The Foundation Beyond Belief is a new humanist charitable and educational organization that can be the focus of your godless giving. They’ve got an interesting approach: they set up 10 categories (education, the environment, poverty, human rights, etc.), and you pick what percentage of your donation you’d like to go to each category. They also highlight a reputable charity within each category that will receive your donation: read the FAQ for details on how it works.
One of the major virtues of this foundation to the humanist and atheist movement is that it can be (if many of us cooperate!) a center point that makes godless donations more prominent; it can also make the community of unbelievers a desirable group for charitable organizations to court. So join up! They do have a $9 annual membership fee, but it’s also a group that emphasizes the efficient distribution of your money to the people who need it most.
A charity I will be donating to for sure!
The grocery store chain Waitrose (an employee owned collective) has a charity giving system. Everyone who shops there are given a token with their change and there is a choice of buckets on the way out of the store, where the shopper chooses which charity to favour by putting the token in their bucket. Every so often the store gives a proportion of profit to the charity with the most support.
In my local store, the present choice isbetween Marie Curie Cancer care, the simons (a religious based homeless charity) and another religious charity whose name escapes me at present. The Marie Curie one os out-doing the religions ones put together by about two-to-one. I’m not claiming the religious charities do less important work, but proselytising is abusive and should not be supported.
What if you don’t believe in their existence?
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/mxaa3p
Well I guess I can stop working on my list
:/
It always bugs me how damned efficient the world vision and tear fund propaganda machines are. Whenever there’s a disaster or famine, their people pop up all over the news media, with never a mention of their evangelism.
Here in New Zealand most schools seem to officially support the 40h famine fundraiser. If asked by some schoolkid to donate, I usually say I’ll give my donation to a secular charity instead, one who won’t make converting to christianity a condition of receiving help.
I’ll have to consider this – I was planning to include wikipedia as one of my major charities this year though, for its outstanding contribution toward providing easy access to information the world over.
I’m starting a new job Monday and I’d like to see how it works out before I commit to anything. I give monthly to the ASPCA and make a yearly gift to the pet rescue organization from which I adopted my cats. I need to examine my finances before I can decide how much more I can give.
Excellent! and joined! Thanks PZ. I have been looking for precisely this kind of org.
Looked for this on Charity Navigator but didn’t find it. Going to suggest they look into rating it. Sounds wonderful–wish I’d known about it a couple of weeks ago when I was making our end-of-year charitable contributions, but thanks, PZ!
A BAD way to start the year: Jehovah’s Witnesses at my front door at 10:40 AM. They wanted to know if I was concerned about the world ending.
I have a very naughty brother who LOVES the Jehovah’s Witnesses–he invites them in, offers them coffee and biscuits, and procedes to play with their minds mercilessly. I’d love sometime to see them run screaming out of his house!
I keep threatening to do that — but we had guests arriving in 20 minutes and I didn’t have time.
Good for your brother! He is a very naughty boy.
$9 annual fee? suckers!
For those who aren’t aware, KIVA allows us to lend money to entrepreneurs in developing countries through various microlending organizations. Lenders can join teams. The team that has lent the most by far is the Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and the Non-Religious team. The second highest team is the Kiva Christians, and the AASFSHNR are getting close to doubling their amount.
I had a very pleasant visit with a Jehovah’s witness recently. I asked him if he didn’t find it a bit odd that god would have created this ginornmous universe a gazillion light years across just as background for our one tiny planet.
When he tried to ask where I thought everything came from, I gave him the latest cosmological and biological theories. I had just blogged about how RNA could self form into macromolecules, so I was more than ready.
At the end, I wished him a pleasant day and said that perhaps with a bit more study he would come to change his mind. To his credit, he was very nice about the whole thing.
Warning: this link is to a very strongly anti-Christian site; provided for the spiritually mature for an insight into some of what the western church faces in today’s world of aggressive evolutionism
The world is a scary place outside the flock…
… why yes I do use multi-tab browsing!
*slinks off*
As well as my commie shopping habits, I also have commie banking habits…
http://www.goodwithmoney.co.uk/
The concept is something that I am interested in, the implementation, from what I can see, is less than what I could hope for. Each of the listed charities might be great but, I also know that there is a lot of corruption involving some charitable organizations. There are also people that get involved with charities more because of what the charity can do for them and less because of what they can do for the charity. Therefore, when I go to a charity site I want to see a lot more than just the appeal to my emotional bits, even more, I want to see specific information about how they handle the donations that they receive. Additionally, I want to know what funding is going to the board of directors and what those directors are doing. Since, I don’t have many pennies to give I want to be as sure as possible that every penny is being used to the maximum benefit of the needy; animals (which includes humans), plants, and environment. Also, I want to know more about the $9 fee, it may be a good idea but if it is I want to see them justify it to my satisfaction. Yeah, I’m a tough donor, but the information is information they should have and I want to see it.
Having been so critical I should also add that I would be surprised if they aren’t doing better than any number of christian charitable organizations. Although, I do note that there are possible christians on the board, which doesn’t leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling. No offense intended to those board members but, christians don’t have a reputation for being moral, ethical, and honest.
The Centre For Inquiry in Canada, or at least Ontario, is now also a charitable institution,
Since the foundation just started Jan 1 there isn’t any hard data about how the money is used though I am sure there will be at the end of the year.
I have heard of a couple of the people on the board and knew this was starting up so it is not as much of a risk YMMV
I had a couple of JWs follow me from the street, up the stairs to my 3rd floor apartment and corner me as I was frantically trying to juggle groceries and unlock my front door.
Scared the shit out of me because I thought I was about to be mugged.
They were told to fuck off and never darken my door again.
Lifelong Jehovah’s Witnesses dissident speaks out on JW belief system .
