Charity Without Divine Writeoffs

In reality, providing a sense of community and support is the primary function of religious institutions to society. Coming out as an atheist (or non-christian) is difficult for many because of the immediate ostracization from these comminuties of family and friends.

The uninformed assume that us ‘unchurched’ are on our own. “Let them go read their science fiction books.” I’ve heard, or “Well there certainly aren’t any atheist churches!” (Except of course for the UU) In high school and college I felt so outnumbered that I would only describe myself as ‘nonreligious’ if I could not escape questioning entirely. Then was saved by His Holy Sauciness.

Yes, I found the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

While brilliantly satirical, it also opened the door to legitimate secular organizations and support networks that were forming to rally behind science education. Even more, they are allowing secular Americans who work for charity to stand up and be counted. (I mean really, we’ve all been pretty bored since Firefly was canceled.)

I volunteered at the Food Bank not too long ago with the Oklahoma City Atheists who do so as a group every other weekend. When another volunteer asked who we came with, the answer left her clicking her tongue and asking arms akimbo:

“Ugh, why are YOU here?”

“Uh, the same reason you’re here?”

Atheist, Agnostic and Freethinker organizations, foundations, and communities are rapidly growing online (and also a thanks to websites like meetup.com) and are allowing atheists to take ownership for their contributions to society.

While watching episodes of Always Sunny on Hulu.com, I saw ads for Kiva - ‘Loans That Change Lives’. It’s a website that provides peer-funded microloans to give struggling entrepreneurs in third world countries a leg up. I joined, and with the good repayment record it allows you to provide loan funding several times over with a single donation.

I was also surprised when I looked at the communities page to see who was contributing and found the institution responsible for leading the way:

Take a quick look around if you feel uncomfortable sitting through services condemning dinosaur toys for Christmas. There is probably a much more intellectuality fulfilling conversation around the corner. Or if you don’t want to work through charities that use funds to proselytize, there are thousands of other groups out there.

It turns out kids can still be good without believing in Santa Clause.