Atheistic Musings: Part 2

One thing that bugs me as an atheist sometimes is people's refusal to give proper credit where credit is due. By this I mean when you do something nice for somebody or something that required sacrifice on your part or someone else's part, the first thing out of the receiver's mouth is "Thank God!"

Most of the time this doesn't rankle me; but when the person then goes on to describe how they'd been beseeching God to make sure something they needed done actually happened, it aggravates me. I realize that most people are just expressing relief when they sigh "Thank God." When they go into depth about how God has just provided them with, say, a GED manual absolutely free after months of praying, I lose sympathy. Why? Well, for one thing, I know that without too much statistical deviation, this person is never going to go on to "pay it forward." Because s/he has just taken the act as proof of the motto "God will provide."

Being in nonprofit, I see/hear this all the time. Whether it's food banks or free clothes or the previously mentioned free GED book, God is behind a lot of those things, unbeknownst to me. All this time I thought it was the effort and sweat of people trying to make the world a better place. Local businessmen reached into their pockets and in some cases coughed up a lot of money, not because a sky daddy told them they were supposed to, but because they like the community they live in and they're committed to seeing everyone prosper. Not so we can all ring in New Jerusalem together. Some of those people work for depressingly low wages from shockingly good educational backgrounds, because they get fulfillment from the work and because they want to solve problems. It rarely happens that the goddidit crowd donates back to the agencies that took care of them. Why should they? God "provided" for them, they have faith he'll "provide" for the next person as well. But God doesn't write my checks. Public money from committed people is where my check comes from (measley, though it is).

Even worse is the cop out of "God works through you." That one strikes me as particularly pathetic. God bothered himself to make sure you got your free GED book, but he isn't concerned enough to make sure Somalian kids get a bowl of rice? God has a weird notion of priorities. I also hate the "I donate to my church" cop out. Where was your church when you needed something from the food bank? Why do you keep giving them money if they never give anything back to you? When the United Way has their fundraising season, I have actually been on the phone with agency directors (who are supposed to set the example for their staff) whose salary comes in part from the UW tell me that they don't plan to give to the UW because they "already donated at church." Then let the church fund your position. See how long that lasts.

I guess it all goes back to the notion that for many Xians, atheists have no morals because they don't have a sky daddy to command or punish them. Many Xians don't follow the Biblical concept of providing for those in need. Far from it. If that 80% majority actually gave something, and their churches were using it to "help" the people, I'd be out of a job. I hope that someday I am out of a job. That means the problem has been solved. Until then, I'll keep fundraising, grant-writing, recruiting and educating--because I think it's the right thing to do. So next time, the least the receiver could do is say, "Thank you."

-- Virgil