Christopher Hitchens is dead

Christopher Hitchens is dead. He died from pneumonia, a complication related to his esophageal cancer.

You can't say, "See, God punished Hitchens with cancer and death because he was an outspoken Atheist," because then, what are you going to say about all the devout Christians, devout Muslims, devout Jews and other devout religious people who have died from cancer or complications just like Hitchens?

I loathed Hitchens for his pro-war-in-Iraq stance and his pro George-Bush stance; had Bush been a Muslim, espousing exactly the same views about Christianity and the invasion of a nation made up largely of Christians, Hitchens would have foamed at the mouth. How Hitchens could be such a blind hypocrite regarding Iraq and Bush was astounding to me, because a few years before that, Hitchens had, literally, changed my life - for the better.

I will always be grateful to Hitchens for his exposing of Mother Teresa as a religious fanatic and a fraud in terms of truly helping people. I first read his criticisms back in the 1990s, after she died. It was the first time I had ever heard any criticism of her, let alone of any charity in the developing world. I was shocked. My first reaction, for several seconds, was, "What he is saying cannot be true." I remember my face feeling hot. Criticizing charity? Criticizing a woman whose name was seen as the definition of goodness by millions - and certainly characterized in the press that way?

But I kept reading.

(See an excerpt from a video from 1994, broadcast on the BBC, where Hitchens illustrates some of his criticisms.)

Over the months, as I read more and more, not only did my mind completely change about what Mother Teresa had done in India; my mindset about how to really help people living in extreme poverty changed. I realized that engaging only in charity, without addressing the reasons for poverty or a desperate situation, is mostly about making the giver feel good; a year later, all those poor people still need charity. Nothing changes. Nothing gets better. By contrast, changing political structures, educating people, EMPOWERING people - that changes things. That reduces poverty. That gives people options for employment, for health care, and for major life choices like marriage, pregnancy, moving... Pure charity, only charity, doesn't do those things. In fact, charity alone could even be said to keep people in poverty, forcing them to always be reliant on the kindness of others, never being able to take control of their own lives.

Five years after reading Hitchens' criticisms, when I found myself working for a UN-program and started my career in working for development agencies, my changed mindset helped me be much more effective in my job - and more effective to truly help others. To this day, I do not work the same way with nonprofits or non-governmental organizations (NGOs), nor donate to those organizations the same way, that I did before Hitchens' scathing criticisms of Mother Teresa. For instance, when I work with young people about volunteering, I don't just tell them how to do a one-day, feel good Habitat for Humanity build; I talk to them about organizations that are helping people learn to get out of debt, how to save, how to improve their job skills, etc., and how they could help those organizations as well. I'm outspoken about orphan tourism, and encourage those looking to volunteer abroad to engage in activities that don't take away local jobs and are focused on actually helping people in the long-term.

I'm not at all saying charity isn't a good thing to do. But it's not enough by itself. Hitchens played a huge role in my realizing that. I have to thank Christopher Hitchens for that start of the change in my mindset, and for helping to make me a better aid and development worker.

For a wonderful alternative to Mother Teresa and the Catholic Church's approaches to charity, which exploits the poor and doesn't change people's lives (but certainly raises a lot of money for their church), get to know Responsible Charity, which is working to raise some of the poorest people in India out of extreme poverty. Its Facebook page is a fantastic example of how a nonprofit can use the Internet to show its accountability and effectiveness.

Lots of ways to help others this season!

The reason for the season? The tilt of the Earth! No doubt the reason so many cultures in the Northern Hemisphere turned this time into a period of lights and celebration was as a way to maintain hope for warmer weather to come, and to give people a reason to be happy, rather than scared, in these darker days when so much dies outside. Whether it's carnival parties that begin in Germany in November, the burning of a log to celebrate the Nordic God "Yule", the ritual lighting of candles, or the birth of a God in December - Dionysus or Jesus, depending on your religion or period on Earth - all the gift giving, singing and celebrating is a great way to cope with this dark, cold season for much of the Earth's population.

There is a misconception that only people of faith in the supernatural -- Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc. -- engage in acts of charity, donate to humanitarian causes, and volunteer at this time of year. But the reality is that many people who are not religious, and people who do not believe in God, engage in acts of charity, donate to humanitarian causes, and volunteer to help the environment, help children, promote the arts, help the elderly, etc. - year round, as well as this season specifically.

There's lots of ways you can volunteer now, in secular programs rather than religious ones. In addition, there are some terrific organizations that would welcome your donations, including:

• Kiva, which helps fund people in developing countries to start micro-enterprises, so that they don't need aid money eventually. And note the number one donating group on Kiva: it's the "Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and the Non-Religious" group.
• Bpeace, which helps fund and support people in Afghanistan and Rwanda to grow small businesses and employ more people.
• CARE International, which is focused on giving access to education, employment, health care and nutrition.
• Knowbility, a nonprofit based in Austin, Texas that promotes access to computer and Internet technology and related education for people with disabilities.
• Goodwill, a national nonprofit with locations all over the USA that helps people trying to enter or re-enter the work place. Their thrift stores not only generate income to fund their training programs; they also provide a training ground for the people they are trying to help. Unlike the Salvation Army, the organization is secular and does not discriminate on the basis of religion or sexual orientation.
• Join the Reddit atheist community in giving to Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres; the 2011 campaign has raised almost $200,000 for the organization.
• Planned Parenthood.
• Your nearest animal shelter, which is no doubt DESPERATE for funds right now.
  

