The golden mean of equanimity

He laughs at all the vulgar cares and fears,

At their vain triumphs, and their vainer tears;

An equal temper in his mind he found,

When fortune flatter'd him, and when she frown'd.

-- John Dryden

Of stingy Catholics, zany Pentecostals and honest (sort of) Presbyterians

Have you ever noticed that Catholics are stingy, and not just with money?

Visit comments sections at websites frequented by Catholics and you will find relatively little upvoting even between Catholics who agree with one another.

It sort of gives the lie to this New York Times article from 1994 which chalked up Catholics' financial stinginess compared with other denominations to "dissatisfaction with being left out of financial decisions". No, they really are stingy, and they (honestly) lie about it almost as badly as do Baptists, who are the worst. 

To wit: The study which was the basis for the Times' story is interesting for the discrepancies between what congregations said their households gave on average and what the individual households said they gave:

Congregational reports per household vs. members' reports:

Assemblies of God $1696 vs. $2985 (members said 76% more)

Baptists $1154 vs. $2479 (115% more)

Presbyterians $1085 vs. $1635 (51% more)

Lutherans $746 vs. $1196 (60% more)

Catholics $386 vs. $819 (112% more).

Apart from the fact that the congregational reports neatly ranked these denominations in an order which also reflects the degree of "religious enthusiasm" commonly thought characteristic of their respective theologies, from zaniest to sanest, the Presbyterians nevertheless come in first for honesty, if an exaggeration-of-giving rate of only 51% can be called honest.

Presbyterians. The golden mean, the solid middle.

The golden mean of property

About 13 bushels of oats will supply 1 person with 2000 calories/day/year 

Give me, ye gods, the product of one field,

That so I neither may be rich nor poor;

And having just enough, not covet more.

-- John Dryden