And just when you seemed you were becoming reasonable.
You're correct, but it's a little more nuanced than that. This is from an opinion piece entitled, "Bleeding Heart Tightwads", that completely agrees with your claim, but it also makes clear that both conservatives and liberals have their preferred recipients and method of distribution. It seems most conservative charity goes to their churches, while liberals prefer their charity going directly to the needy, or through our secular government, cutting out the religious middle men;
...It’s true that religion is the essential reason conservatives give more, and religious liberals are as generous as religious conservatives. Among the stingiest of the stingy are secular conservatives.
According to Google’s figures, if donations to all religious organizations are excluded, liberals give slightly more to charity than conservatives do. But Mr. Brooks says that if measuring by the percentage of income given, conservatives are more generous than liberals even to secular causes.
In any case, if conservative donations often end up building extravagant churches, liberal donations frequently sustain art museums, symphonies, schools and universities that cater to the well-off. (It’s great to support the arts and education, but they’re not the same as charity for the needy. And some research suggests that donations to education actually increase inequality because they go mostly to elite institutions attended by the wealthy.)...
I applaud you, "paying it forward", but individual's contributions don't raise near enough money to cover the need. We just disagree that we should use taxes to help fellow Americans...