God Help Us

This graph, which I found in the Local Section of today's San Diego Union Tribune, is meant to illustrate the relatively small amount of contributions environmental charities receive. Another disturbing element is the disproportional amount given to "religion"—outstripping its closest competitor (education) by more than 200%.

That's not to say the environment is unimportant; to the contrary, I feel it is one of the most important concerns of our times. Clearly we are doing a poor job protecting it when another species falls to extinction each year (a rate 1000 times greater than naturally occurs) and it saddens me that so few charitable dollars make their way from American wallets to these environmental and animal rights organizations.

But look at how much we donate to religion.

The idea of donating money to "religion" is a strange concept to begin with. Obviously this must refer to tithing and other forms of church taxation (not my term, look in Random House). Members of my own family practice tithing, and I'm sure they would be quick to defend the practice. They would be correct in pointing out it is their personal choice.

Still, it is a valid question: Do we really need to be putting money into religion? Isn't religion about faith, not finance?

Of course, churches have to make it in the real world. Money is certainly necessary for that. And practitioners certainly believe that it is their mission to spread their particular flavor far and wide. Money is pretty important when it comes to this sort of thing.

Now look again at how much we donate to religion.

What does this say about our priorities—about our hopes and wishes—when religion is the cause of so much suffering around the world, when religion is the catalyst for innumerable conflicts, when religion is by far the most genocidal force human kind has encountered.

Do we really need to give so much of our charitable dollars to such a destructive sociological force while ignoring the environment and demoting education—two things without which religion would certainly spiral into mayhem?

This graph, and the reality it illustrates, speak volumes about contemporary society and about the powerful effects of subscribing to a religious doctrine. There is much to be considered here.