Where are the Atheist charities?
Offline Call religion a social brainwashing tool, but one good side effect of it is its diversion of middle class money to the impoverished. Sure most of it pays the church members and the running of the church, but most churches still give significant amounts to charity and the homeless. Not only the church does this, but many Christians are charitable as individuals. Much of it is reasoned as doing the will of God, or earning karma points to get a passing grade into Heaven, but Christians can also have philanthropic and humanist aspirations as well. Many charities, food shelters and homeless shelters are based on Christian ideals and have a religious philosophy behind them such as Habitat for Humanity. Look at Mother Teresa, "At the time of her death, Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity had over 4,000 sisters, an associated brotherhood of 300 members, and over 100,000 lay volunteers, operating 610 missions in 123 countries. These included hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children's and family counseling programs, orphanages, and schools."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Theresa
Yes, she tried to convert everyone to Catholocism, but that's part of the point- Why aren't there a ton of Atheist charities that provide food, clothing, shelter, medicine and money to the impoverished domestically and across the world? The best examples of atheist donation would be millionaires or billionaires who have no strong faith but have philanthropic or humanitarian principles. But as for communal charity, there seems to be little in the way of non-religious charities, clinics, or "missions" in third world countries- there's no Atheist equivalent of Mother Teresa dedicating their life to helping others, when Atheist charity could offer the chance to eliminate religious bias and have a more realistic set of standards and goals for helping others rather than relying on prayer or hope to solve problems.
Or it could be that Athiests lack the motivational drive, having no incentive towards brownie points. One might reason "it's better to spend my own money on myself to ensure an efficient lifestyle that isn't wasted on giving to those who will most likely waste their money" or "helping the poor will only put a larger strain on society by increasing birthrates, disease, overpopulation, a strain on the economy, and a larger poor demographic that could be solved by killing bums," but maybe not. I think the main reason is Atheists lack an organized body to convince people into donating, unless you happen to have a charitable nonprofit organization that you can dedicate your time to, assuming you aren't wholly interested in caring for your own existence due to their being no eternal reward or punishment for being extremely charitable or extremely selfish. Or no one has disposable income. But these are all gross and inflammatory oversimplifications.
The point is, imagine having 610 international "missions" with no religious influence, or an organization that builds homes out of its own goodwill without relying on Christian mottos, or any other equivalent to a religious themed charity organization. Imagine that equivalent as something representative of Atheism, something that doesn't have to convince people to convert to Catholocism, and from there Atheists can say "we're just as charitable, just as caring, and just as concerned for the wellbeing of mankind." But so far I don't see that example.
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For one mother theresa was not all that great, read these:
http://www.salon.com/sept97/news/news3.html
http://www.users.bigpond.com/johnnyartist/swwp/
http://macintyre.com/content/view/533/105/
As for atheist charities there are many, but usually the are called secular.
Secular Charities and Aid groups:
Note: Guidestar, Charity Navigator and Charity Watch (American Institute of Philanthropy) describe and rate many different charitable organizations. Use these sites to research any group or charity before you donate.
Secular Charities and Aid organizations are listed below. Please visit each group's website to review their "About Us" pages. Excerpts appear after the website link, but are not comprehensive.
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers, guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross Movement, will provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. The USA's premier emergency response organization, over 91% of Red Cross spending is on charitable services.
United Nations Children's Fund
UNICEF mobilizes political will and material resources to help countries, particularly developing countries, ensure a "first call for children" and to build their capacity to form appropriate policies and deliver services for children and their families. UNICEF provides emergency and disaster relief.
Doctors without Borders
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international independent medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural and man-made disasters, and exclusion from health care in nearly 70 countries.
Oxfam International
Oxfam International is a confederation of 12 organizations working together with over 3,000 partners in more than 100 countries to find lasting solutions to poverty, suffering and injustice. The Oxfams operate in over 100 countries worldwide working with local partners to alleviate poverty and injustice.
Council for Secular Humanism
Provides secular support services to non-religious people throughout North America. Look to it for help with plans for weddings, funerals, conferences, speaking events, etc.
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the diversity of life on Earth. An environmental group that protects natural habitats and the wildlife within them. Focuses on "science-based" initiatives.
Population Connection
Population Connection is the national grassroots population organization that educates young people and advocates progressive action to stabilize world population at a level that can be sustained by Earth's resources. Works against faith-based policies that are supported by the Religious Right.
Earth's Atheist Resistance To Holy Wars And Religious Devastation - A growing atheist charity, EARTHWARD is a nonprofit, nonpolitical, nonmembership public-benefit charity organization that provides humanitarian relief aid to civilian victims of religiously motivated violence.
Not a charitable organization, but a 501(c)3:
Internet Infidels Support
The Internet Infidels is the world's only nonprofit educational organization to use the Internet exclusively to promote agnosticism, atheism, freethought, secular humanism, and metaphysical naturalism. The Secular Web is a warm refuge to our core community of atheists, agnostics, humanists, and freethinkers.
The Gates Foundation
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/default.htm
Atheist volunteers
http://www.atheistvolunteers.org/
There are many, many charities without religious affiliation.
Wow! What a great list. I wonder if any of them are included in Bush's "faith based inititive?"
Support the Separation of Church & State!
Freedom From Religion Foundation
I know Teresa wasn't that great, I was saying that having all the good points of her career minus the bad points could be achieved by nonreligious charity due to lack of bias or religious beliefs (baptising others, converting others, wishing for things to get results, etc)
How does one get funding for such an organization, is it mostly government grants or donations?
i'm curious why is this in freethinking anonymous?