YESTERDAY evening my wife and I were visited by a lady collecting envelopes on behalf of a local charity.

When I refused to give her a donation, the lady became quite aggressive.

This gave me cause for reflection, the upshot of which is this letter.

Am I alone in having misgivings about the 'charity culture' that has evolved in recent years?

It seems to me that one is expected to make a donation to every charity that pops an envelope through your door, and if you don't you are regarded as a moral leper and not fit to belong in civilised human society.

It appears that giving to charity has become as obligatory as paying one's taxes, or keeping the speed limit.

I find this trend disturbing. Firstly because it is too easy to dip one's hand in one's pocket for a few pence to solve one's guilt feelings and get rid of these people.

"Giving to charity" can too easily become a substitute for a real social engagement with social evils and human suffering.

With all the causes that clamour for support, surely it is better to think about the issues that you are really concerned about and support those causes, perhaps even giving up some of one's time to them, rather that giving a few pence to lots of causes, some of which might not be using the money they obtain very effectively.

Secondly, because of the importance that our secular society gives to supporting charities, there is a danger that those who regularly do so might come to view it is a moral virtue.

It seems to me that giving to charity has become a secular version of absolution.

A person might be a lecherous, bad-tempered drunk, but because they make generous donations to charity they can go their way with a clear conscience, congratulating themselves on what a decent fellow they are.

Some multi-nationals appear to operate on this principle.

Provided they make generous tax-free gifts to good causes, they can go on polluting the air and poisoning lakes and rivers, and playing third world workers a subsistence wage.

Having said all that, both my wife and I do give to charity, but we are selective, and endeavour to support those causes that we are really concerned about.

At the end of the day, people should give out of a sense of compassion, and not because they are made to feel that they must.

Michael Morris,

Lime Grove,

Chorley.