It's Friday, October the 11th, 2024, and this is the Daily Article podcast.

Welcome.

Today's daily article is written by Dr. Jim Denison and narrated by Chris Elkins of the Denison Forum.

Rescue crews are waiting through heavy flooding caused by Hurricane Milton, looking for people trapped in houses, cars, and other structures.

First responders completed around 170 high water rescues in just one county yesterday.

More than 100 residents in an assisted living facility in Tampa were transported in boats to safety.

We should all be grateful for officials who act in such heroic, selfless ways, though they

would probably tell us they are, quote, just doing their jobs. The same cannot be said,

however, regarding Samaritan's purse, Texans on missions, and other religious

groups whose volunteers are responding to the destruction of Hurricanes Milton and Helene.

My friend, Dr. Dwayne Brooks, noted in one of his daily devotionals that Christians responding

to disasters seldom have to compete with atheist groups because they're not there.

The numbers bear him out. According to Philanthropy Roundtable, Americans who attend religious

services weekly and pray daily are nearly twice as likely as others to do volunteer work. Nearly

two-thirds gave to the poor in the last seven days compared to 41% of other

Americans. People who attend worship services at least twice a month give four times as much to charity

as non-attenders. Such giving is not reserved for religious causes. Sixty-five percent of those who

attend religious services regularly

also give to secular causes compared with 50 percent of those who never attend religious

services. Why are Christians so motivated to help in times of need? If I were a skeptic,

I would turn to Darwinian evolution to explain sacrificial altruism as a manifestation of our innate desire to propagate ourselves.

Helping others advances our species and may make it more likely that others will help us in our time of need.

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