I hate citing Reddit, but this un-sourced imgur link makes it seem like he's not such a bad guy, no?
Humanitarian efforts relieve suffering for families of all nationalities and religions.
-In 2010 the Church provided relief to people affected by 119 disasters in 58 countries.
-Over 7.5 million people now have access to clean water because of Church efforts from 2002 through 2010.
-Since 2002, over 193,000 health care workers have been trained in Neonatal Resuscitation Training. The World Health Organization estimates that 1 million newborns die each year of breathing difficulties.
-Since 2003, over 550,000 people have benefitted from Church vision projects throughout the world.
Likewise, suppose I donate 5% of my income to charity A which is 100 times as effective at saving lives as charity B. My neighbor, of similar means, donates 50% of his income to charity B because of his mistaken belief that charity B is just as good. Now, I may know he's making a mistake, and there's no way I would choose to send my money to charity B, but my neighbor is still more honorable for making such a large sacrifice for something he thinks is right.
In my book, you don't get any points for merely thinking you're right. You only get points for actually being right.
For example: If Gandhi had been assassinated earlier, would that have made him a worse man?
But none of that's the point. The GP was pointing out that a not insignificant portion of the population donates more than 10% of their income on a regular basis. In light of that, 5% isn't much, particularly for someone with a great deal of income.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finances_of_The_Church_of_Jesus...
My point is that a person donating 10% to an inefficient charity like the Mormon Church is not as laudable as, e.g., a person donating some fraction of 10% to one of these: http://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities
I still think he ought to give Darth more money.
Also, of course, he started the companies in order to make some great films.