Thoughtful post.
What upset me the most about the article was the giving . Or the lack of giving. I thought our religions compel us to give. Whether we feel like it or not. When times are bad as well as good. Also, it’s chintzy to over claim your old crap that you donate to goodwill. Sheesh. If all that is true, I lose respect for him.
Unless he comes forward with charitable giving he did in private and did. Or declare.
I do not mind the author defending his friend, but I am not sure all of those things are full on lies. I’m just really disappointed by the lack of giving.
FWIW, we agree on the charitable contribution issue being a concern. Is it enough to keep me from voting for him, or backing him for president? Not with the seriousness of the problems with Mitt Romney or Barack Obama.
For whatever it's worth, I do believe it is important when working with conservative Roman Catholics to recognize that their faith leads them to place an emphasis in places where I would not do so. Tithing is emphasized much more in evangelical circles than the Roman Catholic Church... not saying priests and bishops don't encourage charitable giving, just saying the emphasis is not there in the same way that would be found in many evangelical churches.
An additional factor — one probably not present in Santorum’s case — is that Scripture has some pretty strong words to say about publicly sounding trumpets to announce charitable giving. We do not necessarily know the full amount of a candidate's charitable giving and there are good reasons for that.
Matt 6:2-4: “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”