Celebrities, faith-based charities sometimes at odds

George Clooney lobbies for Darfur and Reese Witherspoon works for breast cancer research. Brad Pitt stumps for rebuilding New Orleans while his wife, Angelina Jolie, speaks for refugees. U2 frontman Bono is probably the best known celebrity philanthopist with his work on debt relief, trade and AIDS in Africa. At the same time, the religious […]

George Clooney lobbies for Darfur and Reese Witherspoon works for breast cancer research. Brad Pitt stumps for rebuilding New Orleans while his wife, Angelina Jolie, speaks for refugees. U2 frontman Bono is probably the best known celebrity philanthopist with his work on debt relief, trade and AIDS in Africa. At the same time, the religious community has always featured mercy as a core value, and experts say religious people give to charity at a significantly higher rate than secular people. With long histories in the field, and the infrastructure, experience and passion already in place, it would seem natural that the faith-based community and Hollywood’s glamour set would be natural allies. So why aren’t they?

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