Religion

rug

(82,333 posts) Fri Apr 18, 2014, 06:58 PM Apr 2014

Is atheism without works dead? The shifting landscape of nontheistic service

Members of the Humanist Community at Harvard at a city cleanup in 2013. Photo courtesy of HCH.

Chris Stedman | Apr 17, 2014

When it comes to neighborliness, atheist Americans have some catching up to do—but efforts are underway to change that.

This change is vital because, with greater resources, religious Americans are currently doing more to help others than the nonreligious.

In American Grace Robert Putnam and David Campbell discuss the fact that, overall, religious Americans are more civically engaged than the nonreligious—they volunteer more often and give more money to both religious and secular charities. They are, per Putnam and Campbell, better neighbors.

But Putnam and Campbell also found that nonbelieving spouses of believers are just as civically engaged if involved in their partner’s religious community. So the connection between religion and civic engagement seems to have less to do with belief and more to do with belonging. Communities connect people and inspire them to do more to help others.

http://chrisstedman.religionnews.com/2014/04/17/atheism-without-works-dead-nontheism-service-humanity/

11 replies

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Is atheism without works dead? The shifting landscape of nontheistic service (Original Post) rug Apr 2014 OP

"When it comes to neighborliness, atheist Americans have some catching up to do" awoke_in_2003 Apr 2014 #1

Hell yes Atheism is dead! Trajan Apr 2014 #2

There, there. You have a fine selection of tattoos to choose from. rug Apr 2014 #3

Source? AtheistCrusader Apr 2014 #4

It's a book. rug Apr 2014 #5

The book references a study, called Faith Matters (2006) AtheistCrusader Apr 2014 #6

Do you have a link to the book online, specifically pages 235-236? rug Apr 2014 #7

No, I mean pages 235-236 of the survey output itself. AtheistCrusader Apr 2014 #8

Ok, I see the survey requires registering. I'll bookmark it for later. Thanks for narrowing it down. rug Apr 2014 #9

One might consider this a lie, and i understand if principle prevents you from doing it but AtheistCrusader Apr 2014 #10

I think it's a win-win-win for atheists to organize in a way that promotes cbayer Apr 2014 #11

awoke_in_2003

(34,582 posts)

1. "When it comes to neighborliness, atheist Americans have some catching up to do"

Reply to rug (Original post)

Fri Apr 18, 2014, 08:25 PM

Apr 2014

there is a reason for that- a large number of Americans think we shouldn't even be considered citizens at best, or hate us at worst.

Trajan

(19,089 posts)

2. Hell yes Atheism is dead!

Reply to rug (Original post)

Fri Apr 18, 2014, 08:46 PM

Apr 2014

Where do I line up for my cross tattoo and 'Jesus Loves Me' T-shirt? ... I can't wait ...

Oh, and the fact that atheists have been hunted down like animals for centuries might have had an effect on the development of humanist institutions of any great size when compared to the favored theologies that have held power over the millennia ...

But, it should be obvious why atheists are so greedy and mean - they don't have JESUS to make them nice and all lovey dovey towards humanity ...

Yep ....

rug

(82,333 posts)

3. There, there. You have a fine selection of tattoos to choose from.

Reply to Trajan (Reply #2)

Fri Apr 18, 2014, 11:09 PM

Apr 2014

http://imgur.com/a/vOCNy

AtheistCrusader

(33,982 posts)

4. Source?

Reply to rug (Original post)

Sat Apr 19, 2014, 12:16 AM

Apr 2014

"In American Grace Robert Putnam and David Campbell discuss the fact that, overall, religious Americans are more civically engaged than the nonreligious"

Where the fuck is this charity study and what journal was it published in?

rug

(82,333 posts)

5. It's a book.

Reply to AtheistCrusader (Reply #4)

Sat Apr 19, 2014, 12:31 AM

Apr 2014

http://www.episcopalccc.org/storage/documents/summit-prep/american%20grace%20-%20chapter%201.pdf

AtheistCrusader

(33,982 posts)

6. The book references a study, called Faith Matters (2006)

Reply to rug (Reply #5)

Sat Apr 19, 2014, 12:46 AM

Apr 2014

Page 235 asks the relevant question, but does NOT tabulate the data in such a way as to discern between giving BY non-religious people and religious people.

It does, on the next page, tabulate giving to non-religious charities versus religious charities, and they compare favorably to the non-religious in all but the $5,000+ category.

In fact, one could look at the 'none' category and assume that religious people are thus stingy giving to non-religious charities, but boy that would be a massive assumption with no real evidence and alternative possible causes.

I'm not seeing where this survey actually shows what the 'two discussed' in the book that references it.

You can get the survey here; http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/CFIDE/roper/collectioninterest/webroot/registration.cfm?subject=FM

rug

(82,333 posts)

7. Do you have a link to the book online, specifically pages 235-236?

Reply to AtheistCrusader (Reply #6)

Sat Apr 19, 2014, 01:00 AM

Apr 2014

BTW, the article is primarily about volunteer activities, not financial donations. He's not saying nonbelievers are parsimonious. He is saying there are fewer outlets for nonreligious service.

With fewer organized communities, atheists have fallen behind in this arena. This doesn’t mean that atheists don’t care about and help their neighbors; it means they have fewer opportunities and venues to do so.

AtheistCrusader

(33,982 posts)

8. No, I mean pages 235-236 of the survey output itself.

Reply to rug (Reply #7)

Sat Apr 19, 2014, 01:04 AM

Apr 2014

It took me a while to find the giving $'s question in the survey, so I thought I would provide the page numbers, and help you jump to it.

Whether the person giving was religious or non-religious wasn't asked. The religious/nonreligious nature of the target of their giving was asked, and the non-religious charities actually favorably compared, up to the $5k donation rate, where the nonreligious charities received far fewer donations at that level.

Overall, it's fairly tight between the two groups.

rug

(82,333 posts)

9. Ok, I see the survey requires registering. I'll bookmark it for later. Thanks for narrowing it down.

Reply to AtheistCrusader (Reply #8)

Sat Apr 19, 2014, 01:08 AM

Apr 2014

AtheistCrusader

(33,982 posts)

10. One might consider this a lie, and i understand if principle prevents you from doing it but

Reply to rug (Reply #9)

Sat Apr 19, 2014, 01:14 AM

Apr 2014

as long as the data is formatted in the expected manner, you can feed that registration total garbage and get the file without verifying your e-mail address.

Normally I wouldn't do that, but I just wanted to see one thing for non-commercial purposes to verify a claim. If that doesn't fall under fair use, mea culpa.

cbayer

(146,218 posts)

11. I think it's a win-win-win for atheists to organize in a way that promotes

Reply to rug (Original post)

Sat Apr 19, 2014, 09:19 AM

Apr 2014

working for the public good.

No one should feel that they have to participate, but the more that do, the better.

Extra added bonus - it provides an opportunity to atheist groups to participate in interfaith activities, something that will likely be a big positive over time.

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