God and morality in humanitarianism

A recent article in USA Today on the closing of a New York City convent (”Convent shuts after helping those in need nearly 150 years”) raises poignant questions concerning the decline of religion in the United States. Whether or not you support federal funding of faith-based initiatives, there is something nagging about the fact that an organization which specializes in humanitarian work can be shut down because of a lack of support. To many historians, such as William Martin, who argue that religion is alive and thriving in the United States, such instances seem to contradict the supposed resurgence of faith throughout the country. In fact, Dobnik points out that the closing of the Convent of Mercy is just one small part of a growing trend of dwindling convents and “other religious institutions across the country that have vanished for lack of money or members.” Martin argues that the United States is uniquely religious when compared to other nations, yet one has to wonder why the numbers of outposts of groups such as the Sisters of Mercy are declining in the U.S., while, according to Dobnik, “In some Third World countries, [. . .] religious orders are thriving, or even growing.”

I have to question whether the Sisters of Mercy would be facing the same predicament if they were not a religious group. Has our history of struggles for “political correctness” shut our senses to support and compassion? While religion may be a point of contention in the political sphere, restrictions on its involvement in politics should not carry the same weight as limitations on faith-based humanitarianism. If America is so steeped in religious-based morality, why do we allow institutions who aim to care for the needy and homeless to fall into such disrepair? Federal funding for new science facilities and arts centers is entirely acceptable, but funding for a religious organization devoted to care work is seen as controversial, simply because the organization displays a cross on its door, and names God in its mission statement. While the decline in religious patronage could simply be another stage in the cycle that Martin points out of American religion’s ups and downs throughout history, I have to wonder whether the current downward trend will ever circle back to one of prevalence. This trend, along with the mere fact that the religious argument continues after decades of debate points to the ongoing problem of religious controversy within the United States.