Why I Love Jesus Through Religion. Part 3: Churches and Feeding the Poor

So we continue with our look at the “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” video.

The poet says:

“Why does it build huge churches but fails to feed the poor?”

So lets look at this question. The first part asks why religions build huge churches. I would say this. Since the dawn of time humans have been drawn to places of great beauty. The Shinto religion of Japan built and builds shrines in beautiful natural places. The earliest religions of the British Isles worshipped in sacred groves and stone rings and the Incas built Machu Pichu on a beautiful mountaintop. Humans are drawn to beauty and when they can’t have it naturally they build it. Humans build buildings to house their numbers… the larger the gathering, the larger the space needed. Humans want to beautify the things that are precious and important to them. True, there are some people who are so committed to their belief structures that they do not do these things. I’m not sure what that percentage is and I won’t hazard a guess. My guess is that humans like to have beauty and the art/craft-making urge is ingrained into us.

The second part about failing to feed the poor is next. I’ve done some research on this. The National Park Service says that in 2010 35% of all charitable giving was given to religious institutions including churches. This is equal, perhaps a little larger than, the next three combined. Also, in a survey done by the Hoover Institute at Stanford University, religious people are 25% more likely to donate money than secularists (91% compared to 66%) and 23% more likely to donate time (67% compared to 44%). On top of that work you have Inter-religious groups like NRCAT (National Religious Coalition Against Torture) who are activists for other Justice issues. I have known people who have changed religions because of what the respective religions offer in social justice and charitable work. I haven’t been able to find what percentage of charitable work religious institutions do but these numbers are compelling. And these numbers include all religions from Buddhism to Judaism.

And why haven’t religions solved the problem? The problem is too big. Even Jesus said, “The poor you will always have with you.” (Matt 26: 11a) I would love to see the problem end. As a member of a religious order whose purpose is to work for the poor that is an end I am working toward. I don’t know if it’s possible for humans to do it, but with God all things are possible.

Peace and Good

David

(The Photo of Notre Dame is from WikiCommons and the pie chart from dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com who got it from Giving USA Foundation. The final picture is a drawing of mine.)