I think there are a few problems with charitable work/people knowing you are charitable, as an atheist especially.

The first, most major problem, is that the majority of charities are religious in nature. That being said, I can't mobilize the way the salvation army does, in say, getting school supplies to children in my area. Since that is something I care very deeply about, and I want to help my own community, not some community far away, I do end up giving to religious charities simply because I have no other alternative. I could choose to give to a secular organization that assists low income families in other areas, but that wouldn't be helping my community directly, which is something I care very much about.

The second problem is, you can't 'really' talk about charitable work without sounding like a jack ass... I give a lot, and I mean, much more than most people do, to charitable causes. I donate so much money and time toward my work with adults with disabilities, to the community I live in, to causes, that it's almost to the realm of crazy in relation to my income. I don't think about this much, and I really don't think it makes me any better or worse than anyone else, most often, it just makes me feel like a sucker... The thing is, you can't really stand up anywhere and say 'Oh yeah, well, I gave hundreds of dollars to such and such" or "I sent this many kids back to school this year, how many did you send?".

I think that you can only be taken a few different ways if you discuss your giving or volunteering. One is that you'll be taken as the bleeding heart goodie-goodie who's always trying to prove how nice and sweet they are to other people. Another is you could be taken as the loud mouth who tells everyone what they spend or do in order to make themselves look better, usually because of some other short-coming. The last is, you can be taken as a nasty person who talks about their charitable work in order to put others down or embarrass them because they don't 'do as much as you do'.

I think, unfortunately, atheists who do give to charitable causes will almost always be thought of as all three. Because atheists have been viewed as militant and 'too outspoken' at times (as much as I loved you, thanks a lot, Madalyn!), if we do something nice it will be always viewed as if we're just working to counter the negative image. Which means, the next logical step for these kind of thinkers, that there is negativity there somewhere we're hiding or trying to make up for. They'll think we're doing the good deeds because of our short comings, which, again, in their twisted religious logic, the only real short coming is the fact that we are atheists. Lastly, some will think we're just trying to put down others or embarrass them, because that's what atheists do to other people, because we're all nasties.

I say it's a lose-lose situation to talk to other people at all about the giving work you do (at least in relating it to atheism), because, in some way, their negativity towards atheists will poison anything we try to do, no matter what our good intentions may be. The best way, I've found, is to just be a giving, caring, loving person in general, with nothing else attached. When people see that and respect you, then perhaps later when they find out you are an atheist, maybe that will change their minds. But from what I've found so far, probably not.

When a Christian gives it's Christian.

When an atheist gives, we have an ulterior motive.


Or at least that's how most view it.

Yes, that is exactly how I feel people view it! What I mean is, anything good we do is viewed as trying to make up for some deficit of our character or moral fiber... It's really sad, but it's true.

Another awful point is that just like pointing out things like scientific facts of evolution, pointing out any other evidence to these people just doesn't work. You can show them that there are people in every group that are good people or bad people, even their own 'social clubs', but they won't understand because of their psychotic biases.

I pushed to have a charitable works committee for Mn Atheists, because I felt there was so much more we could be doing besides sitting around and complaining about the religious. Why not get out there and do something constructive and helpful? The purpose isn't trying to prove anything. If we stopped doing charitable works just because people will perceive it as an act of guilt, than we aren't doing charity for the right reasons. While I agree that it is important to be a good, giving person, I also think more can be done if a bunch of good caring people can get together. And who says he have to work with just atheists. Why would it be so wrong for Mn Atheists to do charitable works with organizations affiliated with different faiths?

First off, hello JetJet, nice to have you on here!

I agree that a charitable works committee might be a good thing for MN Atheists. I think the MN Atheists Meet Up Group does some nice things like the blood drive.

I don't think that just because a charitable work may be misconstrued by others that it means we shouldn't be charitable! As I mentioned, charitable work is something that means quite a lot to me, and I don't think my life would be the same in any way without it. I do give to religious charities even, at least twice each year... I am careful when I do this, due to my specific beliefs.

One of the reasons I don't work with charities that have a religious affiliation is that many of them use a portion of their funds for work that I obviously don't agree with. When I do give to a religious charity, I make sure to donate items. For example, when the Salvation Army in our area helps send children back to school, I give them school supplies, not money. During the holiday season, I give holiday gifts instead of donating money to religious organizations. When money is directed toward ministries, such as preaching, missionary projects, etc., then I am out of the picture on that... That would be my only problem with working with a charity that was religious instead of secular.

It of course wouldn't be out of the question if there was an event that I could assist with where I knew that nothing I did was furthering the non-secular aspects of the organization. I'd be all for it then!

I don't know too many religious people that would have an atheist helping out without the idea that they may convert me, or use me as some weird lesson to their children (See kids, she has tattoos, stay away from the non-religious!), but I guess I do know a couple who might be okay with it...

There are plenty of secular alternatives to religious charities, and it's good to have the names in mind when someone claims that religions have a lock on altruism. For instance:

Unicef
Doctors Without Borders
Planned Parenthood
Emergency Foodshelf Network
Amnesty International

I especially favor groups that have been condemned by organized religion. The Vatican has forbidden Catholics to give to Amnesty International because they "selectively promote abortion." We all know about Planned Parenthood's battles with religious institutions.

As for what other people think about an atheist's motives for giving, who cares? Let's do the right thing and be proud of it. We're taking away the first stereotype, anyway: that atheists have no interest in helping out humanity. Questioning our motives is a fallback position, and any speculations along that line can apply equally to the religious.

Yes, the 'As for what other people think about an atheist's motives for giving, who cares? Let's do the right thing and be proud of it.' That's what I'm talking about. Our giving should not, and does not, have to be attached to our atheism.

I go along with the sentiment that atheism doesn't have to be attached to giving, but I'm not so sure about "should not be." As I see it, having no belief in an afterlife gives me an extra incentive to help others now. Life is all the more precious.

An underreported fact: the two biggest philanthropists in the world, measured by amount donated, are a couple of nonbelievers: Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.

As the head of the MNA Charitable Works Committee, I'm also in favor of atheists doing charitable work publicly, as a group. It breaks down prejudice against us when we're seen out in the community doing worthwhile things, and let's face it, people are more likely to wear their atheist buttons and t-shirts when in the company of other atheists. This works for GLBT groups, and most atheists agree that we need to be more visible. Well, here's a fun, constructive way to accomplish that while we help our fellow humans.

Yes, give as an 'out' atheist. And also give just for the sake of it. When I drop off school supplies each year, I don't say "And these are from an atheist!"

I could not agree more. There's a word for people who attach ideological strings to their giving: missionaries. We certainly don't need any more of them, particularly from nontheists.

Right! The LAST thing I want to be is a missionary. lol.

Off topic ... repeated SPAM from other posts.