Our religious freedoms bring benefits for the community
July seems like an appropriate month to highlight some of the benefits and blessings that religious freedom brings to society as a whole, and to us as individuals–whether or not we consider ourselves religious.
July seems like an appropriate month to highlight some of the benefits and blessings that religious freedom brings to society as a whole, and to us as individuals–whether or not we consider ourselves religious.
A Chinese student studying democracy in America explained why religion plays such an important role in a free society: “In your past, most Americans attended a church or synagogue every week. When you were there, from your youngest years, you were taught that you should voluntarily obey the law; that you should respect other people’s property, and not steal it. You were taught never to lie, and to respect the life and freedom of others the same as your own. Americans followed these rules because they had come to believe that even if the police didn’t catch them when they broke a law, God would catch them. Democracy works because most people most of the time voluntarily obey your laws.”
Those who grow up being taught to follow the Ten Commandments, to treat people as Jesus Christ would, and that we will all ultimately answer for our behavior to our Creator have an internal moral code that does not need a plethora of laws governing behavior. Someone once asked Joseph Smith, the founder and first president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, how he could govern so many people so well.
He replied, “I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves.”
This is true of all religious people who hold a high moral code of behavior. They have an internal belief system that does not rely on external laws to tell them what is right and wrong. God’s laws do that.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson explains, “Religious conscience encourages the virtues and habits of good citizenship that are necessary for a free society: Honesty. Duty. Moral self-discipline. Sacrifice for family and country. Compassion and service toward others. Civic engagement.”
Religious freedom and religious people benefit communities in a multitude of ways. One of those is through charitable giving. Religious people and institutions are enormous sources of humanitarian aid, volunteerism, and donations to charitable causes.
Data from the Philanthropy Panel Study, a project at the University of Indiana’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, found a “staggering difference between the charitable giving practices of the religiously affiliated and those with no religious affiliation.”
It showed that 62% of religious households donated to charity compared to only 46 of nonreligious households. A Pew Research Center study found that 45% of people who attended religious services regularly did some kind of volunteer work the previous week. Only 28% of the Americans who did not attend religious services volunteered. Here are some other facts about the good that religious people and organizations do:
Religious hospitals care for 20% of US hospital patients
Religious people adopt children at 2.5 times the national rate
Religious people host foster kids three years longer
Christians make up the bulk of volunteers who mentor prisoners
Churches provide the most day-to-day help resettling refugees and asylum seekers arriving in the US
58% of emergency shelter beds are maintained by faith-based providers
Churches recruit the bulk of volunteers who operate organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Meals on Wheels, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and other volunteer-dependent charities, food pantries, feeding programs, and more.
These are some of the many positive contributions religion and religious people make to our culture and society. These contributions alone warrant the perpetuations of the fundamental human right of religious freedom,.
Christians are motivated by the two great commandments: “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”
And the second is like, namely this, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Mark 12:30-31).
George Washington’s words ring true: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”
Kristine Gifford is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
