Man Tries to Get Atheists to Be More Charitable

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - Dale McGowan, an atheist and self-described “secular humanist,” has started the Foundation Beyond Belief organization to get his fellow non-believers to be more charitable in their community reports The Atlanta Journal Constitution .

McGowan, executive director of the Alpharetta, Ga.-based Foundation Beyond Belief, says that there is a stereo-type out there that atheists aren’t as giving as church-going or religious people. He believes this is because they are at a disadvantage because they don’t attend a weekly religious service when most giving is done.

The Independent Sector and the National Council of Churches did a report called Faith and Philanthrophy in 2001 that showed that households that gave to religious organizations were the “bedrock” for nonprofit organizations.

The report showed that households that gave to churches, temples, and mosques also were more supportive of other non-religious organizations.

Households that attend a weekly religious service account for 60 percent of all households the report said.

McGowan says that the stereotypes that atheists are not compassionate or are unfeeling are untrue.

He believes that when people go into a congregational setting that they get into the habit of giving; especially when an offering plate is passed around and they feel pressure from onlookers.

McGowan tells the Journal Constitution , “I know people who are non-religious and that's simply not the case. It's just [that] it will never catch up with this community of giving, where it's a habit.”

Foundation Beyond Belief has garnered about 300 members since its beginning this past January. Members sign up for an automatic monthly charitable donation. The member gets to choose how their donation is distributed, and at the end of the quarter, 100 percent of the donation is given to the designated charities. New charities are then selected.

The foundation has raised $6,500 since it started reports McGowan.

McGowan is thrilled to bring others together to give. He says, “The most important human calling is to care for each other, this world, and this life.”