How to make religious charity really "run"

-Zhong Zhifeng

It has become a global trend for religious groups to participate in social charity activities. At the same time, governments are increasingly aware of the benefits of religious charity and have established relevant systems to promote its development. The support of religious teachings, the promotion of religious leaders, the social trust, service experience, organizational foundation and volunteer team of religious organizations make religious groups have innate advantages in participating in social charity. In China, the normal operation of the harmonious train of religious charity requires not only the construction of the charity avenue operated by the country, but also the "four rounds" of government guidance, social coordination, legal protection and religious promotion.

Religious charity is a good thing.

Today, people are increasingly aware that religious charity is a good thing. In the west, religion, as an important social organization, has an important influence on the emergence, operation and solution of social problems in welfare countries. In China, with the active participation of religious groups in earthquake relief and community service, people gradually realize the benefits of religious charity.

First of all, religious charity is the forerunner of modern social welfare. Before the formation of modern universities, hospitals and nursing homes, churches and monasteries in the Middle Ages in the West undertook the functions of education, medical care and old-age care. At that time, the church was the center of social life, and people's birth, illness and death were closely linked with the church. The church is not an organization outside the community, but an organization within the community. Social members and church members are highly coincident, forming a * * * identical body with the same identity and norms. This * * * has become the main provider of social welfare. Modernization has brought about the separation of the sacred realm and the secular realm. The rise of the nation-state has promoted the institutional separation between the state and the church. Public services such as education, medical care and old-age care, which were originally undertaken by churches and families, are gradually transferred to the state. Church charity has gradually become the welfare of the country. It should be pointed out that in this transfer process, the relationship between church charity and national welfare is complementary rather than mutually exclusive. Until today, the church still undertakes a considerable part of the functions of education, medical care and pension in western society.

Secondly, religious charity can make up for the deficiency of the government and the market and alleviate the crisis of the welfare state. With the deepening of globalization, the welfare state based on citizenship and territory is also facing many challenges. High welfare weakens the competitive advantage of a country's economy in the global economy to some extent. The aging population, the increase of immigrants and the change of women's roles also make the western welfare system unsustainable. Because the welfare state mainly provides social welfare through the government, the inefficiency and expansion of the government also make the welfare cost high.

Before the reform and opening up, the China government was an all-powerful government, replacing the market and society and serving the people. Since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the government has gradually shifted from a planned economy to a market economy, which has promoted the separation of government from enterprises and society. The government gradually withdrew from the market and society, and the social welfare originally arranged by the government was gradually handed over to the market and society. However, because enterprises are unwilling to undertake too many social welfare responsibilities, and ordinary social organizations are unable to undertake such responsibilities, the withdrawal of the government has caused many livelihood problems.

Many countries deal with the welfare crisis through privatization, government reengineering and welfare outsourcing. This has formed a model in which the market and society provide services and the government pays the bill. However, this method has great limitations. Providing social welfare by the market seems to reduce the administrative cost of the government and improve the efficiency of welfare supply, but after all, enterprises do not do unprofitable business. Giving it to the society seems to solve the problem of chasing profits, but because the general social organizations are too weak, the government has to pay not only for services, but also for the cultivation and operation of the organizations, which is not much lower than the market. In a word, neither enterprises nor general social organizations can solve the welfare crisis well. To provide welfare at low cost and high efficiency, we need to find an actor who is driven by public welfare and has a good organizational foundation and action ability. Religion is such an actor.

Religious organizations have their specific advantages in engaging in charity. Research shows that there is a positive correlation between religious participation and social participation. In other words, the more people participate in religious activities, the greater the possibility of donating and participating in voluntary services.

Religion plays an active role in organizing atomized people and providing social capital for system operation. In addition, compared with the general social service organizations, the support of religious doctrines, the promotion of religious leaders, the trust of religious organizations, service experience, organizational foundation and volunteer team all enable religious organizations to participate in social services better. All these enable social services to operate at low cost, be more caring and be closer to the needs of communities and people. The stable dedication and volunteer team also prevent the operation of these organizations from the danger of shortage of funds and manpower. But it should be pointed out that not all religious organizations will actively participate in social services, which depends on their ideas, traditions, leadership, organizational framework and resources. Generally speaking, religious organizations that are more concerned about social welfare and justice, have a good organizational foundation and human and material resources, and are promoted by religious leaders are more able to participate in social charity.

