The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a state/church watchdog and the nation's largest association of freethinkers, atheists and agnostics, has linked to the "Non-Believers Giving Aid Support for the Haiti Tragedy & Beyond" site hosted by the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. At least 18 freethought groups, including the British Humanist Association and the Secular Student Alliance, are participating.
One hundred percent of donations will go to the charitable Doctors Without Borders and International Red Cross. PayPal has agreed to waive all fees on Haiti-related donations through Feb. 11.
As the Dawkins site notes: "When donating via Non-believers Giving Aid, you are helping to counter the scandalous myth that only the religious care about their fellow humans." Donations are "passed on to aid organizations that do not have religious affiliations."
The Freedom From Religion Foundation as an organization gave $1000 to Doctors Without Borders the day after the earthquake struck Haiti, and in a news release urged Foundation members and freethinkers to donate to that group or other highly-rated charities with active arms in Haiti.
"Preachers and televangelists, mullahs and imams, often seem almost to gloat over natural disasters—presenting them as payback for human transgressions, or for 'making a pact with the devil,' " states Non-Believers Giving Aid support. "Earthquakes and tsunamis are caused not by 'sin' but by tectonic plate movements, and tectonic plates, like everything else in the physical world, are supremely indifferent to human affairs and sadly indifferent to human suffering. Those of us who understand this reality are sometimes accused of being indifferent to that suffering ourselves. Of course the very opposite is the truth: we do not hide behind the notion that earthly suffering will be rewarded in a heavenly paradise, nor do we expect a heavenly reward for our generosity: the understanding that this is the only life any of us have makes the need to alleviate suffering even more urgent. The myth that it is only the religious who truly care is sustained largely by the fact that they tend to donate not as individuals, but through their churches. Non-believers, by contrast, give as individuals: we have no church through which to give collectively, no church to rack up statistics of competitive generosity. Non-Believers Giving Aid is not a church (that's putting it mildly) but it does provide an easy conduit for the non-religious to help those in desperate need, whilst simultaneously giving the lie to the canard that you need God to be good."
"Freethinkers don't participate in charity to promote nonbelief. We do so for the sake of alleviating suffering and making a difference," said Foundation co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor. "Religion does not have a corner on charity, and often the real agenda of religious charities is to promote religion."
"Freethinkers help in the name of humanity—not in the name of insanity!" quipped Dan Barker, Foundation co-president.
Clicking on the image below, Non-Belief Relief for Haiti (the Foundation's appellation), will take you to the official site of Non-Believers Giving Aid for Haiti support:
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