LETTER TO THE EDITOR

State laws not needed to motivate works of Christian charity

Posted

To the editor:

The title of the Op-Ed by Rachel McQuire, “R.I Denies Poor Students Scholarships,” is not proven in what is written. The title is inflammatory and accusatory, and I was expecting that some hard evidence to prove the allegation would be offered.

Rachel McQuire does her best to imply that there is some devious effort to block the advancement of the poor. She fails on providing any real evidence.

What I find particularly troubling is the notion, not directly stated, that people should only donate when incentivized by government tax law. The notion that the motivator of our actions should be the government, rather than God, is quite distasteful.

No matter what the secular law is, Catholics are called to do the right thing. Certainly, the example of Christ is that individual action changes hearts and minds. Jesus did not seek high office to create rules force good behavior. He did not lobby for bills to motivate people to be more ‘Christian.’

I believe that the Catholic faith drives us to individual action in individual circumstances. The statistics is just not a focus. The ‘good’ objective that many, many Government programs have purported to pursue, are all too often a backdrop for corruption and abuse.