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Canadian Christians donate more and volunteer more
by Scott Gilbreath ~ April 9th, 2009
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada examines recent surveys of giving and volunteering conducted by Statistics Canada and finds that the data sit uneasily with the stereotype of devout Christians as divisive, intolerant, and judgmental.
Here are some highlights.
Evangelical Christians volunteer and give to charitable causes, both religious and non-religious, at higher rates and higher levels than other Canadians. Moreover, these elevated levels of giving and volunteering can be explained by religious commitment and religious motivations.
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Conservative Protestants, or Evangelicals, on average, give more money to charity per capita than do members of other Christian religious groups in Canada.
[…]
Weekly attendance makes a difference in the giving patterns of Canadians. Regardless of which major religious group looked at in 1997, giving rose as the frequency of attendance at religious services increased.
Compared to non-attenders, conservative Protestants gave more to both religious and non-religious causes in 1997.
Sixty percent of conservative Protestants who attend church weekly participated in volunteer activities, compared to 31 percent of Canadians. The former group volunteered more hours than the latter for both religious and non-religious organisations.
A secondary analysis of Statistics Canada’s data by Acadia University Sociology Professor Kurt Bowen found that level of religious activity is correlated with rates of volunteering:
[T]he religiously active in every age group show higher rates of volunteering that those who never attend religious services.
[...]
The religiously active at all educational and income levels have much higher rates of volunteering than do the religiously inactive in the same income and education bracket.
Moreover, 63 percent of those who attend religious services weekly told surveyors that they are motivated to volunteer by a desire to fulfill religious obligations or beliefs.
These results tell a story similar to that found in American studies: The religiously observant are, by and large, more generous than those who are not.
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April 9th, 2009 at 10:06 PM
[...] CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE? Canadian Christians donate more and volunteer more …. [...]