the art of giving

Remembering the practice of sacrificing with all kinds of various donations to gods in the ancient past, it is clearly seen that different forms of giving have existed ever since mankind has. Of course nowadays the situation is much more complex and people in our culture do not feel obligated to compliment gods with material donations in order to feel secure and protected anymore, although some do argue the opposite and try to point out parallels with today's taxing system. Not concentrating on that particular »donations« we can nevetheless say that the act of giving has developed into a inevitable part of our lives and has now many different purposes, mainly to bring joy to someone's life, but more and more mistreatments of it are taking place as well.
Nowadays, there are many occasions where some sort of a gift has become a requirement as a sign of devotio...