Is it "Faith Based" or Church Based "Charity"?

North Miami Beach, FL 1-30-2001 Aaron H.
Schectman

THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on issues, ideas and reflections on the times. Published now and
then, Opinions pro or con are welcome.

IS IT "FAITH BASED" OR CHURCH BASED "CHARITY"?

The announced plan of the Republican (note, I did not say American) thrust
in amending the decades old GOVERNMENTAL responsibility to care for the ills
of SOME of the American NEEDY is to kill off or reduce the governmental
involvement. The question needs to be asked: Is it "faith based" or church
based "charity"? And, why is it still called charity?

Is aid to the Indian populace hit by earthquakes charity? Are those made
destitute by the South American volcanic eruptions and mudslides deserving
of Charity? Is aid to Bosnian or Serbian refugees charity? Is providing
public education to the poor who cannot afford private education charity?
In all of these and many more instances these massive efforts are not
charity but self-interest on the parts of those who give aid. The usual
response is, there but for some discontinuity in the FORCE, go I. So, the
reasoning follows, if it can happen to others it can happen to me - so I
better get myself and others like me in gear to give aid. The visceral first
response to disaster is "Thank God the leak is not in my end of the boat."

The people in the best position to give aid are those who are organized to
gather together to raise and maintain houses of worship. Experience has
shown these work very well. We gather together to ask the Lord's Blessings.
These are private and religious enterprises allowed by our government. So,
because of this history and the fact that formal education began about the
time the great medieval churches were built in Europe the idea that aid to
the human mind and body were part and parcel of the endeavor. This changed
somewhat in the diversity of religious fervor that produced splinters and
divisions in the body religious. The American experiment wisely chose to
separate Church and State.

As a sometime worker with a Housing the Homeless group in Monmouth County,
New Jersey I was in the position to compare the help given to an essentially
non-partisan and secular group called HABcore. Today HABcore runs at least
3 boarding houses for the functionally self-care disabled. I noticed that
the Catholics, Methodists and (I don't want to leave anyone out but my sense
of these things was compromised by my needs to take notes as secretary of
the group) others give generously. They basically give to maintain these
houses and continuously offer hundreds of minor but eagerly accepted gifts.
One of the greatest concerns was the fact that the organization was directed
towards Black neighborhoods and a need was felt that the leadership of
HABcore should include more representation from the Black community.
Churches routinely handle distribution of food collections in Black areas.

Here is a non-sectarian group that is given generous and continuous help by
sectarian groups with no strings attached. Getting help from governmental
agencies having the greatest number of large grants was and is unnecessarily
difficult. HABcore is privately run by people who belong to many Churches,
people in many cases who privately and continuously give money as well as
their time, physical energy and brainpower. I was, for a time, the only
putative Jewish member and tried to interest my Temple in sharing in the
giving. I fear that the gifts were small in comparison to the others but
who was comparing? One knee-jerk reaction on my part is the fear of
proselytizing, an historical reality. I saw none of this in the relationship
between the religious community and HABcore.

My question is, is care for the needy really faith or church based and how
will this Republican based care for the needy in America shake out? Isn't
it the responsibility of all Americans through their government to be there
when need is shown? What do you think? Carol's Evaluation: 10 out of 10.
Carol also says: "Faith based" anything except a particular religion and/or
house of worship doesn't sit well with me.