The American Church As A Stable Socio-Economic Unit

    In her book, “The Invisible Hand,” Nancy Folbre presents several problems with American society, notably those relating to the care and education of children and other dependants.  Despite a very careful and thoughtful analysis of these issues presented in the book, Dr. Folbre presents few viable solutions to these problems in the book.  In this paper, focus is placed on four of those problems in specific, and a partial solution to those problems is presented for dialogue.  These issues that Dr. Folbre presented are the following:

    It should be noted that it is not the intent of this document to debate philosophical, spiritual, or religious truth.  It also is not intended to prove the case that is being made.  There are few hard facts that will be presented, and most of the argument will be made on supposition, rhetoric, and logic.  Instead, this should be viewed as the opening of a dialogue to consider one possible unconventional solution to the grievous problems listed above, and an encouragement for others to this partial solution, or create better ones.

Assumptions and Definitions

    Certain assumptions, definitions, and choices will be made throughout this paper.  They are set out specifically here to allow the reader to better understand the basis of these arguments.  First, the choice is made to assume that a ‘church’ as referred to in this paper will follow the following definition.

    One of the weakest assumptions in this document is that those who believe something will act in accordance with those beliefs, at least by and large.  In short, that people are fundamentally not hypocritical.  This is, unfortunately, not consistent with often observed evidence, but is not an assumption that an optimist is unwilling to make.

    The final assumption is needed for large-scale analysis of a church-like organization.   Specifically, this sequence of analyses is intended to create a model for values within an organization with voluntary participation that is fundamentally ethically based.

First, it is assumed that any ethic, moral, or virtue can be possessed in degrees.  This is similar to the Socratic idea of virtues occupying a range of middle-ground in between two vices, which can be had in degrees as well.  Using this assumption, it is possible to place an effectively numeric value on each element of their personal beliefs.  Next, it is reasonable to assume that people, when choosing a church or other value-based organization that does not have mandatory participation, they will select one that has corporate beliefs that closely approximate their own belief structure.  Therefore, let an individual belief structure be represented by function F(e), where ‘e’ indicates any moral ideal.  Therefore, the corporate belief structure of any organization can be defined based on the ensemble average of all possible F(e) defined by every member/participant in the group, as well as a baseline set of founding beliefs, G(e), or

                          Equation 1

where N is the population of the group, ki is the relative influence of person i on the group, and kC is the relative influence of the group’s original charter or founding principles.  From this representation, it can be easily shown that the divergence of individual values from those of the organization at large follow a Gaussian curve, resulting in a normal distribution, with a relatively low variance.  This information will be used later to address the free-rider problem.

Arguments:

    In Nancy Folbre’s book, “The Invisible Heart,” the most commonly referred to problem through out the book is the lack of caregiving in our society as it stands today, the increasing economic incentives against caring, and the economic undervaluing of caregivers.  Individuals existing within a church environment have a variety of defenses against such issues.  First, there is, in many churches, limited daycare/childcare opportunities.  These are insufficient to allow a parent to work, even part- time, but are often offered free-of-charge to supplement programs or activities within the church that parents would like to avail themselves of.  This then allows parents the ability to be away from their kids occasionally, and may make the burden of full-time caregiving more palatable to either parent.
Next, there is the opportunity for the parents who make up the church community to aid each other in a communal care-giving process that would free up primary care-givers to work part time, and allow children to be raised continuously in a familiar environment, where they would have the opportunity to be placed in long-term relationships with people that will influence them throughout their life rather than fragmented one year or half year relationships that are built in traditional daycare facilities.
    Finally, many churches provide parenting resources, including counseling, parenting seminars, and literature.  These resources can aid parents in understanding what things are of value to provide for their children.  The assumption above, that people will act based on how they believe no comes into play.   It seems reasonable to state that a belief held by those involved in a church should be that there are non- material things that have as much or more value than material things.  This is a common tenet in all major world religions.  Therefore, by encouraging parents not only to believe that non-material things are important (and therefore worth spending time on) and providing resources to show parents how important time spent with children is, it may be that the church is in a position to encourage caregiving over additional working hours, despite the economic costs of working less time.  This is, of course, not a complete solution, because it doesn't support the costs of raising children as though they were a public good, but it should increase the quality of children raised in this manner.  Also, churches often provide opportunities for parents to interact one-on-one with their children through retreats and other special occasions.  These opportunities provide children a solidly remembered instance of care and love to help define their relationship with that parent.  This is of special value, because most children understand and remember concrete events more vividly than abstract declarations.
    Therefore, it would seem reasonable to make the assertion that children raised by parents involved in a church community are more likely to grow up with parental influence, a larger support community, and more certain of their parent's love.

