On Fri, 5 Oct 2007, Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
> Pretty depressing, huh? 40% of all volunteering is for religious
> organizations, less than 2% for environmental or animal rights orgs, and
> less than 1% for labor unions, business of professional orgs. It is a
> goddamn god's country and it shows.
This *is* interesting data, but I think you're over-reacting on the religious front. IMHO volunteering is more related to the less religious side of churches, the social aspect. You see just as much of among unitarians or the kind of Baptists who have lesbian ministers. So since we already know that the majority of Americans go to Church at least once a year, I don't think this adds a thing.
But what is fascinating is how it undercuts the canonical idea of Americans as huge volunteer do-gooders. 40% for church barbecues and 20% for kids sports means the majority of it is organized self-help, not helping others, which is quite different than the picture that we normally associate with "volunteer." You're quite right about that.
But on the third hand, if one were to consider the bowling-alone scenario, and conceputalize "volunteering" as if it just means "being part of an organized group with shared activities and norms" (as some of these categories seem to) I really gotta wonder whether these figures are really capturing it in the age of the internet. Under 2% belong to sports or hobbies groups? Under 1% to political advocacy groups? Doesn't sound right. I think they may have an outdated entrance criteria like "goes to meetings."
Michael