[extropy-chat] Atheist charities, or lack of

[kevinfreels at hotmail.com]

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Olga Bourlin 
  To: ExI chat list 
  Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2003 8:36 PM
  Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] Atheist charities, or lack of


  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. 



    But it can't be measured without knowing the religious affiliation of each researcher who has made a discovery or developed a new treatment. Heck, Gregor Mendel was a monk. I can;t use this argument.



    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).



    I can anticipate the argument that if it weren't for the forced contributions of taxpayers, the church would have to do more. The angle here being that atheists in general would not contribute to charitable works unless forced to.



    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.



    Ha! I was already planning on this strategy, but only as a diversionary tactic.



    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



    Yes, you are correct here as well. But I was hoping for a more direct approach such as "see, here's a way that atheists are being charitable"



    BTW What state are you in? Your arguments sound very much like a distant relative of mine who lives somewhere on the west coast. I've only met her once. 




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