Comedian Doug Stanhope raising money ($98,446 so far) for atheist victim of Oklahoma tornado
111 replies, posted
[QUOTE=Lachz0r;40812492]i reckon rather than having a charity that only gives to atheist people, it'd be better to have an atheist charity that gives to everyone. like red cross and red crescent but run by atheists[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://www.responsiblecharity.org/"]Responsible Charity[/URL] is one.
[editline]28th May 2013[/editline]
they don't give to everyone though. their work is concentrated in india providing water and shelter.
Usually they raise money to all the victims, but often there are lots of money being raised through the churches and those money is primarily spent on "religious" people. So why not raise some extra money for the atheists?
Its great that this thread is so on-topic, but no chit-chat on how great of a comedian Doug Stanhope is? Check out his stuff
Agnosticism>Athiesm
[QUOTE=Persecution;40813487]Agnosticism>Athiesm[/QUOTE]
agnosticism and atheism are not as separate as you think. most atheists are also agnostic. agnostic just means you acknowledge that the existence of any god cannot be proven or disproven. i realize that god cannot be disproven but choose to assume that it doesn't exist anyways because a claim like god's existence should have evidence to support it.
technically i guess some christians are also agnostic. however, i would contend that the idea of god being unprovable contradicts the leap of faith required to accept jesus as lord and savior. if you think god [I]could[/I] be real, then it's not absolute faith in your scripture.
[QUOTE=Raidyr;40812415]What am I being offensively ignorant about?[/QUOTE]
Aid should be distributed by the organisation with the best experience in delivering aid to crisis zones. Ideally, that organisation should also be the most responsible in delivering aid to all people as best as it can. An aid organisation should never have an axe to grind beyond solving the actual problem at hand.
You're right that maybe the people criticising this charity drive should make sure that they aren't being hypocritical. But they are right to think that supporting an organisation that restores lives and livelihoods at the expense of valuing human life equally is morally reprehensible.
All this talk is a bit unfair on Doug. No one would expect this to have made as much money as it did, which is ultimately why many are complaining. If it made less than a grand, no one would take it too seriously about being biased towards non-believers.
Plus, who is really to 'blame' for this, the person who set up the campaign or the hundreds who donated the money. I'd shift most of the responsibility to the latter.
[QUOTE=Stockers678;40813831]All this talk is a bit unfair on Doug. No one would expect this to have made as much money as it did, which is ultimately why many are complaining. If it made less than a grand, no one would take it too seriously about being biased towards non-believers.
Plus, who is really to 'blame' for this, the person who set up the campaign or the hundreds who donated the money. I'd shift most of the responsibility to the latter.[/QUOTE]
I don't think anyone is condemning this for the amount of money raised.
Because I don't think anyone here is evil enough for that.
[QUOTE=TheFilmSlacker;40813988]Why the fuck does it matter that the victim was an Atheist?
Seriously, what relevance does that have?[/QUOTE]
Read the article. Or the thread. Or anything other than the title. The entire fundraiser was started BECAUSE this person said they were an atheist on TV.
Okay, so first she had to divulge that she was an atheist in Oklahoma on national television which would be enough to set her apart just a bit, but now she's going to get all this money and all it's going to do is piss everyone else off. They're not helping this woman at all.
[QUOTE=Lamar;40813471]Its great that this thread is so on-topic, but no chit-chat on how great of a comedian Doug Stanhope is? Check out his stuff[/QUOTE]
Doug Stanhope is the fucking man.
[QUOTE=TheFilmSlacker;40814113]Yeah, I know, and I'm all for helping people out, but I just think it's kind of strange that it's not a fundraiser for that person's area rather than just one person, I guess.[/QUOTE]
That's actually why most people in this thread are pissed off. It focuses on one single group, and it's no better than a Christian foundation that only assists Christians.
[QUOTE=TheFilmSlacker;40813988]Why the fuck does it matter that the victim was an Atheist?
Seriously, what relevance does that have?[/QUOTE]
The fact that she's atheist is the whole point. I don't take doug stanhope as the type to start a charity out of kindness and sympathy; the only reason he started the charity is because she is an athiest. To look at what he's doing as charity as opposed to pushing a cause is what's causing all the arguments in this thread. Is what he is doing wrong? I don't think so, but I do agree that it would have been better if he raised funds to help more people as opposed to one woman and her child. But, as I said before, this isn't about charity to him.
That being said he's an awesome comedian, and if you go and watch/listen to his stand up, you'd probably have a better idea of what he's aiming for.
[editline]28th May 2013[/editline]
In other words he's (imo) simply taking an agressive stance against religion and garnering attention to show that religion is not a neccessity when someone is in need.
This is just as bad as having a charity that only helps Christians or only helps Whites.
[QUOTE=Lamar;40813471]Its great that this thread is so on-topic, but no chit-chat on how great of a comedian Doug Stanhope is? Check out his stuff[/QUOTE]
Fuck yes. He's amazing. Ever seen him live? I saw him here in the UK about a year ago and even recently he keeps mentioning on the Joe Rogan Podcast that Wolverhampton (where I saw him) was the best show and that it's a great place "the salt lake city of england"
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;40811790]Glorification of atheism is just as stupid as glorification of any other religious beliefs. I'm sorry to break the news, everybody, but the status of your belief in a God or Gods does not make you intellectually or morally superior to anyone else. It's all well and good that you're comfortable in your religious stances, but don't go acting like a big dork about it.[/QUOTE]
You're morally superior when you decide that no one should give a shit about religion.
