Who Gives More? - 20/20 Report

| Posted by Ben Cotten on Nov 30, 2006 • (Comments)

I rarely watch 20/20, but I caught it last night and John Stossel was doing a report on giving in America (full story). Most of it was interesting, but the thing that stood out most to me was this:

Finally, the single biggest predictor of whether someone will be charitable is their religious participation.

Religious people are more likely to give to charity, and when they give, they give more money: four times as much. And Arthur Brooks told me that giving goes beyond their own religious organization:

“Actually, the truth is that they’re giving to more than their churches,” he says. “The religious Americans are more likely to give to every kind of cause and charity, including explicitly non-religious charities.”

Finally, a little positive news about Christians from the secular media! Hold your head up, gang! You’re putting your money where your mouth is! It funny how surprised people are to find out that God is real and the effect He has on people is real. It’s been widely documented that countries and cities that experience an increase in the number of Christians, also experience an increase in the economy and a decrease in crime.

It’s Matthew 11:12 [+/-] in action. Pretty cool stuff.

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