    Another significant problem that Dr. Folbre brought up was the unequal distribution of income in both a local context (the United States) and a global context.  This is another area that, while not solved by church participation, can be mollified to an extent.
    At first glance, the idea of tithing appears regressive, since a proportional income based value hits the poort harder than the well-off.  However, since, in most churches, tithing is encouraged, but not required or accounted, generally people will give as they are able.  In addition, a good portion of the funds of a church are devoted to services, many of which (such as food redistribution, counseling service, and financial support) are beneficial to the lower income participants of the church.  Also many religious organizations run thrift stores, shelters, soup kitchens, and other services targeting the poor segments of society regardless of the beliefs of those aided.
    This is another case in which it must be assumed that people's beliefs will influence their actions.   A church often declares service as one of the church principles, but these principles do little unless the participants in the group act on those ideals.  If this assumption is fulfilled, then the church again can play an assisting role in redistribution of income, with the added advantages of localized accountability for use of resources and less need for political maneuvering and appeasement.

    Regarding the third problem that Dr. Folbre brought up in "The Invisible Heart," unequal education, more thought has to be given to the concept of supportive education, since most churches do not run full-time schools.  Supportive education, as the term is used here, refers to elements of life, notably in the interaction of children and adults, that aid a child in building cognitive skills, reading and listening comprehension, as well as processing of ideas and deliberation.
    In a church, children especially are exposed on a regular basis to reading related activities.  This is primarily accomplished through Sunday School or Children's Church type programs, in which focus is made on the correlating between right and wrong with the more concrete stories in which the morals are observed.  Also, many religious texts are fairly complex reading, although many also have simplified versions for children, which has potential to increase reading comprehension through practice.  FInally, children's church activities are often conducted in an ungraded question and answre format, which may encourage children to enjoy learning, since it is not always done for a grade.
    Another educational aspect of religious insititutions is in the auditory comphrehension area.   People listening to sermons are often provided outlines on which to take notes, and are encouraged to consider the material discussed later on with others in the service.  This process reinforces what is heard and is very similar to common methods of note-taking and recitation in classroom lectures.  Also, if a family, as a whole, decides to consistently discuss the sermon over Sunday lunch, then church attendance could increase family interaction, as well as reinforce the value of children's opinions within the family.       Finally, it may be that parents who attend church, have been educated in parenting seminars, and understand the value of non-material things are more likely to invest time in their children's education.   This consistently has been shown not only to improve that child's grades, but often improves the educational experience for all children at the school, through volunteer efforts on the behalf of parents.   Therefore, it would seem that a case could be easily made for the beneficial nature of church participation to a child's education.

