[extropy-chat] Atheist charities, or lack of

[Olga Bourlin]

From: kevinfreels at hotmail.com 
  Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2003 3:13 PM

  My wife has actually been fortunate enough to have about $10,000 worth of surgical procedure paid for by a catholic charity that is involved with St Mary's hospital here, even though she is an atheist.  He then asked me how that compares with any atheist organization.



  ### 1) Catholic hospitals have all benefited from a-theist-ic medical science and research.  Big time. 



  2) For decades atheists (along with everyone else) in the USA have paid taxes that have gone to religious organizations, no matter how loony (which organizations have been given special privileges and exemptions beyond what most ordinary businesses get).



  3)  If the Catholic church didn't need to pay out *millions* in lawsuits for its black collar crimes division's sexual appetite for young acolytes, think of how many more people could have benefited from more charitable $10,000 operations, or think of how medical research could have benefited from all that money.



  4) The Catholic church tries - but doesn't succeed - in maintaining the poverty it so desperately needs in order to assure it a place in heaven —"How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:23)"— so it needs to throw some of that money out to the public (how much real estate and art can an organization acquire before someone says ...? "Okay, enough already!").  So, you see, when you take money [back, as it were] from the Catholic church, you are actually doing them a great favor (but - pssssssssssssssst - they like to call it "charity," as that's much better from the PR angle; and, these days, the Catholic church needs all the good PR it can possibly get).###



  Olga

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