You Gotta Have Faith

Religious people, assuming they are motivated by the principles of love, kindness and charity found in all of the major faiths, have a natural motivation to help others.

Among the God-inspired poor-helpers, none is as famous as Mother Teresa. But even churchgoing little kids in South Florida know what it feels like to be touched by divine purpose; the philanthropic little boy I recently profiled, Joshua Williams, told me that "God gave me the vision. My purpose is to help the poor."

Now Bono’s organization, ONE, is capitalizing on that truism by launching a campaign called "ONE Sabbath," which, according to a ONE press release, will "mobilize people of faith to speak out and take action in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease."

This is a multi-faith effort. Churches, temples, synagogues and mosques will all be asked to play a part in solving issues of health, hygiene, gender and education around the world. The Islamic version of the campaign is called “ONE Sadaqa,” a reference to voluntary charity (as opposed to Zakat, which is obligatory for Muslim faithful). The Hindu version is called "ONE Seva," using a Sanskrit word meaning "service." The Christian and Jewish versions of the campaign are both called ONE Sabbath.

Individuals or whole congregations can join or find more info at the campaign Web site. Check out an introductory video on the campaign here:

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng