Origin: Probability of a Single Protein Forming by Chance

In a way religion is about accountability,  without accountability things can go pear shaped quickly. "Do what thou wilt" is a recipe for desaster. 

So what does it mean when i give to charities then, nothing? I know plenty of Atheists that are kind caring people. You make it sound like we are all eaters of children and the world would be hell incarnate if it wasnt for you religion 

Stop talking shit, i know some farkin awful "christians" i wouldnt piss on if they were on fire.

Religion has no bearing on whether a person is good or bad but i believe the most important thing is a loving family and you certainly dont need religuon for tha t

A church legally considered a charity, where the patrons are mugged. When removing church donations, the figures reversed. 

The donation plate at a church is sent around after the song "saved a wretch like me".  This is money being invested in their afterlife insurance policy by the "believers".  It is given to the insurance policy company "the church" and not people in need. 

Financial audits have shown many churches that have senior staff members pocketing the money for themselves.

Posted: Sun, 08 Jun 2014 by Terry Sanderson

Here we go again – the BBC has commissioned a survey that apparently shows that religious people are more likely to give to charity than non-religious people.

If you look at the results, you see that the difference in charitable giving between believers and non-believers is not that big. The headline results state:

"Three-quarters of people in living in England who practise a religion (77%) have given to charity in the past month. This compares to only two-thirds of English people who do not practise a religion (67%)."

What the poll does not tell us is what the religious people donated their money to.

This is important because a similar poll in America ran with the headline that the Southern States of the USA (the ones shown to be most religious) gave significantly more to charity than the Northern States (least religious). But when you took out the donations given directly to churches rather than to humanitarian charities, the figures reversed. The Southern States were donating vast amounts to their churches, most of which was spent directly on church activities such as building maintenance, salaries and proselytising. The Northern States were donating to real charity that directly helped people in need.

In this country, every donation made to a church counts as charity and is presumably included in these latest figures and will benefit from tax relief that will be provided by us all, believer and non-believer alike.

However, I suspect that this poll will be grabbed by some as implicit proof that religion makes people "better" or more compassionate. Non-religious people, some religious leaders will rush to explain, have no reason to be sympathetic to the plight of others. Nor are they compelled by the religious injunctions that guide believers. Which, in turn, leads to the conclusion that atheists have no real moral compass.

The only trouble with this reasoning is that it isn't true.

I'm really sorry to have to even make this argument – it shouldn't matter who gives what to charity or what their motives are - but given that the BBC has decided to make an issue of it, here we go:

Every year, Forbes magazine lists the fifty most generous charitable givers in theUnited States (and therefore, the world). The first three on the list are all self-declared atheists.

Warren Buffet has donated $40.7 billion to charities working in "health, education and humanitarian causes".

Bill Gates donated $27.6 billion to "global health and development and education".

George Soros has donated $10 billion to humanitarian causes of various kinds.

The previous possessor of the record for charitable giving before these three came along was Scottish-born Andrew Carnegie, a steel industry mogul, once the second richest man in the world, who also gave billions to aid the poor and the uneducated – and who was also a self-defined non-believer.

Personally I find these polls aimed at boosting the image of religion and implicitly criticising the non-religious to be rather sad. They indicate a kind of inferiority complex among some Christians, a constant need to be reassured that they are morally superior.

I am not in any way trying to belittle the charitable efforts that religious people engage in. All help for the disadvantaged and suffering is useful, but the divisive message of this poll and others like it ("religious people are happier", "religious people are healthier" etc) does nothing to unite us in a common cause.

When there is a big appeal on TV, for instance, such as Children in Need or as when the tsunami struck South East Asia, vast amounts of money are donated by the British people. These hundreds of millions cannot all be generated by the generosity of religious believers.

Not when you take into account another, far more interesting finding from the survey (a finding which, for some reason, the BBC chose not to highlight).

When asked the question: "Do you practise a religion? By practising we mean that you pray, read a holy book weekly or attend religious services of gatherings at least once a week."

Only 23% said they did, but a massive 73% said that they didn't.

Given what statisticians are always telling us, about people overstating their religious observance in polls, it is likely that this disinterest in practising religion is even more dramatic than the present figures indicate.

It is a sorry thing for the BBC to have produced this poll and then spun it in the way it has. It adds fuel to a religious fire that need not be burning.

Mozart, care to enlighten me to what "unsubstantiated statement" you are referring to you plank.

Ok

I said you make us sound like child eaters, never said you called us chi ld eaters.

Now answer the queation, what unsubstantiated statement did i make?

Poor effort at avoiding the egg on your face you plank bwahahahaha

What the hell does that have to do with your reply about Theists being more charitable and quoting stats?

1. “You shall have no other gods before me."
2. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God and only worthy of worship, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments."
3. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
4. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."
5. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you."
6. “You shall not murder."
7. “You shall not commit adultery."
8. “You shall not steal."
9. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
10. “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”

The 11th commandment is thou shall donate to Churches to pay for thou own salvation....

The stats in America are clear. Northern USA donates more to real charities and Southern USA donates more to churches.

Southern USA donates more than Northern USA- but it is for their own salvation- not giving to the poor.

So Southern USA follows the 11th commandment more. Most of their donations end up in the personal bank accounts of the ministers- and not helping people in need.

Good points Mozart this is why i never donate money to 99% of organisation. Especially those that ring up seeking money, i always ask if they are a volunteer or a company that takes a cut (it usually is)

For this reason I will only donate in 3 ways, food banks which have a bin at the super market ( yes these are run by churches but i know my donation is getting to those in need not lining some scammers pocket ( unless they are eating it themselves rhat is)

Clothes to the red cross

And through my company we do a lot of work for the Salvation Army and do all work at hevily discounted prices, why the Sallies well they are one of the few religious orders that actually do a lot for the poor but even in this organisation i see wasted money but i believe that is true of all organisations no matter who.

When its not your money people dont seem to care as much if they had to work for it.

The one organisation i do give money to is Womens refuge that support battered wives and their children as even if only 10% gets to these people they desperatly need it

We all have charities close to our hearts but i thing i will not tolerate is giving cash to wealthy churches who build empires for themselves and prey on their own members asking money from those that can least afford it

Sader, I hate those churches too. The Gospel has been perverted for personal gain...proof of Da Deville for those who are woke.

Turn the other cheek and The camel and the eye of the needle thing is all but forgotten.

For me, Christianity is not about what you believe or what church you go to...or how much you give to charity, it's about how you treat those around you when no-one else are looking. Listening to your conscience.  "God's Law" is written in our hearts, if we believe in it or not.

Peace Bro, I'm cool with you thinking I'm a idiot for my beliefs, I know how stupid some of it sounds. Living it gives a different perspective though.

Over and out on this topic.

Yes, Shark, the church and Christianity has it's crooks, just like any other walk of life...and if you think about it, IF what the Bible propagates is true, the church would be the first place "The Deceiver" would infiltrate and corrupt....the "Battle" is between "Order" and "Chaos"....the fact that "Order" is still in "The Game" is quite telling.