage them.
The most difficult hurdle to giving to a charity is determining if the charitable gift is worthwhile. Will the gift do enough good? Is the charity deserving? Are you just enabling poor people to stay poor? Catholicism by-passes all of these rational arguments with irrational beliefs*. These beliefs may not be universally held, but I believe they are part of the culture:
(1) Sacrifice is a good thing in of itself. Value is placed on the sacrifice itself, not just the good that comes out of the sacrifice. Thus the giving Catholic doesn’t have to worry (as much) about whether the charity is really deserving.
(2) People in need have an elevated status. No need to argue within oneself about whether poor people deserve help and no need to weigh their utility function with your own—as a Catholic, believe that they deserve the money or time more than you do.
(3) The reward is intangible. You don’t need to expect or require that there will be an immediate benefit as a result of your charity. This prevents discouragement when the charity doesn’t seem to be working.
Any person who gives to charity may hold any of these beliefs to any extent. I would bet that the more rational a person is, the more good they will do with a given amount of money. However, it is the irrational components that are probably most responsible for the amount of money that is given—and the more money that is given the better, perhaps. Even though some money is wasted, there’s more money going to the worthwhile charities as well.
*You could argue that the irrational beliefs are just assumptions that are made in the game. There may actually be rational arguments behind them, but the belief is a short-cut because the arguments need not be constantly re-examined, especially by the set people who are not interested in arguments.
This idea is the very first thing that any rationalist practice of altruism must eliminate.