Role of Religion in Charity

You see it on TV daily - the starving children of impoverished countries being tended to by Christian missionaries, along with a plea for your help. Were you in a Muslim country you would see the same plea being made from Islamic missionaries, and were you in India the same from Hindu priests. The fact is that much of the charitable institutions that exist these days are run by religious organizations. I'm not saying anything is wrong with this - it's great to see the existence of so many volunteers willing to help the needy. However, I feel that the way in which many religious charities go about doing their work is somewhat twisted and manipulative. I strongly believe that when conducting charity, no religion should be taught to the people you are helping. Or, if you are going to make religion a part of your charity, I feel that when it comes to offering those you are helping spiritual advice, it is your duty to those you are helping to put all religions on equal footing (including the non-religious belief of atheism) when teaching them.

The simple fact of the matter is that humans are, at root, animals. We require 4 basic elements- 4 basic things without which we wouldn't be able to live. Those are food, water, shelter, and some form of love to combat loneliness and depression. So when charities come to those who don't have access to one of these four items, or even worse any of the items at all, it can only be expected that the people the charity are trying to help will have a natural liking/affinity to the charity helping them. They perceive them to be great people, sometimes even going so far as to call the charity volunteers angels and suggest a sort of divinity about them. These tendencies arise from the fact that when approached by the charities, these people are in extremely vulnerable states, at least mentally. They have one goal in their mind- to get food, water, and shelter, and to find love. Therefore when they are given these basic human necessities by any sort of charitable group they automatically feel indebted to that group- that group essentially just gave them the greatest gift of all, the gift of life.

And what do many of these groups expect in return? Conversion. Now I don't know about you, but this seems like a sick deal to me. I have absolutely no problem with religious charities going in and lending helping hands- in fact I encourage it. But when these charities begin to expect conversion in return, it seems to me that they are overstepping their role. The fact is that when you are giving impoverished people the gift of life, they will naturally be willing to believe anything you tell them. Give them Islam, they will believe that. Give them Christianity, they will believe that. Give them Hinduism, they will believe that. Hell, give them terrorist philosophy, and they'll believe that- this has sadly been proven time and time again by the number of villages in Afghanistan that are currently aiding terrorist troops fight American Soldiers because they got supplies from the terrorists and bombs from the U.S. And who can blame them? Its only natural to listen to those who are feeding you, clothing you, and loving you like no one else has before.

But is it right to convert people to a religion when they clearly aren't thinking for themselves, and would be willing to jump any bandwagon? I like to think not. I like to believe that religion should be approached by the individual himself, and that their should be free choice of religion. These religious charities claim that they do not force it on those they help- that they only teach it, and the final decision is left up to the people. But what do you expect the people to do? Of course they are going to convert. If you come to a starving man with a plate of food and tell him that Jesus sent you, he will love Jesus to the end of his life. If you do the same and tell him Allah sent you, he will love Allah to the end of his life. If you do the same and tell him Brahma sent you, he will love Brahma to the end of his life. The fact is that if the charity is really going to just teach, then it should put all religions on equal footing when it does teach, as well as atheism. And then let the people choose. That would be true religious freedom. And if a charity lacks the resources to present fairly and equally all the religious options to the people they are helping, then that charity should not be allowed to teach religion at all.

Teaching religion to the impoverished is nothing more than an exploitation of the weak while they are defenseless (mentally) in order to further your own selfish, religious gains.

However, I am not in any way saying that religion doesn't have a role to play in social improvement. Rather, I believe it is the greatest power that can be used by charities- but only as a tool to attract people, not teach people. Let religion motivate your actions, and push you to new heights of humanity. If you feel so inspired by the Bible that you drop everything and dedicate your life to feeding orphans, then I admire you. If you feel so inspired by the Q'oran that you do the same, then I applaud you. If you feel so inspired by the Gita or Vedas that you do the same, then let no one stand in your way. But don't let your eagerness to preach steal your humanity by robbing those you have come out to help of their freedom of religious choice. Be motivated by religion, but do not teach it lest you are asked about it. And if you are asked about it, then do tell them about your personal religion, but still at least attempt to put all religions on equal footing because even if he does ask you, he is still going to be partial to what you say.

There is no arguing the fact that religion has done amazing things for the world's poor, and helped many throw off the shackles of poverty and mental entrapment- the stats support it. Of all the recorded charitable contributions made each year in the U.S. alone, which in a study done by the Giving USA Foundation was quantified as $307 billion, 35% of that money was donated by religious congregations. In that same study, it was found that U.S. religious organizations give 1.5 times as much money to the developing world than the U.S. government does. Without a question, religion has played a huge role in the uplifting of human lives across the globe. But too often, religious charities are found overstepping their role as aid volunteers and end up robbing the poor of religious freedom in the process. It is important for them to remember when they go to provide aid that they should be there to help, not preach. Let religion be their motivation, but not their lesson.

Sources:

http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/06/religious-charities-gain-in-a.php

http://allafrica.com/stories/200906180579.html