Would you give to a Christian charity? (believe, punishment, salvation)

[hkgal]

I just read an article about some of the problems faced by residents of slums in particularly poor regions of the Philippines. Namely, that they have limited to no access to birth control (courtesy of the Catholic Church's influence) and have many children but cannot afford them. The article was specifically talking about how a number of multi-nationals, aided by lobbyists and the US chamber of commerce, were aggressively marketing infant formula in the Philippines and of course the poor were suffering the most as a result - spending two-thirds of their meagre incomes on formula and their babies are dying at shocking rates of dysentery and other preventable infections.

Anyhow, as this country and these issues are something I feel particularly strongly about, I wanted to donate money to the charity they talked about in the article, who is providing desperately needed food, shelter and education to the needy families. I looked it up and found out that it is a Christian organization. I don't strictly have a problem with that, however their website says that the organisation also provides various 'Church Empowerment' programs including 'worship training' and proselytizing among others.

So what I have a problem with is my donated money going to religious programs. I just don't think there needs to be these strings attached. However, they also do great work for people who frankly have no-one else to turn to for help. It just doesn't seem fair to make a stand when people are suffering.

I have donated to Christian based organisations in the past but not any that use their money for these specific purposes.

How do others feel about this? What would/do you do given your atheist/agnostic beliefs?

[GCSTroop]

I would have to do a tremendous amount of research before I donated to a Christian Charity. Actually, I do a tremendous amount of research before I donate to any charity. You really have to look at how much your donation is going to be applied to actually helping the cause and how much goes to "overhead". You'll find that a lot of charities tend to have egregiously high "overhead" which, in my opinion, is typically an indicator of a charity that is more in the business for itself than for the people they are trying to help. Naturally, there will be some "overhead" applied and depending on the type of charity, it should all be weighed relatively.

I would hesitate on donating to a strictly Christian Charity if I knew they were going to try and convert people. More often than not, there are secular charities in place that do the same thing without trying to convert people. But, let's say for example, that there was a place in Africa that only Christian missions or charities went to and I felt it was a cause good enough to donate to... Would I donate to it? Well, I would probably say 'yes' if not for the simple fact that there are things more important in this life than what someone believes. I'm not going to otherwise let a child starve to death because I can't get over the fact that he may be introduced to religion.

Again, it's all relative to what is out there, what you're trying to change by your donations and what the cause is. Given the right time, place, and charity, I might very well donate to a Christian charity if it were for the greater good.

[Mooseketeer]

I have given to Christian Charities in the past and will continue to do so if I believe they are the best for that particular job.

Like Troop I tend to do a lot of research on where my donations will end up, not only about whether the Charities are into proselytising ( aid for prayers as I would call it )but also whether they are efficient in terms of their administration costs and tax status.

I also prefer charities which have long term aims though I do give regularly to short term charities like "Medecins sans Frontieres" on a regular basis.

Disaster relief for example is a necessary short term aid program.

In my opinion there are far too many charities, some of them doing exactly the same job and to me that is incredibly wasteful.

I donate a lot to Oxfam , founded by mostly Christians over 60 years, above a Church in Oxford, but an excellent all round charity which donates as it sees fit , as the needs arise.

I trust them as experts to make that judgement as to how the money will be spent. It is up them to decide whether disaster relief is the best way at that time or building toilets for example. Their work is non religion based.

Christian charities do provide a lot of Aid and most do it IMO without making it into a missionary mission , peaching to those they help.

Some however to take advantage and use it as way to propagate their faith .
That to me is really wrong.

But as an Atheist I do not want to throw the baby out with the Bath-water and deny some good Christian organisations funding. That would just be churlish.

I wish there were less charities and that most could come under the same "umbrella" as it would make so much more financial sense and be less wasteful.

There are plenty of non religious charities to give too and according to my personal research I may or may not decide to donate to a Christian organisation. But I will not deny it simply because the charity in question is Christian.

I would however NEVER give to an organisation which refuses family planning education, or stigmatises women who have had abortions for example. Nor those who will claim that AIDS is a punishment from God and that Gay people are evil. Those are about as charitable as a piece of string and a lot less useful.



