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November 3, 2008 11:36 PM
By Michael Conlon
CHICAGO - US Christians have a reputation for generosity - but when it comes to supporting their own churches, it turns out most are stingy.
The extent of their penury is outlined in a new book, Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don't Give Away More Money by Christian Smith and Michael Emerson.
It reveals that 20 per cent of US Christians give no money to their church, and that many who do donate fall far short of the 10 per cent of income their churches traditionally expect.
Christianity is the dominant US religion, with an estimated 226 million followers in 2005, and 140 million belonging to churches. The US population exceeds 305 million.
"If American Christians could somehow find a way to move to practices of reasonably generous giving, they could generate, over above what they currently give, a total of another $133.4 billion a year to devote to whatever purposes and needs they would choose," according to the book.
"What good in the world US Christians could do with an additional $133.4 billion, year after year, is almost unimaginable, simply astonishing, nearly beyond comprehension," said Smith, of the University of Notre Dame, and Emerson, of Rice University.
A mere $500 million, for instance, would close the funding gap needed to eradicate polio globally by 2010,
they estimate, while $10 billion would sponsor 20
million needy children worldwide for food, education
and healthcare.
The book cites a number of sources for its figures on
giving. One found that 22 per cent of all US Christians
gave nothing, 71 per cent gave less than two per cent
of their income and nine per cent gave 10 per cent or more.
Smith said in an interview that there is no simple
explanation for the lack of contributions. Factors range
from the pressure on consumers to spend money on
themselves to how money is collected and how much
information is given to people. Parental example can also
be an influence.
Another factor may be that people's formal link with
organisations has declined over time along with "a sort
of responsibility to uphold institutions, and also an overall
decline in trust of social institutions - media, banking and
so on," Smith said.
"The less people trust the less they will give," he added.
Megachurches could be playing a part because they
appeal to the unaffiliated offering casual encounters but
asking very little up front except attendance and short,
entertaining services, he suggested.
But Mormons, who appear to give seven times more as
a percentage of their income than Catholics, are the
exception. Smith said the book does not include them in
its overall calculations of giving because "they are so
sociologically distinctive in terms of giving" that they
deserve a separate mention.
"Mormons have a much higher expectation. They teach
tithing much more conscientiously. Every year you meet
with a local bishop who asks you if you tithed, and if you
haven't there are consequences," Smith said.
Although the book only examined giving in the United
States and did not compare levels of giving elsewhere in
the world, it said Americans are more generous with
charities than people in other advanced industrialised
nations. American religious believers are more generous
than non-believers.
What the impact of the current economic upheaval on
giving will be remains to be seen.
"In general I expect people to give less," said Smith, the
director of Notre Dame's Center for the Study of Religion
and Society, adding that giving fell precipitously during
the Great Depression of the 1930s.
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