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Should charity be voluntary or compelled?

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Compelled
9% 26 votes Total: 284 votes
Voluntary
91% 258 votes
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Voluntary

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data of reaching into their conscious and their hearts to give instead of attempting to shame them into being cheapskates if they can't give a dollar a day?

There was a time, I can remember with shame, immediately after the 9/11 attacks when the company I was working for at that moment sent out a memo directing all the workers to put down how much of their next paycheck they were going to donate to the victims of that tragedy. The game plan of the company was to get an overall dollar figure of what their employees were going to donate and have the company president make a photo opportunity presentation of the check on behalf of the company to the charitable organization that had solicited the funds. The company sent out a sign sheet with everyone's name on it in an attempt to shame everyone into donating on behalf of the company. If you put down a zero value, your name would be seen by everyone else and comments would be made of how "unpatriotic" the individual was for not giving in a time of national tragedy. Needless to say, this peer pressure attempt to raise funds to give the company a "caring" image was met with much resistance and, in the end, the company backed off and permitted people to give privately. But, the incident still is engraved in my mind of how easy it is to be forcibly compelled to participate in charity. Sadly, morals and generosity are never the correct factors to use in these situations.

Learn more about this author, Frederick A. Babb.
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Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:

Should charity be voluntary or compelled?

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    by Joseph Whalen

    Everyone should be encouraged to donate to charity on some level. As Americans we live in one of the most prosperous countries

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  • 2 of 4

    by Jonathan Huie

    The dictionary gives three definitions for charity: voluntary giving of help, a charitable organization, and "kindness and

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