Tx

I think that it would have been quite interesting if they mapped volunteerism to various religions.

I have always wondered, "do people of a religious persuasion (whatever religion they belong to) do good because they are religious, or are they religious because they do good". Is it the "fear of god" that inspires these good deeds, or is it the good will towards fellow human beings that not only inspires the need to "do good" (such as volunteer work) but also to identify with religion.

Obviously the raw statistical data that the census provides would not answer these questions, but it would be interesting none the less.

I think if you want to do good, most of the structures in place steer you towards religious run institutions. I'm getting rid of a whole bunch of stuff, and to donate it to the needy, I have to give it to St Vincent de Paul or the Salvation Army. My only secular alternative is to wastefully throw it out!

This is very true Ian. Smith Family is a good alternative to StVincents for clothing collection.

Just to add to the discussion, here is an article in the SMH about volunteering (filed here)