The religious doctrine inof humanitarian action has shifted from the salvation of souls to the enhancingenhancement of the lives of the otherothers and from preaching to Christianityof Christian missionaries moving to development agencies and NGO’sNGOs foreshadowing their religious origins. This short essay is set out to advocate how humanitarianism cannot be understood outside of religion, as it has been shaped itby faith perspectives since the early decades.
Humanitarianism witnessedhas experienced a changing movement since decadesfor millennia, with the 18th century antislavery movement, to the nineteenth19th century emergency relief, to refugee crises in the 21st century. Religion has always been a key player in shaping humanitarianism since the early ages. In fact, the evolution of religion first started first with its use as a conversion tool, a way for religious organizationorganizations to evangelize the other, second bythrough the foundation of ICRC moving to “improving the lives of the local peoples” and finally bythrough the secularizesecular agencies who controlled thethat fund, organize and control humanitarian actions while religious organizations began to rein-storerestore their effectiveness byin the 1990’s1990s.