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HOW CHARITABLE ARE ATHEISTS VS. CHURCH GOERS? Militant atheist web sites are replete with insinuations that Religion has little to offer society and that society would be better off without it. What does the evidence say? While reading an article in a weekly Canadian magazine, Maclean's, I came across an article that reveals that religious people are by far more charitable than non-church goers and especially much more charitable than atheists. The article offers a summary of a Statistics Canada release in which various groups are compared in relation to their charitable habits. While less than one in five Canadians attends church regularly, those who do attend regularly "are far more liable to give to charities, and are substantially more liberal in the size of their gifts to both religious and non-religious organizations." How much more liberal? "The average annual donation from churchgoer is $1,038. For the rest of the population, $295." What about volunteer work? "With respect to volunteer effort, two thirds of church goers give their time to non-profit causes while only 43 per cent of non-attendees do likewise. And churchgoers put in twice as many hours volunteering." The article then adds a humorous touch which is not only funny but revealing. The atheist Foundation Beyond Belief, launched in January 2010, which aims to "'to encourage and demonstrate the generosity and compassions of atheists and humanists," has so far been joined by 477 members who have contributed $18,760. How much is that when compared to churchgoers? "About as much as 18 churchgoers give in one year." The article also spotlights atheists' insistence that religion, as Pullman has stated, "is "The most wonderful excuse for behaving extremely badly." The evidence, of course, with the exception of pseudo-religionists who use religion as a front for their crimes, is clearly quite the contrary. Atheists have had decades to prove their generosity and have waited until recently to create a few organizations that put up a front of humanitarianism, simply to counter critics' accusations that atheists are far from being the giving people their purport to be. When looked at closely, their contributions to society are negligible and their boasts of being very kind to others are far from supported by the evidence. ----------------------------------------- Maclean's, May 10, 2010, P. 4.
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