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Since I got my new job I decided to adopt one (typically) religious practice that I think is actually a nice idea: tithing. Not to a church, not even to one particular organization. Each month I am donating a percent of my income to a secular charitable organization. I'm starting out with $50 a month, which is 2% of my annual income; the "standard", it seems, is the 10% of your income, so I too will work my way up to $250 a month.
My motivation? Ultimately, I feel it's my duty as a relatively well-off human to help others (including animals) less well-off than I. Also, it's a way to promote lifestyles and causes I support (e.g. local farmers, alternative transportation, separation of church and state). But I must admit a small part is that I want to correct misguided perceptions of atheists as bad people, and to bolster charitable giving by atheists, which actually is significantly lower than other (religious) groups.
Oh come on, right? No one discriminates against atheists anymore. To the contrary. Hemant at friendlyatheist.com (which I enjoy and recommend reading) pointed me to an article written to explain/explore why atheists were not invited to the Democratic National Committee's Interfaith Gathering:
Should you like to participate, here's a good list of secular/ humanist/ atheist charities for starters. I started with a local food shelter and the Secular Student Alliance; I think August will go to animals. I may start following Hemant's recommendation to join groups, giving them a donation that way. Global Giving Green also looks like a neat way to find environmental projects needing donations.
[Actually, I just want the tax write-off :P]
My motivation? Ultimately, I feel it's my duty as a relatively well-off human to help others (including animals) less well-off than I. Also, it's a way to promote lifestyles and causes I support (e.g. local farmers, alternative transportation, separation of church and state). But I must admit a small part is that I want to correct misguided perceptions of atheists as bad people, and to bolster charitable giving by atheists, which actually is significantly lower than other (religious) groups.
Oh come on, right? No one discriminates against atheists anymore. To the contrary. Hemant at friendlyatheist.com (which I enjoy and recommend reading) pointed me to an article written to explain/explore why atheists were not invited to the Democratic National Committee's Interfaith Gathering:
And these are the liberals of the country. :PDemocrats will nominate a Christian gentleman who respects others. It’s likely they didn’t invite atheists to their faith service because they didn’t want embarrassing guests. Atheists might bring pseudointellectual proselytizers, who are intolerant, self-aggrandizing and rude. Atheists should fund universities and hospitals. They should feed and clothe starving kids. They should act more like Christians and Jews. If they do some of that — if they contribute to a diverse humanity — they might get better party invites.I know you’ve heard this before… but you replace "atheist" with "Muslim" in that paragraph and lots of people would be out of a job. As it stands, there’s not much reaction from anyone.
Should you like to participate, here's a good list of secular/ humanist/ atheist charities for starters. I started with a local food shelter and the Secular Student Alliance; I think August will go to animals. I may start following Hemant's recommendation to join groups, giving them a donation that way. Global Giving Green also looks like a neat way to find environmental projects needing donations.
[Actually, I just want the tax write-off :P]
Labels: activism, atheism, news, opinion
It's almost halfway through the year, which means it must be time to post the 2008 secular / scientist / humanist / atheist calendar I made. (I thought I posted it back in January, when I made it, but apparently not.) It includes secular, humanist, national, and environmental holidays and events; natural events (including moon phase); birthdates of important scientists; and some important historical events.
2008 Secular Humanist Calendar [pdf] (1Mb)
2008 Secular Humanist Calendar [pdf] (1Mb)
This year I'm celebrating the winter solstice rather than Christmas. We're probably going to do the same things we do for our usual Christmas celebration, but a few days earlier, on the shortest day of the year. I mentioned this to a (fellow atheist) friend, and he said, "Oh, you're one of those atheists." Since I don't believe the religious foundations of the holiday, why shouldn't I celebrate the lengthening of the days instead? I actually care that we'll be getting more sunlight, and am excited to usher in a new season and a new year. I'm not waging a War on Christmas.
American atheists and agnostics number between 20 and 60 million--why do we have no political representation or respect? An Economist article claims we are choosing the wrong fights and giving people fuel to fight back against us by tackling ceremonial deism and public displays of religion in addition to 'more direct' or 'clearer' cases of government-sponsored religion like the 10 commandments being displayed in court rooms. To me, this makes clear that we MUST continue to fight against ceremonial deism etc because people still do not understand the symbolism of ceremonial deism.
Writing "In God We Trust" on our money and pledging "one nation, under God" constitute a governmental sanctioning of religion from a government that should be completely secular. Declaring our united belief and trust in god through civic rites and on government-issued funds is not merely ceremonial. The words are not meaningless because they are so commonly used. Nor is 'ceremonial deism' continued and fought for because it fosters civic responsibility and patriotism, as some claim. Ceremonial deism is as much government-sponsored religion as federally sponsored faith-based organizations and required prayer/'moments of silence' in public schools. Or how about House Resolution #847, passed 372-9 TODAY, whose stated purpose is to "recognize the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith"? Dear Economist--is this one of those 'ceremonial deism' issues I'm not supposed to be upset about? Maybe I should write my representative to thank her for being one of the nine against.
American atheists and agnostics number between 20 and 60 million--why do we have no political representation or respect? An Economist article claims we are choosing the wrong fights and giving people fuel to fight back against us by tackling ceremonial deism and public displays of religion in addition to 'more direct' or 'clearer' cases of government-sponsored religion like the 10 commandments being displayed in court rooms. To me, this makes clear that we MUST continue to fight against ceremonial deism etc because people still do not understand the symbolism of ceremonial deism.
Writing "In God We Trust" on our money and pledging "one nation, under God" constitute a governmental sanctioning of religion from a government that should be completely secular. Declaring our united belief and trust in god through civic rites and on government-issued funds is not merely ceremonial. The words are not meaningless because they are so commonly used. Nor is 'ceremonial deism' continued and fought for because it fosters civic responsibility and patriotism, as some claim. Ceremonial deism is as much government-sponsored religion as federally sponsored faith-based organizations and required prayer/'moments of silence' in public schools. Or how about House Resolution #847, passed 372-9 TODAY, whose stated purpose is to "recognize the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith"? Dear Economist--is this one of those 'ceremonial deism' issues I'm not supposed to be upset about? Maybe I should write my representative to thank her for being one of the nine against.
Labels: activism, atheism, opinion, rant
5 Nasty Critters Benefiting from Global Warming
Sweet atheist billboard in WI
Skeleton loveseat - can't remember where I got it from, too many tabs open as usual!
Sweet atheist billboard in WI
Skeleton loveseat - can't remember where I got it from, too many tabs open as usual!
Labels: atheism, inspiration, random
Last night two pints of ice cream rang up to $6.66. The cashier yelped and cried, "I don't like that number!" quickly subtracting a penny from our order. Sweet, superstition saved us a cent.
Today I drank a coffee at 1:30 and I can still feel the caffeine prickling.
Today I drank a coffee at 1:30 and I can still feel the caffeine prickling.
Check out this photo album of the Creation Museum just built in Kentucky. Apparently if something is logical to humans but countermands "God's word" then humans should create new "logic" that fits into the young-earth creationist theory. Creationists deny macroevolution, yet this picture shows the development of new species (read: evolution) after the genetic bottleneck caused by the great flood. All I can say is that these people are quite creative in their attempts to reconcile reality with religion.