A) They are at your door to recruit you for their watchtower society corporation,they will say that “we are just here to share a message from the Bible” this is deception right off.
B) Their ‘message’ creed is a false Gospel that Jesus had his second coming in 1914.The problem with this is it’s not just a cute fairy tale,Jesus warned of the false prophets who would claim “..look he is here in the wilderness,or see here he is at the temple.”
C) Their anti-blood transfusion ban against *whole blood* has killed thousands.
D) once they recruit you they will “love bomb” you in cult fashion to also recruit your family & friends or cut them off.
—-
Danny Haszard (was) Jehovah’s Witness X 33 years http://www.dannyhaszard.com
I love to invite the Witlessness into my house but only after explaining that as a jew we don’t allow the use of the name of the sky fairy to be said in our house, which has as an effect they are completly tongue-tied when it comes to saying thier groups name in relation to anything they want to get across.
Why do some of Jehovah’s Witnesses become speechless and tongue-tied when they come across sarcastic insincere people? Makes one wonder doesn’t it? Perhaps it is the type of people they hang around….what do you think?
Why do some of Jehovah’s Witnesses become speechless and tongue-tied when they come across sarcastic insincere people? Makes one wonder doesn’t it? Perhaps it is the type of people they hang around….what do you think?
Take your example Mutt. You obviously find nothing wrong in demeaning people for your own delight. They probably don’t want be as direct as saying you are acting like a jerk. Instead they are willing to look foolish and leave you to your wonderful self-conceited world view. I wonder what they say once they are out of earshot.
Just a thought.
Oh never mind that the JW came to his house uninvited and knocked on his door to bother him with their idiocy.
Mutt said they were welcome to enter his house as long as they obeyed the rules of his house. How, please, is that demeaning to anyone? Be precise.
Huh? What is wrong with asking people to voluntarily follow the local rules? Be precise.
I suspect that is you projecting your world-view…
I’ve no idea, but my wager would be “Fecking Jews should shot”. That is, in essence, the historical xian position.
Mutt, said
“I love to invite the Witlessness into my house but only after explaining that as a jew we don’t allow the use of the name of the sky fairy to be said in our house, which has as an effect they are completly tongue-tied when it comes to saying thier groups name in relation to anything they want to get across.”
(By the way, the spelling errors are his)
My point is that 1) Mutt was insincere and demeaning 2) Probably used to being around like minded people and so doesn’t understand the JW POV.
Evidence of Mutts distorted world view:
“I love to invite the Witlessness into my house” Demeaning and unkind anywhere you go.
“as a jew” truth or fiction? If fiction, it is a lie, if truth shame on him for denying the existence of his God
“we don’t allow the use of the name of the sky fairy to be said in our house” is this another manipulative lie? Who could know with someone like Mutt? So God does have a name then or is he once again being distortive?
“which has as an effect they are completely tongue-tied when it comes to saying thier groups” Oh I already mentioned that the JW’s are probably much kinder that Mutt hence they would rather look stupid than reply on the level he may deserve.
I am not pleased with the way Mutt “loves to invite” people with a different point of view into his home for a roasting at their expense. I am not pleased with anyone who later gloats publically about his astonishing behavior. I am stunned that his friends try to apologize for such bad behavior. I should think they would better correct Mutt and encourage him to find some other way to amuse himself.
Pardon me for saying that peace and kindness are necessary. We don’t need to agree with people to show them the respect they deserve. JW’s are struggling to get along just like the rest of us. Why make life harder for them? I can’t help but be reminded of the golden rule – Treat others the way you would like to be treated. Until the laws are changed I have a right to knock on any door I choose to knock on and so do the JW’s. That same body of law protects humanists…right?
Hey, the Epicureans didn’t believe they needed to please the gods nor did they believe in a life beyond this one. Since they felt this life was it they believed one had better live it well.* That sincere belief tended to make them very good people. They realized what was at stake and knew peaceful relations and a balanced life would yield the greatest personal return. They would not add pain to another and in fact would be revolted by such an outlook; a very good lesson for some of the mean spirited comment makers. PS – Don’t’ worry I know you don’t represent all humanists. I still believe there are some very nice humanists out there. In fact some of my good friends and neighbors are humanists.
* http://www.radicalacademy.com/philepicureanism.htm
According to Epicurus, nature and reason show us that pleasure is the sole good and that *pain is the sole evil*. The very animals, guided by nature, are inclined to pleasure and flee from every kind of pain. Man also must follow this rule: to attain a state of pleasure. But the pleasure of which Epicurus speaks is not that which is immediate, but reasoned, selected, balanced pleasure.
bikerbuddy,
Suppose some group was coming to your home time after time and telling you that when you ride your bike it caused their children and yours to be addicted to drugs and to become ill, that they couldn’t prove it to you but, kermit the frog said, so it was true. Suppose the government supported such groups by giving them tax incentives and asked those groups for advice and direction when setting public policy.
Suppose the government put a slogan on your money stating “everyone but bikers are trusted.” Suppose you were tested to insure you weren’t a biker when you tried to be elected to a public office. Now, suppose those same groups withheld necessary medical treatment from their own children because kermit the frog said. Suppose the president of your country said that bikers don’t exist and shouldn’t be considered.
You are out of line buddy. Step back buddy, take a step back.
Bikerbuddy
So by your line of reasoning I should let people who are already breaking the rules that I was brought up by but no longer believe in the so-called source behind them, come into the house that I have worked hard to own and set their rules over mine? I should also let them then use my Kitchen to perhaps prepare a nice bacon wrapped pork roast with a nice cheese sauce. because their rules have to be the ones respected? I tell you what, They follow my rules when in my house and I will follow theirs when I’m in theirs. Until they quit coming to my door with their fairy tales, I will not go into their house and try to teach science!