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Thank you, Dinesh
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by Dale McGowan Executive Director, Foundation Beyond Belief I come before you today to thank Dinesh D'Souza. Please don't blink -- it isn't likely to happen again. After the tragedy at Virginia Tech in April 2007, D'Souza took the opportunity to accuse atheists of being absent in times of human suffering. "Notice something interesting about the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings?" he said. "Atheists are nowhere to be found." The piece was the most shameless bit of opportunism since Jerry Falwell held us (along with feminists, gays, and civil libertarians) responsible for 9/11. Most of all, it was breathtaking in its careless ignorance. Fortunately the reaction against ignorance -- even ignorance on that scale -- can lead to good things. An atheist professor at Virginia Tech posted a response at The Daily Kos (under the handle Mapantsula) of elegant indignation, honesty and pain:
He went on to describe the pain and terror he and his family experienced and his own participation in precisely the collective events of healing and commemoration from which D'Souza had declared him absent. There were also surely atheists and humanists among the emergency responders and doctors and nurses and counselors who fought valiantly to stitch together shattered bodies, minds and hearts. But D'Souza's blindness to something that was so obvious to me, and to Mapantsula, helpfully crystallized the problem for me. The atheists weren't absent. They were invisible. Their bodies and skills were easy enough to see, of course. But their convictions -- that this is our one and only life, that its loss is something to fight hard against, that we have no one but each other to rely on when bad things happen -- those convictions went unnoticed. Prayers and songs and religious rituals announce themselves. Quiet conviction goes unseen. I began to think about the problem of atheist and humanist invisibility that month, the same month Parenting Beyond Belief was released. Many of the most tireless volunteers and most generous charitable givers I know are atheists and humanists. But unlike my religious friends, their efforts didn't visibly express and reflect their worldview and their values. Two years later, I filed the incorporation papers for Foundation Beyond Belief. And here we are. This Foundation exists "to focus, encourage, and demonstrate" the compassion and generosity of humanists and atheists in part because of Mapantsula's eloquent response to Dinesh D'Souza's thoughtless screed. So I'll take this opportunity to thank Dinesh D'Souza for making his ignorance known. He didn't inspire atheists to do good in the world -- let's be quite clear about that -- but his blindness to what was already there made me realize that others were surely just as blind to it. It's time to make visible our values and our efforts to improve our one and only life. Thanks for being a part of it. |
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Interestingly enough,
Interestingly enough, we had the same experience here along the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the tragic and destructive aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Fortunately, much like the Virginia Tech professor, I was in a position as an emergency responder and known community service volunteer/activist (who is also an atheist) to respond in a timely and concise manner refuting the false characterizations that atheists are somehow magically absent from our human condition in times of need, danger or despair. Our story can be found printed in the October 2005 edition of "The Humanist" magazine and online here: Humanist in a Hurricane We recently had our collection of digital images, videos and narratives accepted into the University of Southern Mississippi - Katrina Research Center as a historical resource depicting the noble and caring efforts of humanists and atheists for our family and our community for generations to come. Here is a link to a tribute video for all those who helped others in their time of great need: A Tribute Thanks for the great community service website, Mr. McGowan, keep up the great work! Steve Schlicht Biloxi MS
There's the rub.
There's the rub. Christians can always tout the charity work they do because they typically have "Christian" or the name of a Christian denomination in their organization's name. In addition to that many of them wear clothing and/or jewelry that clearly identify them as Christians when they're doing their charitable work. It's like "Look at me, I'm a Christian! I'm doing this *because* I'm a Christian! Give me brownie points, God!"Atheists, on the other hand, just go about their work without the fanfare. (Do you think every time I send a donation somewhere or help someone out I tell them "I'm a lesbian atheist vegetarian!"?) As a result they're pretty much invisible and people think they're doing nothing. Buddhists and some other groups have had the same problem because they don't flaunt their status while they're helping. Maybe it's time we realize we need to be more vocal about who we are when we're doing things so we can get rid of the misconceptions. It may be a bit tawdry but it will be effective.
The website looks great!
The website looks great! Congrats on getting it up and running. Have been following PBB for awhile now and looking forward to watching this aspect of it grow. Also as an artist and designer, I have to say the I'm loving the new logo for the FBB. Great Job to all involved at getting this off the ground.
I am blown away
I am blown away by this website and seems to be the most concentrated and directed effort of humanism/atheism to fundraise for important causes. I too came via the Friendly Atheist and as a recent atheist and a longtime advocate of community service, I am very excited about FBB. This site embodies the values that should be attributed to atheists such as stewardship of the environment, service to others, and working towards a harmonious society. -Jack
Nice site. The Friendly
Nice site. The Friendly Athiest sent us here and I have to agree with his positive review of it. For your reader's that need a role model of athiest charity there is none better than Fred Hollows who devoted his life to bring sight to the unfortunate of the world. Mr. Fellow has died but his foundation guided by his wife continues to carry on his work. http://www.hollows.org/ There is a good thread on Richard Dawkins website discussing charity among athiest http://richarddawkins.net/forum/viewtopic.php?=&p=112222
Thanks, Dale. I definitely agree
Thanks, Dale. I definitely agree with you. It seems many of the faithful love to ask "where are all the atheist charities?" The honest and true answer that atheists don't need to do charity in the name of atheism just isn't sufficient for them.I'm glad that this organization will be fully up and running soon.I personally will be looking to contribute. I know that I can get the campus club that I am a part of and probably a few others clubs that I am associated with to help out with donating.
Dale, Thanks
Dale, Thanks for putting together this great project!I'm a big fan of your book and will be a contributor to the Foundation.Oh, by the way, the website looks great! Cheers, -- Stan A.
If we look at it that way,
If we look at it that way, I suppose we should be thanking him. It's amusing to me that, at least to my knowledge, Dinesh D'Souza still does not find his diatribe the least bit ironic.