"An average Latter-day Saint provides 427.9 hours of volunteer labor annually (35.6 hours monthly or 8.2 hours weekly). In comparison, an average American volunteer (excluding nonvolunteers) provides about four hours of volunteering per month."
Yes, that 4 hours/month is not the average for Americans, it's the average for Americans who are active volunteers. We Mormons lap those people a whopping eight+ times. My mom told me she attended an event where the researcher spoke about his findings, and he was completely baffled what motivated us to do it. He attended many meetings and said our speakers are boring, our music is boring, we don't have Charismatic leaders, and yet we consistently out-give every single group in America in time and money. He noted that he had no clue what we do differently that he could implement with other groups, and yet there is a massive distinction between us and all other volunteer groups.
Only 4-7% of the adult population of America tithe, but 88% of active Mormons tithe. We don't stop there - we give to non-profits and to the fast offerings portion of the church. We beat all other giving organizations because 100% of our fast offerings go to help those in need. Because we volunteer our time, we have 0% overhead in administration costs.
This leads him to call us the "most prosocial members of American society".
In my mind, this is the power of religion. Those that would call for the banishment of religion all together miss the fact that all the evil committed by those who misuse religion is overwhelmed by the good performed by those who are religious. And according to this study, we Mormons outperform all other groups in our generosity.
I agree that selflessness is not the sole possession of the religious, but I will claim that the selflessness of those who take their religion seriously (especially active Mormons) is unmatched by any non-religious group, bar none. Without God, you are only willing to sacrifice so much. Like I noted in this post, the strength of a community is directly related to the willingness of the members to sacrifice for each other. Anyone can form a community, but no other community (except perhaps the Amish?) sacrifices like ours does, and therein lies our strength and virtue.
Yes, that 4 hours/month is not the average for Americans, it's the average for Americans who are active volunteers. We Mormons lap those people a whopping eight+ times. My mom told me she attended an event where the researcher spoke about his findings, and he was completely baffled what motivated us to do it. He attended many meetings and said our speakers are boring, our music is boring, we don't have Charismatic leaders, and yet we consistently out-give every single group in America in time and money. He noted that he had no clue what we do differently that he could implement with other groups, and yet there is a massive distinction between us and all other volunteer groups.
Only 4-7% of the adult population of America tithe, but 88% of active Mormons tithe. We don't stop there - we give to non-profits and to the fast offerings portion of the church. We beat all other giving organizations because 100% of our fast offerings go to help those in need. Because we volunteer our time, we have 0% overhead in administration costs.
This leads him to call us the "most prosocial members of American society".
In my mind, this is the power of religion. Those that would call for the banishment of religion all together miss the fact that all the evil committed by those who misuse religion is overwhelmed by the good performed by those who are religious. And according to this study, we Mormons outperform all other groups in our generosity.
I agree that selflessness is not the sole possession of the religious, but I will claim that the selflessness of those who take their religion seriously (especially active Mormons) is unmatched by any non-religious group, bar none. Without God, you are only willing to sacrifice so much. Like I noted in this post, the strength of a community is directly related to the willingness of the members to sacrifice for each other. Anyone can form a community, but no other community (except perhaps the Amish?) sacrifices like ours does, and therein lies our strength and virtue.
Current mood: charitable
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