What Does A Culture's Charity Say About Its Nature And Character?

To what extent does genuine charity (ie, generously and freely given support) contribute to civility or, for that matter, to civilization? And, therefore, what does it say about the culture, country, religion. or other group of people from which it comes? Or doesn't come?

It's no secret that America is the most charitable country in the world. We send money, aid and people to countries in need. Freely given with no strings attached. In fact, we don't just 'send' stuff; we go. So it was with Haiti for example. What happened and didn't happen with that aid is a source of great frustration to many Americans but it won't keep us from doing what's right on our end.

I've wondered for some time about some other cultures and what they think and do regarding charity toward others whether they even know them or not. Whether the country needing charity is a friend or not. One of the cultures/groups I've been most curious about because I never hear of 'good stuff' they do is Muslims and Muslim countries. Well, The National Review just answered that question for me. The answer is disappointing.

Because Muslim countries seem to be hostile towards other countries so much (both non-Muslim countries and Muslim countries embracing a different branch of Islam), I didn't expect that charity toward others would be high on their priority list. But I didn't expect what The National Review discovered:
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/265437/uncharitable-andrew-c-mccarthy

I'm disappointed by that. I was hoping appearances were deceiving and that the news would be good.

To me, an honestly peaceful nature begets compassion then charity is one of the key byproducts of that. This leaves me wondering more than ever what Muslims mean when they claim theirs is a religion of peace. I recently challenged that, noting that peace is not just the absence of war. Real peace is not a passive thing; it's active. There seems to be real hateful, explosive, and dangerous rage lying just below the surface with far too many Muslims. Indeed, many (most?) Muslims who's prefer living in real peace appear to be reluctant to speak out against that hostile nature. Why? Is it true they fear retribution? Fear and peace don't go together folks.

What chance does genuine(!) peace by or within Muslim countries have then, especially considering they seem incapable of living in peace even with each other? What are the chances of defeating radical Islam if all of us on this planet don't start addressing this like grownups? They're important questions aren't they? In fact, deadly serious?