Four factors affecting the operation of religious charity

Religion's participation in social charity activities not only reflects the humanistic care driven by religious teachings, but also reflects the social attributes of religion. When the nation-state and modern welfare system were not established, religion and clan were the main providers of social charity. Modernization and the establishment of a nation-state have promoted the division of functions between sacred and secular fields, and education, medical care and charity have gradually shifted from religious groups to the state and the market. This structural division also divides religious groups. Some only pay attention to soul redemption and mutual assistance within the order, while others can give consideration to soul redemption and social charity, and expand the scope of assistance from within the group to the outside. Generally speaking, the following four factors affect the provision of religious charity:

First of all, religious doctrines and ideas will affect religious groups' participation in charity. Although all religions have doctrinal support for charity, such as the merits of Buddhism, the aristocratic life of Taoism, the eleven contributions of Christianity and Catholicism, and the zakat of Islam, there are still significant differences in attitudes towards charity among different religions and different sects within the same religion. Max Weber, an American religious sociologist, once divided religions into WTO religions and birth religions. Generally speaking, religions born in the world are less involved in charitable services, while religions that have joined the WTO will be more involved in charitable services. In addition, as far as the social form of religion is concerned, the church participates in charitable services more than sects and cults. Within Christianity, mainstream sects (some people call them modernists or social evangelicals) are more interested in social charity than fundamentalists.

Secondly, the institutional framework of social welfare, especially the relationship between the state and society, will also affect the scope of charitable services of religious groups. According to the weight among social welfare producers (mainly countries, markets, social organizations and families), countries can be divided into the following three categories: free mode, conservative mode and social democratic mode. These three models have different ideological sources, and also define the nature and scope of welfare and the responsibility of providing welfare. In the free mode, welfare is mainly realized through market purchase. Under the social democratic model, welfare is mainly provided by the state. In these two models, the scope of social services provided by religion is limited. Religion only plays an auxiliary role. Only in the conservative mode can religious groups become the main providers of welfare. For example, in Germany, the state forms a partnership with religious groups. The state helps religious organizations to collect church taxes from their members, and religious organizations provide social welfare to their members.

Third, the relationship between the state and religious groups will affect the space of religious charity. Some countries give more support to religious groups, while others give little or no support. Some countries give equal support to religions, while others support certain religious groups. Some countries impose many restrictions on religious groups, while others give religious groups more freedom. All these will affect the resources and activity space of religious groups, and then affect the "operation" of religious charity. For example, the Anglican Church, as the national religion of Britain, can get a lot of financial and policy support from the state. Emerging religions such as Jehovah's Witnesses are not only difficult to be recognized and supported by the state in Europe, but their activities, including charity, are also restricted by the state.

Finally, the organizational status of religious groups will also affect their charitable supply capacity. The participation of religious groups in charity needs the support of material resources and human resources, so the resource status and mobilization ability of religious groups will directly affect the provision of religious charity. Generally speaking, religious groups with sufficient resources and strong mobilization ability have strong charity supply ability. Other things being equal, religious groups based on membership and more stable religious participation have stronger ability to provide religious charity than those based on visitors and tourists and weak religious participation. Whether religious leaders promote it or not will also affect the participation of religious groups in social charity. Because only under the impetus of religious leaders can resources be turned into abilities and ideas be turned into actions. Of course, this does not rule out the influence of lay leaders.

The Present Situation and Potential of Religious Charity in China

Compared with the West, China's religious participation in social services is very limited, and religious charity is still a developing thing in China. To sum up, religious participation in social services is mainly reflected in social donations, showing a "disaster economy" model. Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 and Yushu earthquake in 20 10 provided opportunities for Chinese religions to enter the society and promoted the development of religious charity.

Before the Wenchuan earthquake, religious people's participation in social charity was mostly scattered and passive. In addition, when they participate in social charity, they often dilute their religious identity, donate to government-led charities (such as china charity federation and Red Cross), and provide charitable services through these institutions. Although religious groups also carry out some volunteer activities, these activities are often limited to communities near religious sites. Wenchuan earthquake and Yushu earthquake changed this religious charity model. This is mainly reflected in the following aspects: religion breaks through the shackles of the existing framework and carries out charitable disaster relief across regions and organizations; Religion actively participates in disaster relief in the name of individuals; Religious participation in social services did not end because of the disaster. On the contrary, many organizations were continued and established. The government and society also tolerate religion to a limited extent.

