Yes, Religion Can Still Be A Force For Good In The World. Here Are 100 Examples How

[hrmjustin]

Antonia Blumberg and. Yasmine Hafiz



Religion has made its way into many global conflicts, and there is no doubt that religion can be divisive and cause harm. That said, countless religious groups, congregations and individuals around the world offer daily demonstrations that faith can offer deep spiritual wisdom, be a major vehicle for service to the world and promote peace.

Here are 100 examples of how faith-based groups are doing good in the world today in no particular order. Many of them we found through #ReligionDoingGood - tweet us other examples of your religious community doing good with that hashtag.


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My parish
Providing a safe space for LGBT youth and allies

Saint Luke's Church, an Episcopalian church in New York City, has a number of outreach programs, including "The Church," which provides a safe space for LGBTQ youth and their allies on Saturday nights. Featuring art workshops, hot meals, social services and a non-judgmental atmosphere, The Church is committed to providing support for young people in need.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/17/100-religious-groups-doing-good_n_5460739.html

[intaglio]

1. And the same question for you as I put to cbayer in her post of yesterday

cbayer's post in Religion

But all this kind of help can be provided by any charity

Why is it that if the charity is offered by a religion it seems to attract special praise? Would Medicine Sans Frontiers or Shelterbox or Sightsavers be praised as being a secular for the work they do?

The problem with any charity offered by a religious group is that all too often a quid pro quo in the shape of favour being shown to that faith and often this is "why don't you come to one of our services ..." The unspoken assumption of religious charity organisations is that they are providing this help either as a duty to God or because of His inspiration. At the core is often the assumption that humans "cannot be good without God."

[hrmjustin]

2. This is the interfaith group so we talk about religion in here.

And the second answer is why shouldn't we extol it.

[el_bryanto]

3. What special praise are you talking about?

If you are talking about how it is brought up in the religion forum, well I would suspect that's because many people in the religion forum believe that religion is a source of evil or insanity - and spend much of their time saying so. So talking about the positives that come from religion is a counterbalance to the repeated suggestion that religion kills kids or that religious folk are dishonest and deluded.

If you are talking about how religious folks bring up the charity their faith does, well there's a few reasons for that probably. They might bring it up to encourage more work for said charities, but they might also bring it up in a prideful kind of way.

As for your last paragraph, I don't know how to answer that - are you saying that religious charities shouldn't exist? Because they might make non-believers uncomfortable? How much do you want to kneecap religious ability to participate in society?

Bryant

[intaglio]

4. Check the cbayer thread in Religion (link above)

It's all there, rather than offend the delicate sensibilities of a protected group.

[el_bryanto]

5. I trashed the religion forum because of mean-spirited assholes

You atheists already have your own group and the religion group to crap on religious DUers in - do you really need this one too?

Bryant

[intaglio]

6. You want to talk - untrash

No skin off my nose

[el_bryanto]

7. No thanks - I've been there before. I know what it's like.

I don't know why any believer bothers with it.

Bryant

[hrmjustin]

8. I have not been there as much but I love the oeople on both sides. I even miss those on ignore.

But I need to limit my time there for now.

[rug]

15. If you're nostalgic you can always browse the yahoo message boards.

[hrmjustin]

16. lol send me a link in a pm if your serious.

[rug]

17. No, it was a joke.

I haven't been there in years but there's a distinct resemblance between some of them.

[hrmjustin]

18. I used to post on Yahoo in 2000 and a few years after.

[rug]

19. Yeah, it was a good gateway at the time.

[kentauros]

9. What comparable percentage does "all too often" represent?

Is it a majority? Or maybe less than 30%? Basically, it's too vague and arbitrary to support your attempt to tear down the fact that religion can do good in the world. Yes, charities can do the same, so unless religions are more often than not asking a favor in exchange for help, why bring it up at all? Don't charities often ask for donations to keep them going? How is that not the same?

Also, as a reminder of this being a protected group, we aren't an echo chamber of Religion. We don't want the fights and brawls associated with that group to come over here. If you think it's because we have "delicate sensitivities" then y'all in the AA group won't mind if some attempt the same tactic to bring Religion-group arguments over there as well. Seems like I've seen some rather delicate sensitivities voiced in AA with regards to believers and friends of believers attempting the same thing.

What we want here are discussions, not debates. If you don't know our definitions of those words and the major difference between them, just ask and we'll be happy to enlighten you

[intaglio]

10. As this is as you pointed out a protected group

Please go to the main post to reply. The link is above

[kentauros]

11. You thought it prudent to bring that topic to this forum,

so there's no reason why you can't answer my questions posed here. I have no good reason to answer you in the Religion forum as it is not the Interfaith forum. So long as we can keep it civil, we can discuss this topic here. Why duplicate efforts other than to stir the pot here?

[intaglio]

12. No, I said that the article had already been posted by cbayer

I gave the link to that thread.

I repeated the question I had asked there as a quotation.

After being reminded that this was a protected group, I said to reply on cbayer's thread - which is what I intended in the first place although did not state outright.

I was also informed about the mean-spirited assholes posting in the general religion thread.

[hrmjustin]

13. Your welcome to post here but your post number 4 did seem a bit insulting although you might not

have meant it to be.

All we ask is you remember this is a safe haven.

[kentauros]

14. There are numerous topics that get posted here and in Religion.

Yet we are still able to hold separate conversations here and there. Why not keep it here? There's absolutely no reason why we can't have a civil conversation on this topic right here, right now.

And so, on topic again, why can't religion do what charities do as well? As I asked above, how is it different for a non-religious charity to ask for donations from a religion asking a favor for their help? Granted, not all people are comfortable with religions doing that, yet there are plenty of people that aren't comfortable with giving money to a charity. At least with both doing the same task, you have a choice