Volume 3 (2007)

This article systematizes the findings of previous studies of religion and philanthropic giving and volunteering, contributes to the theoretical understanding of the role religion plays in philanthropic giving and volunteering, and relates the conjunction of religion and philanthropic giving and volunteering to a polity marked by democratic norms. It does so by reviewing the findings of previously published studies and using existing datasets to examine key questions for which earlier studies have had inconsistent findings or that they have not studied. It examines the social network and religious belief theories for explaining the conjunction between religion and philanthropic giving and volunteering and concludes that both help to explain this conjunction but that social network theory is the stronger explanatory theory. It also documents a positive relationship among religiosity, giving and volunteering, and other marks of civic responsibility and concludes that people who are marked by high levels of religiosity come closer to the democratic norm of civic responsibility than do those with low levels of religiosity.

Researchers involved in the scientific study of religion have become increasingly aware that religious organizations face certain “external imperatives” (Finke and Stark 1988). Concepts such as religious markets and competition have become commonplace in the literature. Although the organizational ecology literature contains similar propositions and concepts, few explicit connections have been made between these two areas. This article endeavors to unite these two literatures by focusing on the concept of organizational niches. I then apply these concepts and propositions to the question of growth in religious organizations. The analysis shows that niche width and overlap affect religious organizations negatively. In conclusion, I offer further opportunities for connecting the religion literature to the broader organizational literature through the concepts of niches and organizational ecology.

Using analyses of the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) and meta-analysis, I present data that indicate that in religious, mostly Christian, schools, the achievement gap between white and minority students, as well as between children of high- and low-socioeconomic status, is considerably smaller than in public schools. I then undertake statistical analyses to indicate why this is the case, including examining school culture, the encouragement of religious commitment, and an emphasis on the family. One of the most notable findings that emerges from this study is that using the NELS dataset, when African American and Latino children who are religious and come from intact families are compared with white students, the achievement gap disappears. Other findings indicate that religious schools have more racial harmony, fewer drug problems, and a more demanding curriculum than do public schools, features that probably help to explain the smaller achievement gap.