Religious Philanthropy as Social Capital

Attempts at reducing our country’s economic hardship seem to have overlooked the potential of religious civil society in coping with social problems. As most religious organizations become part of civil society, they have the obligations to improve civil life, by strengthening the value of voluntarism or generosity which manifests itself in philanthropy.

It appears that religious persons have tended to have a very dependent mentality, partly due to an era of colonialism and feudalism and partly due to centralized planning where the government arrogates to itself resources, power and the implementation of activities. The government is expected to solve every kind of social problem. But because of a lack of resources, lack of political will and also as the problem itself is so enormous, the government has been largely unsuccessful. It is becoming increasingly important that religious people take responsibility for their personal uplift and for the betterment of their community.

While philanthropy is one of the concrete manifestations of religious pluralism, it can help the community a lot. Effective religious philanthropy is instrumental in creating and maintaining public confidence in the philanthropic traditions—voluntary association, voluntary giving, and voluntary action.

Generosity and civic involvement are clearly shared by all religions. We often hear that it is more blessed to give than to receive. We also hear stories about how giving makes a difference.

All religions preach voluntarism in the sense of being caring, sharing with others or offering money to those in distress. In Islam, there are such concepts as zakat and sadaqa. In zakat it is obligatory for a person to give a portion of his/her income in charity. In sadaqa the scope is wide, even those who have nothing tangible to give can offer sadaqa in the shape of a glass of water to the thirsty. Or simply a smile and a kind word. The Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said, ”The example of the Muslims in the matter of mutual love and affection is that of a body. When one of its organs is affected with disease, all other organs suffer from fever and sleeplessness in sympathy.” 

In Hinduism there is the concept of daanam (the act of giving). Hinduism recognizes that daanam can take any form, the highest form being the giving of knowledge. There are also such doctrines as shramdaan (donation of labor) and godaan(giving food).

Brahmanic traditions accept the fact that giving is not limited to just the giving of money.  Similarly in Christianity there is the concept of charity and help to the community. Giving is not simply about identifying the poor and helping them but about identifying with them. 

Religious philanthropy is in itself a social capital. There is connection between religion and social capital because, as we see, houses of worship have built and sustained more social capital – and social capital of more varied forms than any other type of institution.

For example, churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and other houses of worship have provided a vibrant institutional base for civic good works and a training ground for civic entrepreneurs. Much stock of social capital is religious or religiously affiliated, whether measured by association memberships, philanthropy, or volunteering. Houses of worship run a variety of programs for members, from self-help groups to job training courses to singles’ clubs. Religious institutions often become a prime forum for informal social capital building.

That is because religious faith provides a moral foundation for civic regeneration. Faith gives meaning to community service and good will, forging a spiritual connection between individual impulses and great public issues. Religion helps people to internalize an orientation to the public good. Because faith has such power to transform lives, faith-based programs can enjoy success where secular programs have failed.

We are aware that religion can exacerbate divisions, to be sure, but it can also heal them. Religious exhortations can increase tensions, but also reduce them. The challenge is to find ways for religious leaders and institutions to fit safely and comfortably into a society made up of a virtual alphabet soup of traditions, Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, end so forth.

We also recognize that religion is both disintegrative and integrative. Taken to an extreme, religious impulses can be self-righteous, divisive, and even violent. Hence, the principles that guide religious involvement in civic renewal must recognize that such efforts hold both potential and peril. The challenge is to nurture religious work grounded in love, not hate, and in unity, not division. Here we should endorse a number of principles, including strengthening congregations as civic institutions, encouraging religious collaboration to mediate the culture war between modernists and traditionalists, and encouraging inter-faith collaboration on social issues.

Religious institutions should show rededication to the project of reaching across congregations, denominations, and religions to promote a larger sense of community – that is, to rebuilding the stock of bridging social capital. If houses of worship explicitly emphasize social capital as much as they do spirituality, they will further both missions.

Given that religion is entangled with many of the public issues, there is a role for religious institutions to play in helping community to overcome poverty, backwardness, incivility, distrust, animosity, and sometimes even violence that these issues have engendered. Religious institutions can help people find ways of working through these problems with mutual respect and good will.

Religious leaders have always been at the forefront of drives for local and national reconciliation. Martin Luther King Jr., for instance, brought together an inter-race, inter-faith movement to pursue the promise of a just society, a society where “the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.”

For building social capital through faith-based groups we should increase funds for faith-based organizations, foster collaboration between faith communities and secular service & advocacy groups, promote values in secular organizations, and put more than money in the collection plate.
Religious institutions can create initiative to reduce poverty and overcome divisions by strengthening existing faith-based efforts and promoting new networks of cooperation. We need to endorse such collaborative efforts, and to urge that government agencies, foundations, businesses, and individuals take a closer look at the feasibility of supporting faith-based collaborations locally, nationally, and internationally.