Although the participation of China's major religions in social welfare is still very limited, their contribution to social welfare has great potential. At present, the fastest growing religions in China are Buddhism and Christianity. In recent years, there has also been a marked revival of folk religions. With the social transformation, the composition of religious believers in China has also changed significantly. More and more people with high education and high income have converted to religion, which is a very important source of funds.

How to make religious charity really "run"

Since religious charity is a good thing and religious groups have their unique advantages in participating in social charity, how can we make the emerging religious charity "run" better? The author believes that religious charity is like a harmonious train, and the normal operation of this train cannot be separated from "all the way" and "four wheels". "All the way" refers to the charity avenue where religion runs, and "four wheels" refers to government, society, law and religion. 20 12 The Opinions on Encouraging and Regulating Religious Organizations to Engage in Charity Activities jointly issued by six departments in the State Council provides a charitable avenue for religious organizations. But in addition to charity avenue, in order to make religious charity really "run", all parties need to make efforts in the following joint points:

First of all, the state needs to clarify its attitude towards religious charity, give more social space and build a legal framework to regulate the operation of religious charity. Today, religion is not desensitized in China. In many cases, religion is still regarded as a special category. Cultural security, political stability, social harmony, national unity, foreign exchanges and the situation of religion itself all affect the state's attitude towards religion. At present, China's religious management system is still centered on places, and religious groups are limited to religious places recognized by the state. Religious groups want to carry out activities outside religious sites, lacking legal person status, access channels and legal protection. "If the name is incorrect, it will not work." In addition, although the Ministry of Civil Affairs has liberalized the registration of four types of social organizations, the registration of religious organizations still faces many practical obstacles. This requires the government to further create conditions and provide support for religious organizations to participate in social services. For example, establishing religious charity funds and establishing cooperative relations with religious groups will promote the development of religious charity.

Second, religious groups themselves need to raise charity awareness, strengthen organizational construction, and explore effective modes of religious charity operation. From the religious point of view, the five major religions in China can provide conceptual support for religious charity, which can really be described as "all religions communicate through charity". But in reality, we can see that not all religious groups and organizations are aware of the importance of religious charity, and only a few religious groups actively participate in charity. Although there are still great disputes within religious groups about the humanization of Buddhism and the social evangelization of Christianity, this does not mean that religious groups can only hold back. Religious groups need to think hard about how to form charity knowledge in various doctrines, how to coordinate the core teachings of religion with social charity participation, and how to transform religious behaviors related to redemption, sacrifice and merit into public and modern social charity behaviors. This requires religious masters to explore the interpretation of classics. In addition to religious awareness, religious groups need to establish good organizations and teams and choose good models to participate in social charity.

Third, religious charity cannot be separated from social support and participation. Although religion is outside the world, it still exists in society. In this respect, society is the foundation of religion. Religious groups can mobilize believers to donate money, but in China, a country with a majority of non-religious believers, the mobilization within religions is very limited. As a public welfare undertaking, charity itself is open and social. Religious charity is bound to go far without social support and participation. Therefore, religion needs to establish an institutional connection with society. On the other hand, although society contains a lot of resources and strength, if the atomized individuals are not organized and the hidden resources are not mobilized, these resources and strength will sleep forever and cannot be transformed into charitable forces. In this respect, society can not do without religion, a "brother" with high credibility, strong organization and great mobilization ability.

Fourth, the sustainable development of religious charity can not be separated from the respect and cooperation of all parties. The society hopes that religious groups will not preach through charity, that religious charity will bring benefits to society, but that religious charity will not undermine social norms and order. Religious groups hope that religious charity can follow the teachings and promote religious development. There is a certain tension in these interests, which requires mutual respect, seeking common ground while reserving differences and making joint efforts. The author found that a model that can combine the government, entrepreneurs, ordinary citizens and religious groups is more conducive to the development of religious charity. If the government can come forward, entrepreneurs and ordinary citizens can contribute, and religious groups can contribute, then religious charity can "operate" better.

As a common cause, social charity requires us to accommodate actors as much as possible. A religious charity operation mode that can integrate the state, market and religious groups will benefit millions of people in China. How to construct a framework to make the government, market, social organizations (including religious organizations) and social members work together is the key issue of social policy adjustment and social management innovation. I believe that under the guidance of the government, social coordination, public participation, the guarantee of the rule of law and the promotion of religion, the harmonious train of religious charity will play its due role in realizing the goal of a well-off society and building a harmonious society.

(The author is a doctor of political science at Baylor University, USA)