Abstract

Advancing Religion as a charitable purpose provides Canada with public benefits that represent a very high value to all Canadians, whether of faith or not. These benefits can be sorted into four categories.

First, religion results in better personal outcomes that reduce demand on the state's resources for the justice system and rehabilitation, social support and health care, due to fewer marital breakdowns, stronger families and social networks, rejection of unlawful behaviour, higher school attendance and graduation, and better mental/physical health and well-being. Religion improves quality of life, increases a sense of personal efficacy and promotes greater contribution by individuals to society.

Second, religion develops and activates prosocial attitudes and behaviours, such as empathy, social responsibility, forgiveness, honesty, kindness, friendliness, generosity and concern for others, that improve public civility and result in high levels of generosity and volunteerism that benefit both religious and secular charities and individual Canadians, whether religious or not.

Third, religion has tangible community benefits in terms of social capital, infrastructure and neighbourhood viability and a 12-times return on investment related to tax concessions. Places of worship, due to their low overhead and their ability to use volunteers, produce a socio-economic value of about 4.5 times their operating budgets to their local neighbourhoods.

Fourth, religion creates tangible and intangible benefits for the public at large. Religion and the freedom of religion form the bedrock of modern liberal democracies. Religious freedom is seen as a prototypical freedom that has led to freedom of assembly, speech and the press. Religion has contributed to the development of public policy and has been linked to greater economic output, improved business ethics, greater environmental responsibility and a reduction in illegal business practices.

This chapter ends with a non-spiritual explanation of how religion is thought to produce such significant results.

Introduction

Religion benefits those who are religious, but a significant body of research shows how religion also benefits those who are not religious. The well-being of every Canadian, whether of faith or not, is significantly enhanced because religion is part of our society. Two literature surveys have already been done citing significant research in the United States. The abundance of research canvassed in this chapter will demonstrate that the same benefits apply to Canada as well.