This weeks readings were about Religion and Social Welfare, out of Nonprofit Nation. This chapter on religion really shocked me this week, I was not aware of how many different types of religions were present in America. I know that America has a lot of religious groups, but I didnt know about the 365, 095 churches and 170, 155, 033 members behind it. Thats over half of the American population.
The majority of Americans believe in a God, may not be the same one, but its a God of some sort. This plays a huge role in peoples life, and how they go about living it. I think religion shows how people interact with others in there culture. My personal experiences with religion are from a young child. Now that I am an adult and can think for myself, I do not think religion should be as important in my life as it was for my mother when she was growing up. Until the 7th grade I had to go to church twice a week, being that I was in a Private Catholic School for 7 years we had to attend church once a week. Then my family went once a week on Sundays. My whole life I was confused with church, I would always be thinking of what I could be doing; like skiing, or biking, or playing sports, never feeling excited to attend church. Now that I am older and look back on my experience with Religion, I think of how it had an impact on my life. I think that going to church helps build a good moral base for people, but I am not an avid church goer.
Church definitely has a social impact on people in society. The book talked about how in Chicago neighbor hoods were associated with which church you attend. This plays a huge role on your culture, you might have more friends from your church than others. This is why Churches are usually nonprofits, because they are doing things from their heart. Their religion is their belief.
After reading this chapter on Religion, I think that the reason Religion has done well in America is because of Church-State separation. The U.S. constitution allows such a diverse country: The federal government can not create a national, established church. Citizens have the right to pursue their own religious beliefs. These main points make me proud to be an American. Americans benefit greatly through this part of the nonprofit sector through health, education, social services, and international aide.
The next chapter in Nonprofit Nation is about Social Services. I did not know a lot about this area of the nonprofit sector until now. I have worked in some of these areas, like meals on wheels and the salvation army. When helping with Meals on Wheels, it was shocking to find out how many different people needed help and were thankful to have a warm meal. I think that this area of the non-profit sector is better off as it is than being apart of the government, because these services are not easily done on a day to day basis. It takes lots of hard work, and people that are unselfish and very giving. These services have people with good morals and this is why these services have small numbers of people helping.
Interesting distinction you’ve made here regarding the proximate relationship between church-and-state (separated) and social services-and-state (interdependent). I’m glad you asked Sarai the question you posed in last week’s post, and I hope her response provided a good foundation on why certain enterprises are a better fit in the nonprofit sector. (5/5)