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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=fauxever@sprynet.com href="mailto:fauxever@sprynet.com">Olga
Bourlin</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org
href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">ExI chat list</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, November 16, 2003 8:36
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [extropy-chat] Atheist
charities, or lack of</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><B>From:</B> <A title=kevinfreels@hotmail.com
href="mailto:kevinfreels@hotmail.com">kevinfreels@hotmail.com</A> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, October 16, 2003 3:13
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"> </DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal>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.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2>### 1) Catholic hospitals have
all benefited from a-theist-ic medical science and research. Big time.
</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2>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.</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2>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).</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2>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.</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2>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.</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ha! I was already planning on
this strategy, but only as a diversionary tactic.</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2>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).###</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2>Olga</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2>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"</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2>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. </FONT></P></DIV>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
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