It's religious not religion that inspires...

Religion, in my opinion, is not as important to advocacy, as membership in a religious community.  To me my religion does not advocate or inspire me to act as much as my church may. Reading the bible makes me think, but going to church makes me act.  While I do not know if this holds true for a majority of people, or even the members of AVODAH, it is plausible that it does.  For example, Mark Goodman wrote, "I always knew that Judaism commanded us to a mission...but the nuts and bolts of how and why were inaccessible..."  He later states that AVODAH showed him how to make a difference.  I believe Mark means that he knew that helping to make the world a better place was his duty as a Jew, but the inspiration to carry out that mission was not found until a organized community (in this case AVODAH) gave him the inspiration needed.  Abby Maier echoed Mark's thoughts by saying, "AVODAH facilitated the collaboration of faith, working for justice, trying to understand poverty, looking for community...all of these things I had been trying to figure out on my own."  To me religion was a necessary aspects of the AVODAH member's service, but it was not sufficient.  They all needed that inspiration that comes from an organized effort.