Because morally thats what should happen.
most "glorification" of atheism is a reaction to religious glorification and prosthelytizing anyways. that's why you often see the most "militant" and outspoken atheists coming from the bible belt. the more secular an area is, the less atheists feel the need to be incredibly outspoken about their lack of faith since no one else is outspoken about their religious views.
[QUOTE=JustExtreme;40813066]yeah, what did you think he was?[/QUOTE]
a satirical character that was the invention of charlie brooker
[QUOTE=yawmwen;40814935]most "glorification" of atheism is a reaction to religious glorification and prosthelytizing anyways. that's why you often see the most "militant" and outspoken atheists coming from the bible belt. the more secular an area is, the less atheists feel the need to be incredibly outspoken about their lack of faith since no one else is outspoken about their religious views.[/QUOTE]
He lives in Bisbee, Arizona. Is that Bible Belt territory? I have no clue
[QUOTE=ChestyMcGee;40816163]a satirical character that was the invention of charlie brooker[/QUOTE]
Check his stuff out, seriously. You're in for a treat if you like his bits on TV Go Home.
Why do people get offended by this but not all then countless Chrisitian only fundraisers?
[QUOTE=The Baconator;40816993]Why do people get offended by this but not all then countless Chrisitian only fundraisers?[/QUOTE]
I think any discriminatory charity is pretty terrible, but this isn't the place to talk about the countless Chrisitian only fundraisers, it's the place to talk about this Atheist only fundraiser.
[QUOTE=Rufia;40817065]I think any discriminatory charity is pretty terrible, but this isn't the place to talk about the countless Chrisitian only fundraisers, it's the place to talk about this Atheist only fundraiser.[/QUOTE]
There's never going to be a place for that, it happens daily and because it happens so often no one notices.
Seriously guys just dgaf
[QUOTE=Rufia;40817065]this isn't the place to talk about the countless Chrisitian only fundraisers.[/QUOTE]
I think the christian fundraisers are why Stanhope is having an atheist fundraiser.
[QUOTE=The Baconator;40817129]There's never going to be a place for that, it happens daily and because it happens so often no one notices.
Seriously guys just dgaf[/QUOTE]
So you're suggesting we just ignore the topic at hand and just talk about whatever takes our fancy, hmm?
This thread is about [B]this[/B] fundraiser.
[QUOTE=Fenderson;40817182]I think the christian fundraisers are why Stanhope is having an atheist fundraiser.[/QUOTE]
In which case he is an idiot. It was/is stupid when the Christian fundraisers did it and it is stupid now.
[QUOTE=The Baconator;40816993]Why do people get offended by this but not all then countless Chrisitian only fundraisers?[/QUOTE]
I don't think I've ever heard of a Christian charity only giving money to other Christians unless the fundraiser was specifically orchestrated to rebuild a church or something, which is completely different (if he was asking for money to rebuild some atheist center no one would care).
[QUOTE=The Baconator;40816993]Why do people get offended by this but not all then countless Chrisitian only fundraisers?[/QUOTE]
I was under the impression that most Christian charities are setup like this - [url]http://www.christianaid.org.uk/aboutus/who/aims/our_aims.aspx[/url]
[quote=Wikipedia][b]Christian Aid states it works where the need is greatest, regardless of religion, nationality or race.[/b][/quote]
In the situation of Oklahoma it is clear that this Atheist Charity is bullshit.
[QUOTE=The Baconator;40816993]Why do people get offended by this but not all then countless Chrisitian only fundraisers?[/QUOTE]
If you read the replies it's pretty clear that a lot of the folks that are upset about this didn't read beyond the title. Supposedly this story is about an "organization" that is "discriminating" against other religions, when none of these things are really true.
[editline]28th May 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=Thom12255;40817454]I was under the impression that most Christian charities are setup like this - [URL]http://www.christianaid.org.uk/aboutus/who/aims/our_aims.aspx[/URL][/QUOTE]
Some are, but plenty of church fundraisers raise money that goes exclusively to other church groups. And there is nothing wrong with that. The idea that only certain charities are legitimate based on who they cater to is ridiculous. You could take this logic all the way beyond the tornado victims of Moore. How many people died compared to the tens of thousands that die from malaria, or HIV/AIDS?
[QUOTE=Thom12255;40817454]In the situation of Oklahoma it is clear that this Atheist Charity is bullshit.[/QUOTE]
Unless this dude proves to be a massive dick and witholds the donations, the fact that a family can rebuild their lives after a tornado took everything from them is far from bullshit.
[QUOTE=Raidyr;40811227]When you post terrible opinions on the internet, expect them to be criticized. And "Charity is selfish" is about as fucking terrible as you can get.[/QUOTE]
Do you always have to play the part of thread asshole.
[QUOTE=The Baconator;40817129]There's never going to be a place for that, it happens daily and because it happens so often no one notices.
Seriously guys just dgaf[/QUOTE]
I kind of expected backlash from people who can't read because most atheist threads are like that, but the amount of people arguing against charity in this thread is insane. No empathy at all.
[QUOTE=Fenderson;40817182]I think the christian fundraisers are why Stanhope is having an atheist fundraiser.[/QUOTE]
Well it's a bit different. Christian fundraisers are allowed to operate publicly without much criticism. This is an indiegogo campaign started by one dude for one woman. It doesn't even help atheists in general, just one lady and her family. Which is fine, but it's certainly no counter-balance to the hundreds or thousands of church group fundraisers that happen every year. If you (not you particularly, the people reading this thread) don't think a charity is going on right now that exclusively helps tornado victims who are Christian, or atleast consider themselves Christian and go through the motions, you are absolutely unaware of how this country works.
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