AFA Staff
AFA Journal staff reviews movies, books and other resources
May 2007 – Who Really Cares: America’s Charity Divide By Arthur C. Brooks Basic Books, 2006
Arthur C. Brooks takes an intriguing look at the charitable giving habits of America in Who Really Cares. He exposes the liberal urban myth for just what it is – a myth that the political left is more compassionate and giving than is the political right. He began his research confident he would find proof that liberals are the more charitable group.
The author confesses he expected to find conservatives stingy. “That’s what academics think,” he said. “That’s what we are told all the time.”
But in fact, Brooks finds just the opposite – conservatives give far more than do liberals in “every measurable way.” When early findings led to this conclusion, he assumed he had erred somewhere in the study, so he re-analyzed the data and found the same thing again.
“I had no option but to change my views,” Brooks says. From writing checks to donating blood and volunteering time to worthwhile causes, Brooks says conservatives are kinder, more generous and more responsive to the needs around them.
Among Brooks’ eye-opening stats are:
▶ People of faith are 38% more likely to give money to charitable causes each year than people who do not practice a faith, and 52% more likely to volunteer their time.
▶ Religious households donate three and a half times as much each year as do secular households.
▶ If secularists gave blood like religious Americans do, the U.S. blood supply would jump immediately by about 30%.
▶ A religious person is 57% more likely than a secularist to help a homeless person.
Brooks identifies four factors that make the difference: church attendance, two-parent families, the Protestant work ethic and a skeptical attitude toward government social services
One disturbing trend for evangelicals is Brooks’ finding that, even though more money is given to churches, more money is staying within the church body itself. He says only about 2% of church budgets go to missions.
“If I can ask you just one question to predict whether you give and volunteer, it will be about your religious participation – whether you go to church regularly or not,” Brooks says. “Religious folks are by far the most charitable people in America today.”
Brooks, a behavioral economist by training, is professor of public administration and director of the Nonprofit Studies Program at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
Review by Randall Murphree
Hedges: Loving Your Marriage Enough to Protect It By Jerry Jenkins Crossway Books, 2005
Before writing the Left Behind series, best-selling author Jerry Jenkins penned a less-familiar book for men. Hedges: Loving Your Marriage Enough to Protect It offers practical guiding principles, referred to as “hedges,” husbands can plant to protect themselves from common pitfalls that can and do lead to adultery.
My first introduction to Hedges came as a gift from my father-in-law shortly after it was first published in 1989. Early on, I adopted Jenkins’s first and most important rule in protecting marriage. Within the first few paragraphs, Jenkins’ advises, “Take care of the way things look and you take care of the way things are.” He explains that if husbands will not allow themselves to be alone with an unrelated female, they’ve eliminated the possibility that anything inappropriate will take place.
Jenkins effectively encapsulates the fundamental nature of man’s sexual character, and uses examples to clearly outline how and why men are attracted to women. His detail to common “weaknesses” that often lead to extra-marital affairs is quickly followed by hedges designed to help husbands avoid even the most subtle displays of inappropriate behavior.
Prudish is a common word Jenkins uses to describe his own hedges. And, he makes no apology for it. As Jenkins correctly illustrates in Chapter 4, almost every extra-marital affair begins with a seemingly innocent remark or contact with a woman. His “never flirt” and “some compliments don’t pay” hedges insure there are never any misunderstandings between him and women.
Hedges also takes a sobering, yet compassionate look at the emotional devastation of marital infidelity as he challenges the reader to reflect on those around him who have experienced a failed marriage because of infidelity. It is a no-nonsense book applicable to all men, from the just-engaged to the golden anniversary husband.
Revised in 2005, Hedges now includes an accompanying DVD presentation, a study guide, and an interview with Jenkins, and is suitable for use in a men’s study group.
Review by Randy Sharp