Charity should be given freely with a kind and loving heart and no strings attached. If you attach any conditions any more it is no longer charity but blackmail.

Having spent some time in Eritrea and Ethiopia during the mid 80s working with MSF ( as a lowly worker) I was shocked to see many aid workers ( not MSF but many other aid agencies) at that time living a rather luxurious lifestyle and wandering around in brand new branded charity SUVs. It seemed a gross misuse of the public's donations and so wasteful. It gave me an insight as to why one should always try to see whether the money is going.

Good charities are very transparent about their money, administration and how the donations are spent. You should always be allowed to look at their figures for the financial year if you ask for it. Amnesty and Greenpeace for example always tell you every year in their yearly report what their financial status is proportions of donations assigned to what...

We have the right to know if our money is being spent wisely and have the right to request more details about expenditures, net and gross capital, and use of donations.

[Tesaje]

I do and have donated to xtian based charities. But like the others, I make sure they are only doing their stated charity work and that they have a small overhead. What you describe is what I stay far away from and think that such activities should be under the tax deductable charity umbrella as proselytizing or pushing damaging practices is not charity.

[hkgal]

Mooseketeer - very insightful comments you make.

I guess I was/am keen on this particular charity because they clearly do fantastic work, and significantly, they carry it out in a very specific region of the country that I have a special interest in for personal reasons. While there may be other charities operating in the area I'm not sure how I could find them.

I looked into their annual report and they spend 20% of their total budget on 'church empowerment' programs that are not directly related to food/shelter/medical services. This sounds like quite a lot to me. It's more than their total overheads. I'm just not sure.

On another note, I've recently gotten involved in lending money to small entrepreneurs in developing countries through micro-finance programs. I really like the idea of this, since once the loans are paid back you can then on-lend them to another person/group so your money gets recycled. I think this is great for helping people who lack capital and access to regular banks.

[Mooseketeer]

Originally Posted by hkgal

Mooseketeer - very insightful comments you make.

I guess I was/am keen on this particular charity because they clearly do fantastic work, and significantly, they carry it out in a very specific region of the country that I have a special interest in for personal reasons. While there may be other charities operating in the area I'm not sure how I could find them.

I looked into their annual report and they spend 20% of their total budget on 'church empowerment' programs that are not directly related to food/shelter/medical services. This sounds like quite a lot to me. It's more than their total overheads. I'm just not sure.

On another note, I've recently gotten involved in lending money to small entrepreneurs in developing countries through micro-finance programs. I really like the idea of this, since once the loans are paid back you can then on-lend them to another person/group so your money gets recycled. I think this is great for helping people who lack capital and access to regular banks.

Micro loans is a wonderful way to give and we have a direct debit out of our current account every month which goes to a charity called "shared interest" where micro finance helps people to get out of poverty whilst retaining their dignity which I feel is very important.

It is amazing what 50$ can do in a third world country and allows poor people work, create employment both for themselves and others and I like the fact that as it is a loan it is repaid and that money then passed on to the next person who needs it. In essence you and I start the ball rolling but the small entrepreneurs end up in a circle of solidarity and support which I find really positive. I don't even view it as charity more like giving someone a little nudge in the right direction.

Micro-Loans also enable women to become more empowered and that is hugely important where patriarchal societies have made them into virtual slaves to the males in the family.


Financial independence is something we all cherish and I wish more people would consider giving to those organisations.


As for 20% Church Empowerment that to me is a really really bad sign if it means that 20% of a charity's revenue are spent on Christian teachings/spreading the word , proselytising etc...

[esselcue]

Probably not specifically to a Christian "Charity" and probably not money, but I give things to Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul all the time. Does that count?

[cncracer]

No I don’t. There are too many good causes without the ties to religion. I just can not see providing funds to an organization that will preach their views or force their religion to provide care with money I send with no strings attached.

[SuSuSushi]

Originally Posted by hkgal

How do others feel about this? What would/do you do given your atheist/agnostic beliefs?

If the organization performs their charity work without trying to indoctrinate the recipients of the charity, then I wouldn't have any problem donating.

[forkpower]

As long as donations are only used for the charity services they are offereing, i would have no problem donating. But if they use any amount of donations for any specifically religious purpose, then no i would not doanate.