Expect snarky comments from friends and family that believe in an invisible magical friend to say things like I think if I was an atheist I'd just figure what's the use? Lol, as someone did on my Facebook page recently. They don't understand why a human would be good to another human without a belief in an invisible magical friend who will reward you for your philanthropy, or punish you, after you die (great reasons to help - for gifts or out of fear. Whatever).

Maybe my desire to help is driven by evolution: humans prosper together, rather than singularly. Maybe my desire to help is driven by logic: the world is more peaceful and happy when people are content. All I know is that helping others makes the world a better place, and while I'm here on Earth, I'd like to enjoy my time here.

Contrary to what the Catholic League says, I believe in so much...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue is starting a new campaign to... well, I'm not entirely sure what it's supposed to do. He seems to think that Atheists are just kidding, that we're closeted Christians. We're not, of course. But for the launch of this campaign, he asserts that Atheists are people who “believe in nothing, stand for nothing and are good for nothing.”

With this campaign, the Catholic League confirms so much of what I believe about the Catholic Church. In addition, I also believe that every person who covers up child sexual abuse should be in prison, I believe condoms save lives, I believe women should have control of their uterus rather than your church, I believe the Catholic church should NOT get to decide who is and isn't married, I believe in love, honesty, integrity, reason and freedom from religion, and I believe the numbers of people who also believe like me are growing. And I believe you can pray for me to your magical invisible friend until the cows come home and it won't change a thing.

It's an arrogance that makes Christians oh-so-loathesome. And if he thinks this is what his God wants, then it's no wonder his church is losing members in DROVES.

Divine Domestic Violence

"If a human husband said that to his wife, we would classify it as domestic violence."

An excellent blog from James F. McGrath.

What does the Bible say about Christmas traditions?

How much do you know about the characters and events associated with Christmas that are in the Bible? Or the origins of various Christmas traditions? Take this quiz and find out. It's particularly fun to share with Christian friends who say they take the Bible literally.

Beware of Islamic Turkeys

As an Atheist, why should I care that a friend on Facebook just posted this as her status?

Butterball Turkeys are 'Halal Certified". This means that during the killing of the turkey a Muslim religious official (or a recording of a Muslim religious official) offers the turkey 'in the name of Allah'. I have personally called Butterball and USDA to confirm and this is true. If you would like to do the same, call Butterball Corporate at 1-919-255-7900. I spoke to Linda Compton, Director of Consumer Relations. They will try to pass the buck to USDA (1-888-674-6854), but USDA only requires a religious official as part of their halal certification. They do not dictate what they say.

Why should I care? The Christian is scared her Butterball Turkey is Islamic. And observant Muslims can't eat the Butterball Turkey unless it's Halal. BOTH are nonsense to me, what do I care?

And yet I do care.

Which bothers me more - the Christian friend and her ilk who think Jesus would never want them to eat a Halal Turkey (despite Matthew 15:11: It's not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.) or the Muslim (or Jew, for that matter), who thinks his food has to be extra-specially-blessed in order to eat it?

I'm going to have to go with the Christian in this case. I'm sure this same Christian friend would eat food prepared and prayed over by a neighbor who was Catholic. Or Mormon. Or Jewish. It's only certain religions that are unacceptable.

The arguments I've heard from Christians against the evils of Halal are that it requires a cruel way of killing animals - never mind that the same method is required of kosher meat - and that Halal requires a spoken prayer to God (and the Arabic word for God is Allah - for some reason, people have HUGE problems that Arabs use an Arabic word for the God of Abraham - but no problem that the French call him Dieu - how come that isn't a problem?), while kosher killing doesn't require any spoken word (just a series of very specific rituals that are each and altogether meant to praise their God - but apparently, specific, deliberate movements done as a praise to a God is okay with the Christians; its just spoken words that are ENTIRELY unacceptable).

What does preventing observant Muslims from getting to eat a Butterball Turkey on Thanksgiving accomplish, I wonder? If we eat a Butterball Turkey, do the terrorists win?

Another day to celebrate being an Atheist! And more Butterball Turkey for me!

Dear Abby's religious bias: dangerous?

I usually like Dear Abby. But today, her column included this advice:

"then I recommend you talk to Donny's mother about finding a Big Brother for him, through her religious denomination."

I am always ticked off when she says something like this, but I was particularly ticked off today, so I wrote her this:

Abby, so often you give advice like this, but surely you know that not everyone is a member of a religion, and not every community of faith has the capacity to handle various personal, family or marital problems? There are *millions* of Atheists in the USA, and so often, your advice would be useless to these millions of Americans because you so often refer to a community of faith as a way to address some problem.

Every time you give this advice, I wonder about the person you have given it to - what if they are an Atheist, like me, or part of a church that just provides sermons and some music, with a religious instructor who has no idea how to handle various family or personal issues beyond, "Pray" - or has some kind of twisted view that women should submit to their husbands, believes there's a religious basis allowing husbands to beat their wives and children, etc.?

I personally know so many women who went to the leaders of their community of faith regarding problems they were experiencing in their marriage, with their children, with their parents, with siblings, etc., or regarding emotional issues or conflict, and who were given absolutely lousy advice as a result.

It's time for Abby to start referring to qualified nonprofit organizations, health care professionals and mental health care professionals when people write to her regarding these problems! If she wants to add some kind of line at the end about, "And, in addition, if you are a person who believes in a religion, you might find strength in a community of faith - but don't use that as a substitute for getting qualified help," I'd be okay with that - I wouldn't be crazy about it, but at least it would be preceded by helpful advice!