Religious Charities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Religious Charities - Essay Example For instance, pro-choice groups use community backing, legal action and public education in protecting the woman’s choice to manage her reproductive choice while anti-choice, especially religious charities, use the same to discourage abortion because of their sacred and moral values. However, the presence of these civic organizations is viewed as fundamental to success of a democratic system (Berry & Jeffrey, 2005). There are deep controversies over values played out in the nonprofit sector around religious beliefs, personal responsibility and individual right, as well as the separation of the state and the church. On the other hand, the impact of religious charities in society is profound and long-term. Religious charities provide the spiritual needs of members and protect the religious dogma and ideals. Social, as well as health services, crises care, and advocacy activities, child care, as well as psychotherapy, are all services provided by religious charities. In addition, they impact on civic skills to their followers who learn to classify and join forces for common ends; for instance, voting in a certain direction. In the U.S., there has existed continuing debate on the disjointing of church and the state (Ehrlich & Clotfelter, 1999). Most religious entities fall outside the government regulatory framework for nonprofit organizations; they are exempted from tax deductions on contributions. This has raised a debate over the actual impact of separating religion and state. Traditionally, religious entities, as long as they offered services under government contracts, used to be free to monitor and supervise, unlike secular entities (Boris & Eugene, 2006). As religious leaders advanced charitable choices, it turned out that increased government revenue was accompanied by government demand for accountability and compliance with the laid down standards. They realized that