The Freedom From Religion Foundation has made a $10,000 donation from its new Nonbelief Relief Fund to help earthquake-ravaged Nepal. FFRF is evenly splitting the donation between the United Nations World Food Program and Doctors Without Borders, both of which rate well as secular charities.
The death toll from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake April 25 and aftershocks moved past 8,000 in early May. More than 8 million people were affected. On May 12, a magnitude-7.3 quake was centered near the Chinese border followed by at least five aftershocks measuring from magnitude-5.6 to magnitude-6.3. Within a few hours, the government confirmed 36 people were killed and at least 1,117 injured.
FFRF is launching Nonbelief Relief so that its members and other nonreligious donors have the opportunity to give under a secular umbrella. As the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science has long pointed out, nonbelievers are as (or more) generous as the religious, but have lacked infrastructure to give as a group under the secular name.
“The hands that help are better far than lips that pray,” said Co-President Dan Barker, quoting Robert G. Ingersoll.
“There are many established secular charities that respectfully serve people in need regardless of religion, whose purposes are to help — no religious questions asked, no bibles thumped or other hidden-agenda proselytizing,” noted Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.
Nepal is 80% Hindu and 20% Buddhist, all the more reason to avoid any hint of proselytizing by U.S.-based charities, she added.
While FFRF chose the UN World Food Program and Doctors Without Borders for its donation, FFRF reserves the right, as the Nepalese disaster and needs unfold, to designate donations for Nonbelief Relief for another or additional secular relief charities helping the Nepalese.
Generous nontheists who’d like their donation to be made under such a secular umbrella may select “NonBelief Relief” under FFRF’s donation dropdown at ffrf.org/get-involved/donate/. Donations, fully tax-deductible, will be forwarded as promptly as possible to a secular charity meeting real needs in the real world.
