Atheist, secular, and agnostic charities worldwide are all a joke, according to a Reddit user who posted the above screenshot on April 25, 2017.
“If you look at the Charity Navigator list of charitable organizations worldwide, you’ll see that only 2% of these charities are atheist and agnostics.
So this is just a joke,” the Redditor wrote.
“This is the kind of stuff we have to worry about when we get a new charity in town.
You guys, do you really think the American Cancer Society or the National Association of Social Workers are going to put out a statement saying that they are going out of business because they are atheist or agnostic?” he added.
In response, the Reddit user noted that charities that don’t explicitly state they are secular or agnostic are “free to discriminate against people of their own faith or none.”
He continued, “If that is the case, how is the charity going to be able to legally discriminate against someone if they don’t say so?
Or do you think they can just say, ‘We don’t discriminate based on race, gender, sexual orientation, etc., because that is against our law, and we will enforce it?
We have laws against this sort of thing, so don’t try and do it here.'”
The Redditor went on to say that “the vast majority of charities that are atheist in America are secular and do not discriminate based upon their faith.”
In other words, atheist charities don’t actually discriminate against anyone based on their religion, they just “say so” in their official statements.
In the case of the American Association of Charities, the statement reads, “The American Association for Charity is an international non-profit organization dedicated to advancing social justice and promoting human dignity, and to the improvement of the human condition.”
The statement also states that the organization has no affiliation with any particular religion, and does not discriminate against individuals based on religion.
In a response to the Reddit post, a spokesperson for the American Atheists stated that the group has no comment on the incident.
“American Atheists do not have any knowledge of this incident,” the spokesperson said.
“The organization has an extensive record of providing services to individuals with disabilities, including through programs such as The American Association.
We are shocked that this story has surfaced.
We were unaware of this situation and do nothing to condone discrimination based on a person’s religion or beliefs.
We would encourage anyone with information regarding this incident to contact American Atheist’s Advocacy Team.”
The American Atheism website has a “Donate” section where supporters can donate to charities of their choosing, and a “Help” section that includes information about how to make a donation.
However, as of publication, it was not clear whether the American National Committee of Atheists and Freethinkers had any donations made.