Atheists, do you donate blood or give money/time to charitable causes?

First of all, the study merely asked, it did not request proof. If you ask a Christian if they give to charity, I promise they will say yes and almost always inflate the amount. Its difficult to prove and this isn't always the case but I know this is very common because in my church going days, I was a money counter and my mother was a church secretary. They lie and tell you what they think they should be doing or what they think they are supposed to give - not what they actually do.

An atheist on the other hand answers to no one. If we don't want to give, we just say no and don't think twice or feel bad about it. I'm actually proud of the fact I don't give that much to charity. It makes me feel good to know that guilt doesn't manipulate me.

Secondly I think many athiests like myself are skeptical of charitable organizations. We are a group thats very inclined to questioning and examining things and when you do that, many charities don't hold up very well. They either keep too much of the money, don't use it effectively or give it to people that are just moochers that learned how to manipulate a system. Most people I would consider deserving of such assistance would probably be too proud to take it.

Third, even though there are secular charities, Christians are so bent on making everone believe they are the sum total of good in society, they will take over any charity that doesn't exclude them and secular charities are of course not exclusive. I have given time and money to at least a dozen charities but I got so sick of people wanting to pray and talk about church. They couldn't do anything nice for anyone without shoving religion down their throat. The recipients often thought they had to say bless you or thank god for you, I think becasue of the others. I would say that isn't really neccesary because I didn't like it but it never stopped. Christians will volunteer for secular charities in hopes of converting more. Why help their own when they already have them?

I'm not sure how to define active in the community. Anything you do for your own community is for your bennefit too so whats to be proud of? I usually vote but its hard to choose between two relgious nutbag morons.

Seriously, the problem is that believers often toot their own horn a lot more.

Many atheists are very educated and have jobs that don't allow them a lot of free time to volunteer. I'm lucky if I get a few free hours on the weekend as it is, and I could get called to work at any point at that. I do donate money, but that really isn't anyone's business. As far as things like "active in the community" that means they are busy bodies in most cases....not something that I'd be proud of.

No, I do not donate blood. There are already enough people that do so. I also do not volunteer for any charities as I don't have the time, the money, or the energy. At the same time, I do not take any money from charities.

And I am most definitely not active in the community, I can not stand the majority of people.. Our society is filled with drama queens, I have better things to do with my time.

If I see a person in need, I will help them myself. I will buy them food, give them a few dollars, etc. But I will not give my money to any organizations that are more likely to use it to spread their religious ideals and at the same time taking a percentage of what I gave them.

I'm registered to vote

I give routinely to a wide variety of charities (Doctors Without Borders, Feeding America, American Cancer Society, Red Cross, etc.)

I worked for 20 years in Human Services (people with developmental disabilities, people with mental illnesses, homeless families)

I've volunteered with disabled adults and children, LGBT causes and various other groups.

As to the "studies" I question their validity for various reasons. That site in particular is highly biased.

Did you ever consider that the reason you don't see any charities advertised as "atheist charities" is mainly because almost nobody would donate to them out of bigotry? The secondary reason is that unlike others we don't need to scream "look at me, look at me, look what a good atheist I am for helping these people!".

Of course what most Christian "charities" won't mention is the heaping dose of proselytism they shove on people along with their "charity", often as a condition of receiving that "charity".

I am registered to vote. In fact, since I turned 18 the only election I didn't vote in was one the week my Dad died. In October. I hate October, but that is a different story! Anyway, I donate to charity, but I can't donate blood as I am borderline Anemic and they won't take it. I have bought meals for homeless people that I have seen on the streets. I am a big tipper, too. I can't speak for all Atheists, but I do my part to make this a better world.

Yes to both.

I have to seriously question the conclusion of such an article when written by an evangelical advocacy group and based on a survey done by the SAME evangelical advocacy group.

From their webpage: "We seek to use our strengths in partnership with Christian ministries and individuals to be a catalyst in moral and spiritual transformation in the United States. We accomplish these outcomes by providing vision, information, strategy, evaluation and resources."

That's just stupid, when i was little my church used to have a gathering of old clothes and sent them to shelters or people who need them.

I don't give blood so a few reasons. I tend to bleed a lot because i scratch on my skin a little too hard and I'm already losing blood because of it and seeing my blood in a bag makes my stomach turn.

Money and time? I have school and i don't work but i do give change to people who are begging in the streets when i have change.

I have done charity work in the past, community service at the local Center for the Arts, taught troubling highschool kids math, and belonged to various community organization looking for ways to better my community such as promoting alternative forms of transportation, road dieting, and round-a-bouts.

I haven't done anything in awhile since I have been busy.

I am registered to vote and I sometimes donate money to causes such as during Hurricane Katrina and for Planned Parenthood. Otherwise, no. I'm listed as an organ donor but the thought of giving blood freaks me out.

I'm a college grad finding a job.

I am from India, we had few bomb blasts in my delhi city where around 27 people died and more than 100 were injured , the government hospitals had blood donation camps , so I was there and I donated it , but you see I feel its really cheap to talk about good or charity things you do, you do it for your own self satisfaction and not for show off.

Atheists dont need religion to be good, they just need consciousness which they have irrespective they don't have any religion coz what matters most to atheists is humanity and religion what tries to do is forming sect and having discrimination.