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					Originally Posted by PaulS  He certainly should have given more (esp. being a politician).  
 I wonder if you took the self serving $ out if the statement would be true?  I know a large % of my annual donations are given to my church.
 
 My church just built a new hall and is building a new gym.  Why should I be allowed to deduct my $ for a donation that I'm going to benefit from and which no one other than church members are going to use?  I might drop my gym membership to go there to work out.
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 "I wonder if you took the self serving $ out if the statement would be true? "
Your edit (that not all churches are self-serving) nulifies the entire point of your post.  I have never seen any data to suggest that even though conservatives give more $ to charity, a lasrge percentage of that money benefits only the people that made the donations.  You are graspiong at straws...
'Why should I be allowed to deduct my $ for a donation that I'm going to benefit from and which no one other than church members are going to use? "
Then don't deduct that donation from your taxable income.  You're not forced to do that...