    The final problem that will be addressed from "The Invisible Heart" is that of the degradation of traditional support structures.  Dr. Folbre laments the decline of town-wide support, neighborhood interaction, support from extended family, and, more recently, the decline of support within the immediate family.
    A social support structure is based primarily on shared attributes between individuals combined with reasons to have positive impacts on those other individuals in that circle.  Traditional support structures were based largely on locality and geography:  people were drawn into interaction and community with those nearby, due to limited travelling ability.  In modern times, not only has travel capability become much greater, but people are less able to find community in a town at large, due to increased population, and are less willing to attempt to relate to those in their immediate neighborhood.   The reasons for the latter are somewhat unclear, but it is an increasing trend that the average person will know or feel comfortable around fewer people in the nieghborhood now than has been the case in the past.   Add to that the increasing tendancy for families to split due to failed marriages, and most of the traditional support structures mentioned above are less than reliable.  Into this gap, an individual can place a church body.  A church shares similar beliefs and ideals, as indicated in the final segment of the assumptions section, thereby fulfilling the need for a support structure to have a shared attribute.  In addition, it is in everyone's best interests within such an organization to support those around, in hopes of reciprocal action if they are in need.  On top of that, most religions operate on creeds based around mutual love and support, which, if people are acting based on their beliefs, should be readily available in a church.
    Another key support structure is the idea of pastoral care or counseling.  Many pastors, as well as associate pastors and other church officials, provide free counsel to individuals within the church body, as well as consistent visitations to elderly or ill people.  This still does little in the way of long- term care solutions for the elderly, but is a helpful element, that, if increased in total volume, could potentially ease the suffering of many, and aid in wise choices for many more.
    Finally, there is the concept, unique to the church, of prayer support.  Recent medical research has indicated that patients who are being prayed for tend to recover more quickly and with fewer complications than those who are not.  This occurs even when the prayer support is done without the patient's knowledge.  Therefore, since prayer support is considered to be a common idea within churches, and is applied liberally to all areas of life, it may not be a poor choice to include it as a form of support.   Whether it works for all things is probably impossible to prove, but the medical studies indicate that it, at the very least, does no harm.

    Much of the benefit above can be considered with the model of the public good- they are benefits held in common by all.  That then brings up the so-called free-rider problem.  It is apparently established economic theory that in any case where a public good is produced, there will be free-riders, those who wish to benefit from the good without contributing to it.  However it can be shown that in an organization like those described above, this issue would most likely be less severe than in the population at large.   First, a smaller community provides less anonymity, thereby allowing fewer free-riders in the initial case.   Secondly, both philosophical mutterings and scientific inquiry indicate that human behavior is similar to many other forms of natural phenomena, inhabiting a wide spectrum.  Most forms of natural behaviors, including ensemble averages (which were shown in the assumptions section to approximate belief structures within a church-type group), follow Gaussian probability distributions.  It can then be shown that wide variance from organizational belief by an individual involved in that organization is (when wide variance is defined at a statistical standard of 2* from the mean) is less than 6%.  Therefore, if a free-rider is considered to have a widely varying ideal from the rest of the organization (a reasonable assertion when the assumption that people act as they believe is put into play), then the free-rider problem is at most 6%, and most likely much smaller.

Problems & Conclusion:

    To be even, despite the positive rhetoric above, one must consider some of the downfalls of this solution.  The two key problems, it would seem, are that this is only a partial solution, and must be supplemented with other social programs to be fully effective, and that every benefit above depends on people not acting hypocritical.  It will be left to the reader to ascertain the believeability of that aspect.
    There are still other issues as well.  Many people dislike church, feeling that it is patently untrue and a waste of time.  The supportive arguments above have been carefully crafted to make this objection irrelevant with regard to the overall social benefits of church attendance, but there are unavoidable emotional aspects that must be considered.
    Also divorce rates in churches are, sadly, similar to those outside of churches.  This indicates that, while the church may have great potential at supporting families and helping relieve the strain of raising a family, this potential may not be fully realized.
    Finally, the church has had a history of being viewed as bigoted, close-minded, and exclusive.   This was undeserved at times, but was also unfortunately accurate many other times.
    For these and many other reasons, this is probably not a practical solution to the social problems brought up in Dr. Folbre's book.  However, it should encourage analysis of the problem to a greater extent, and the consideration of heretofore unconsidered ideas, due to the unconventional approach analyzed above.

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