Paternalism and empowerment: Does religion matter?

International relief and development organizations spend billions of dollars annually to improve human welfare globally. Despite these efforts, profound deprivation and inequality persist. Critics of international humanitarianism point to paternalism as one of the root problems that inhibits human development. In addition, relief and development work is intertwined with religion, both historically and in the present. Therefore, this study probes the relationship between religion and paternalism in international non-governmental organizations. We find that religion, in the aggregate, is linked neither to higher nor to lower levels of paternalism in one of the central articulations of organizational identity, the mission statement. However, religious non-evangelical and evangelical organizations differ on this question. Statistical analysis supports a causal relationship between religious non-evangelical identity and increased paternalism in mission statements compared with either evangelical or secular organizations. This finding contributes to a more nuanced picture of the relationship between religion and paternalism for scholars and practitioners.