The expansion of humanitarianism as an ideology in Europe was informed by the suffering of World War I and humanist ideas of compassion. The emergence of human rights and their universal application after World War II gave new impetus to humanitarian aid globally (De Lauri 2016). The assumption was that humankind could not ethically afford to stay idle. The focus of humanitarian aid was to relieve immediate suffering; it was not a long-term plan to help people affected by poverty or structural inequality. The “obligation” to help was largely endorsed and disseminated by faith-based organizations, with their actions ranging from initiatives to help refugees, such as the sanctuary movement in the United States (Rabben 2016) to the consolidation of Islamic humanitarianism (Mutaqin 2013). Historically, religious philanthropic practices pre-date the modern humanitarian system, and they continue to shape charity and humanitarian action in different regions of the world. Christian, Buddhist, and Muslim concepts and ideals, for instance, are mobilized to nourish humanitarian strategies and different modalities of aid.
The secularization of humanitarianism promoted by some humanitarian organizations in the second half of the 20th century has questioned the missionary character of faith-based humanitarianism, and the secular and religious have come, at least to some extent, into tension. Yet both scholars and practitioners have increasingly challenged the rigid dichotomy between secular and religious approaches. Indeed, many humanitarian organizations have their roots in and are still logistically and financially supported by church networks and religious actors.
The number of missionaries and volunteers has greatly increased since the 1980s and 1990s, and the number of protestant and evangelical faith-based organizations throughout the Global South has multiplied (Barnett and Stein 2012). While faith-based humanitarian actors that receive financial support from governments are generally not allowed to proselytize, in practice proselytism is a component of several religious-humanitarian actions. Organizations such as World Vision–an Evangelical Christian humanitarian and development organization–downplay their religious ethos. Indeed, in many organizations, humanitarian work and missionary work overlap. Some organizations, inspired for example by Pentecostal or denominational churches, may proselytize more aggressively than others, and may contribute to religious tensions in contexts that are characterized by religious competition and volatility. One example of a problematic area of intervention is that of orphanages. Following humanitarian campaigns and flows of money, hundreds of orphanages have been established in volatile areas after violent conflicts, and faith-based organizations have played a dominant role in the creation and management of these institutions. One problem that emerged was that many of the orphans turned out to have parents who had lost access to their children. Another was the commodification of orphanages and mismanagement. Some orphanages have been open to sexual abuse and violence.
The form of control that some religious humanitarian actors have in the management of specific social sectors in conflict and post-conflict areas has been widely criticized by scholars, as religious faith organizations may exercise almost unlimited power over the most vulnerable people, for example in orphanages, refugee shelters, or safe houses for victims of violence. Jin-Heon Jung (2015) describes the case of American evangelist organizations operating in the Chinese borderland, with conversion to Christianity being almost obligatory in exchange of humanitarian entitlements and support. This was also the case, for example, with the Free Burma Rangers, an evangelical, humanitarian non-governmental organization (NGO) that provides emergency health care and have established a firm presence in the ethnic minority regions of Myanmar. Conversion was not formally required in this case, but the Free Burma Rangers used to share the Bible while implementing humanitarian aid.
Stephen Hopgood and Leslie Vinjamuri (2012) argue that World Vision represents the business model in the humanitarian marketplace, raising its cash and motivation for its staff on evangelical and protestant principles. Buddhist and Islamic organizations also represent important actors in the humanitarian arena. The Tzu Chi Foundation is a case in point. Presently, Tzu Chi is arguably the largest Chinese Buddhist charity in the world. It has run an island-wide medical network, runs the largest bone marrow databank of the Chinese diaspora, and has established the Tzu Chi International Medical Association, modeled upon the secular Médecins Sans Frontières. Julia Huang (2017) notes that the foundation did not present Buddhist beliefs, as expected by the founder’s followers, but modern sciences and bureaucracy as a solution to human suffering, a sacralized medical assistance using Buddhist justification and legitimation to giving, including bodily giving.
Organizations such as Islamic Relief–an international aid agency that provides humanitarian aid and development assistance globally–must maintain a degree of secularization to qualify for public funds, but the religious giving, and the religious loyalty and motivation of its members are the competitive edge in the humanitarian marketplace (Hopgood and Vinjamuri 2012). Besides following Islamic principles and Islamic law, Islamic humanitarianism promotes itself to markets and donors by advertising activities in Islamic radical contexts, which have become no-go areas for many seculars or non-Muslim humanitarians, and hence for competitors in humanitarian business.
References
Barnett, M. , Stein, J. eds. (2012) Sacred Aid. Faith and Humanitarianism. Oxford University Press.
De Lauri, A. ed. (2016) The Politics of Humanitarianism. Power, Ideology and Aid. I.B. Tauris.
Hopgood, S. , Vinjamuri, L. (2012) Faith in Markets. In: Barnett, M. , Stein, J. eds. Sacred Aid. Faith and Humanitarianism. Oxford University Press.
Huang, J.C. (2017) Scientific and Sacramental: Engaged Buddhism and the Sacralization of Medical Science in Tzu Chi. Journal of Global Buddhism, 18: 72–90.
Jung, J.-H. (2015) Migration and Religion in East Asia. North Korean Migrants’ Evangelical Encounters. Palgrave.
Mutaqin, Z.Z. (2013) What is Islamic Humanitarianism? An Indonesian Experience. The Korean Journal of Humanitarian Law, 33: 62–80.
Rabben, L. (2016) Sanctuary and Asylum: A Social and Political History. University of Washington Press.