Atheists: How do you feel about...?

Question

...giving money to the Salvation Army bell-ringers outside department stores? Even though it's a Christian organization, do you go ahead and do it because some of the money goes to help people in need? Or do you decline because you don't want to help fund religion?

Answer 1

I do not wish to help expand nor fund religion, but whether or not they are religious organisations is not so much the concern for me, as is their genuineness and true objectives.
If they are, in fact, assisting those in need and not pocketing for themselves, I will give my money and anything else I have to help others, but some of these organisations are not honourable, I won't publicly name any on this forum.

Answer 2

No, I do not give to the Salvation Army Bell ringer.. Not because of religious affiliation etc. but because I have charities I support (the local food bank, the local crisis pregnancy center, etc.).. I have researched the charities I give to so I know what percentage of my money goes where..

There are more reasons as to why someone would choose not to give to the bell ringers than you have given...

Answer 3

I'm a Christian and I do not ever give money to the Salvation Army. This is an organization which promotes homophobia and demands the special right to fire employees who are gay. I believe that preventing people from working is immoral and I cannot under any circumstances give money to an immoral organization which promotes homophobia and prejudice. I give to other more deserving organizations who don't demand the special right to discriminate.

Answer 4

I have seen some of the bell ringers pocket cash.


When I want to donate to people in need, I do it directly. I will donate clothing, old toys and furniture to the Salvation Army store, or I'll give my clothes to a homeless shelter.

Answer 5

No, I don't give them money because I find them to be a annoyance pure and simple. Why can't they come up with a less obnoxious way of trying to raise funds for their organization that rattled bells at people all the time? I actually avoid shopping at stores that have those bell rings at their entrance. I can do without the headache.

Answer 6

I don't tend to give the the salvation army, there are a couple of local families that we try to help out each year, I like to knowwhere my money is going and what it is being used for. As it is with having a family young and taking in troubled teens, sometimes there just isn't money left to give anyway.

Answer 7

Almost all of the large charities are Christian organizations. I'm not going to turn the other cheek to needy children and families just because I don't agree with the religious views of the organization.

Besides, it doesn't "fund religion." That's not its purpose at all. They are a good charity who do a lot of good things for this world.

Answer 8

I'm with Toadaly. I'm always suspicious of "charities" (not just the "bell-ringing Santas"). Call me paranoid, but I don't trust charities, whether they're Christians or not.

Instead, I try to do good things for my community.

But I have donated cars to charity before. I wouldn't call that altruism, though, seeing as how I got a tax deduction for it.

Answer 9

People don't think of the Salvation Army as funding religion. Any atheist or agnostic or Jewish person will tell you they do a lot of good in the world, their overhead is relatively low, and they've never had a big scandal (or maybe they have and I just never heard about it).

Answer 10

The salvation army helps anybody that asks them. I know this for a fact. My parents use to collect for them they never asked what a person believed in order to help them.