Social Ills - Does Charity Begin at Home?

Who Can Best Help Solve Social Ills?
Does Charity Begin at Home?
Saturday, March 12, 2005

My friend has raised the question as to who can, or how to, be more effective to solve some of the social problems of today’s society. Who can do the best job, government or private sector? With his comments he sent an excerpt from Out of Darkest England, a book written by William Booth (pictured above with his wife Catherine), Founder of The Salvation Army, first published on/about 1896 (from pages 52-53, herein intact). Among the questions he asked: “More importantly, what is your opinion of Booth's fuller statement, and do you believe there is any application of this 19th century approach in the 21st?” To answer this question I have chosen some of Booth’s comments (in color) from the excerpt to give a response. Herewith I have attached the excerpt ““SAVING THE BODY … TO SAVE THE SOUL” from Booth book and an editorial on homeless prevention. This topic is of interest to me since I serve my church’s co-chair in missions and serve on the local Salvation Army Board.

I think there is a role for government’s help, especially such as in education, mental health, some health care, and maybe, homeless prevention (see N&O 3-4-05 “A home for hope” editorial), to name some areas. How about food stamps, is abuse pervasive? The area-ministries-food closets (at my home Centenary UM Church) in my community meet emergency need for local hunger. Could this and/or other private charitable totally replace the function of food stamps? There’s so much I don’t know, and I have many questions.

I have some serious reservation about the faith-based proposals. Actually, we already have this in the army. This is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) money that comes with stipulation for distributions. It’s my opinion the army is the best qualified (as a different-type institutional church/organization - with more emphasis in the physical help area) to handle faith-based (FB) programs. The army manages it well. On the other hand, I have a strong belief in the separation of church and state; a full outright buy into FB for any and every church could carry us down a precarious road. Whose faith; whose creed; who’s church; how many churches; what qualifiers? FB programs possibly may be more essential and/or viable in larger cities. I don’t know.

Government may be doing too much; that is wasting too much. If government does not allocate in meeting the need, private individuals and institutions will have to take more initiative to see the job through. From my limited observation there has to be a greater awareness before concerned congregational members of the status quo church get substantially involved in programs of societal problems. It’s usually when a need is conceived and understood, when manpower readily available within a church, the funds will fully develop within that church to sustain the program. Church members can do what they want to do: build buildings; evangelize; minister to the bereaved, heartbroken and downtrodden; do missions local/foreign, or focus more to serve societal-ill programs. All this is the church’s responsibility. Some churches do all these and more, but for the church to focus more heavily on the need and opportunity to serve the dull-witted people, as Booth would have it, many churches will have to move from slumber of the status quo.

A faith-based program that does not violate the separation of church/state, in my mind, is the Disciple Bible Outreach Ministries (DEBOM). This is a prison Bible study fully financed and supported by the United Methodist Church in the NC prison system. DEBOM has spread to many other states. Since this program’s inception some years ago, the effect has been to decrease recidivism (inmate return to prison after release) rate to about 5% to 10% for the inmates who enroll. Otherwise, the recidivism rate is about 50 to 70%. This is a good FB program that does not bind church/state because the enrollment is only by invitation in the prison community. Of course if we could deal more effectively with the root cause that is causing the ever-growing prison population there would be less need for the continued building of prisons. Much more cost effective! So what are the answers, government, and church/religion?

I wonder if Booth were to see the social ills of today would he consider any progress had been made since his time. With the new age of world-technological communication, far beyond his limited world vision, I suspect he would be awed by the downfall of humanity.

Booth: “How can we marvel if, after leaving generation after generation to grow up uneducated and underfed, there should be developed a heredity of incapacity, and that thousands of dull-witted people should be born into the world, disinherited before their birth of their share in the average intelligence of mankind?”

The inbreeding of dull-witted (mental and physical disabled of mind/body, lacking wherewithal to pull up by bootstraps) people even in greater number continues. In spite some overcome by the grace of God a helping hand. But how distant and little we know when we compare our country’s ills to what’s going on in third-world countries. Thirty thousand (30,000) die daily from starvation. Will global-economic interdependence serve in alleviating this problem, as well as sharing other world resources? Meanwhile, our standards of living as we now enjoy – will it of necessity be lowered as the world’s interdependence moves closer to human justice and opportunity? Are we seeing that played out in our country’s huge balance-of-trade debt?

Booth: “To change the nature of the individual, to get at the heart, to save his soul is the only real, lasting method of doing him any good. In many modern schemes of social regeneration it is forgotten that “it takes a soul to move a body, e’en to a cleaner sty,” and at the risk of being misunderstood and misrepresented, I must assert in the most unqualified way that it is primarily and mainly for the sake of saving the soul that I seek the salvation of the body.”

Yes, Booth’s philosophy is just as relevant today. In his unqualified way to assert it is for the sake of saving the soul that we give salvation (food, clothing, shelter) to the body: I submit we have today the challenge to move beyond the mystical security in salvation of our own souls, “pull our anchors from the mud of procrastination,” to save the soul of cooperate humanity. We must as God’s blessed people strive to meet the bare-essential needs of those of the starving, ill conceived, the least of us, among the 6.4 billions of people on this planet. Can Christianity do it alone? NO. We must acknowledge and embrace the contributions of all who serve the human race. While we will hold firm to our Christian Faith which is 76% of the USA, (or one solid in another faith) it behooves us all not to forget the message of RABBI WILLIAM F. ROSENBLUM - 1945: “There is no more place for a master religion than there is for a master race, though there must be place for the religion of the Master.” Of the world’s 6.4 billion people there are Christians 32.71% (of which Roman Catholics 17.28%, Protestants 5.61%, Orthodox 3.49%, Anglicans 1.31%), Muslims 19.67%, Hindus 13.28%, Buddhists 5.84%, Sikhs 0.38%, Jews 0.23%, other religions 13.05%, non-religious 12.43%, atheists 2.41% (2002 est.). http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/xx.html All are needed to work not only in an ecumenical spirit as Christians but also in world religious unity.

To fulfill these humanity needs we must answer: What’s the stimulus to bring the able (blessed) among the human race to reform effective prevention, service, and opportunity to the dull-witted? In effect to, if not a remedy, slow down the plague of these social ills around the world.

It’s been said, “charity or missions begin at home.” And that’s true, for if we can’t solve our own social dilemmas we may not qualify or be effective to elevate the world’s pit of degraded humanity. At a time when there seems less interest to lend a hand for charitable human needs, at least in some quarters, the challenge is ever before us: in family, community, church, public schools, service clubs, and government. I believe there is a role for government to lead and assist in ways to remedy domestic social illness, as well as expand cooperation with other countries to alleviate human suffering throughout the world. The very fabric of civilization, the prospect for world security and peace, depend on it.

As challenging as all this is, I am encouraged by a medium-size church that gives $8,700 for tsunami relief, a junior high Beta Club that puts together 522 tsunami health kits, or a middle-school class that raises $788 for tsunami relief. When an appeal for help goes out, still there are some people who will respond very generously.

Booth’s comment, “All material help from without is useful only in so far as it develops moral strength within” still holds true. We know it’s not always easy to know when one crosses that line where material help fails to build on moral strength within. If I error let it be from doing or giving too much - rather than an excuse to do nothing.