The end of the year is a traditional time for charitable giving and
volunteering. Atheist and secular humanist groups have made great
strides in the last few years on providing their members with
opportunities to give both money and time as part of a community. Local
community groups develop long-term relationships with community service
organizations. Others choose organizations that meet specific needs at
specific times. On top of that, Foundation Beyond Belief was formed in
2010 to channel and encourage humanist giving and volunteering.
However, because we are atheists, our help is not always wanted.
Sometimes our checks are refused. Sometimes our helping hands are turned
away. We're not always told why, but "faith" groups find themselves
welcome where we're not.
Recently, Hemant Mehta of the Friendly Atheist blog found
himself on the receiving end of two of these rejections. Funds raised by
his readers were declined by a park board and library board. The
library chair went so far as to call Hemant's blog "a hate group".
Hemant is also familiar with this problem as part of the board of
Foundation Beyond Belief. Join us this Sunday as Hemant talks to us
about atheist giving, or at least attempted atheist giving...
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Interview:
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