And now, in the spirit of not giving

Pronouncements from the “Civitas Institute,” a Raleigh-based think tank, are usually predictable statements reflective of the organization’s right-wing ideology.

But once in a while, the Civitas folks lay a doozie of an egg, and the cluck, cluck sound this time came from the outgoing president of the group, Francis De Luca. He blasted “Giving Tuesday,” the Tuesday after Thanksgiving when companies and nonprofit organizations try to encourage folks to give to the charities of their choice.

“While giving to charity is good and noble,” De Luca said in an email soliciting donations to Civitas, “being ‘guilted’ into giving to charity is not, and that’s what #givingtuesday is all about: transforming ‘giving’ into ‘giving back.’ ” He added, “The Left has used this idea as a fundraising tactic for decades.”

Talk about driving up on the sidewalk to take out a liberal. Good grief, brother, did you eat a sour Thanksgiving giblet or something? De Luca seems to mean that “giving back” is some kind of conspiracy from lefties to take away hard-earned money from people.

Aw c’mon, big guy. What’s next?

Maybe next will be grumbling about the Christmas spirit. Something like this: “We’re sick of this Tiny Tim character and his daddy trying to shake down Mr. Scrooge, and by golly Scrooge was crazy to give Bob Cratchit and his family a free Christmas turkey. He turned them into takers. Stop the War on Christmas. Don’t let it become a day for takers getting free stuff.”

Merry Christmas, Civitas, but beware of a visit soon from the Ghost of Christmas Past.

This story was originally published November 29, 2017 at 10:37 AM with the headline "And now, in the spirit of not giving."