He Who Pays the Piper

Plonkee Money is an English personal finance blogger who is not a Christian, so we're deviating a bit from our regular Sunday posting topic here. That said, Plonkee does have a unique perspective -- that atheists/humanists should tithe -- and also agrees with my general thoughts on giving (though I suspect we give to very different causes as I'm a "dyed in the wool capitalist.") ;-)

Anyway, here are some Sunday thoughts on giving from Plonkee dealing with knowing who you're giving to:

People give money to 'make things better'. I think that's loosely defined enough to cover all charitable giving. How should you define 'making things better'?

For that I think you need to look at your own values, at the causes that are dear to your heart and the things about the current situation that you would like to improve. For me, humans have not reached an acceptable level of civilization whilst there are people dying of preventable diseases and hunger so this is my main charitable focus. For you it's probably something different.

Once you've identified a cause, the next thing to do is to find an organization that works in this area and give them some money. I suggest making it a regular automatic payment (like the electricity bill) so you don't forget, but thats up to you. Finding an appropriate organization is not that simple though. You need to consider whether the approach taken by the charity meshes with your own values. If you're trying to make things better in the world, there's little point in doing so in ways that conflict with your values i.e. in your opinion, make things worse. If you are donating money to a charity then you are implicitly supporting its activities, whether you are aware of them or not.

If the cause that you want to support is large and well established then your situation is relatively easy. Simply read the philosophy and activities of a few charities and find the best fit. For example, if you are strongly vegetarian, you might prefer to support a hospice rather than cancer research. If your politics are slightly left of centre (like me) then you might want to support a charity that is involved in bleeding heart liberal political activism, if on the other hand you are a dyed in the wool capitalist, then you might not.

If you feel called to donate to a smaller or more local cause, where you can't pick and choose your specific charity, then the responsibility is still on you for ensuring that the money you give is used appropriately. If it doesn't mesh exactly with your values, you need to get more involved in it. You might learn that things aren't the way you want them to be for perfectly good reasons. You might be able to steer them in a better direction. At the very least you will have tried.

It doesn't matter who or what you choose to support, if you don't check that they are doing activities that you think are good, then you aren't making things better and you could be making them worse. He who pays the piper, must call the tune - if it's terrible then it's more the fault of the payer than the piper.

Comments

[mysticaltyger]

I'm not an atheist....but I love the English and their perspective on things :-)

[Michelle]

Plonkee does NOT have a "unique perspective." You're speaking out of ignorance or faulty judgment.

I'm an atheist, and I give a lot of money and time, as do many of my atheist friends. The beautiful thing about atheists who donate is we're really doing it from our hearts - NOT because we believe we'll be rewarded in heaven if we do or punished if we don't.

[plonkee]

I agree that my perspective that atheists should give money is not unique - particularly amongst atheists. I am unusual in that I'm a non-believer who regularly comments on Christian money posts.

And I'd have to concur with FMF that we probably give money to completely different causes to each other.

[Jake]

geez, you guys must have woke up on the wrong side of the bed or something. plokee titles his post "atheists should tithe" because it's "catchy", and then the atheist accuracy police come out when FMF tries to promote your post using the exact same "catchy" tagline -- which would be quite unique were it literally your view.

"The beautiful thing about atheists who donate is we're really doing it from our hearts - NOT because we believe we'll be rewarded in heaven if we do or punished if we don't."

Interesting how the one who cries foul first and loudest at a percieved slight is also the most prone to belittle the charity of others and question their motivation. Just as you give to please others (not because it makes you feel better), is it so difficult to think that Christians may give simply because it pleases God (not because we may be rewarded?).

thanks go to plonkee and the mass of other atheist and humanist readers around here who don't look for the slightest chance to slight those of (other) faiths.

[FMF]

To clarify:

1. The UNIQUE perspective plonkee has is that atheists/humanists should TITHE (not that they should GIVE.) It's unique in that the tithe is a biblical principle and one that's not practiced by many Christians, so the fact that an athiest advocates tithing seems unique to me.

2. I agree with Jake. Nothing else to add.

[j&w]

"Tithing" is also a phrase you almost never hear outside of the US ... I suspect that Plonkee used that particular construction to get on the radar of US finance blogs more than anything else.

[plonkee]

'Tithing' is indeed rarely heard in the England - but it was the concept itself, giving a significant amount of your income to things that don't benefit you but you believe are worthwhile that I liked.

[j&w]

But to heathens like us (and in my household we don't count out 10%, but do give what we consider substantial time and money to two charities in particular) isn't that "giving" Plonkee? I've read your post via several links but I'm not understanding our host's point number one above.

[rocketc]

Plonkee, I have nothing to add, and nothing to argue about. You know I am a big fan. :)

[Jake]

"But to heathens like us (and in my household we don't count out 10%, but do give what we consider substantial time and money to two charities in particular) isn't that "giving" Plonkee? I've read your post via several links but I'm not understanding our host's point number one above."

Yes, its giving. His article is talking about giving. "tithing" was the catchphrase to snag the larger readership =0).

[plonkee]

Yes, its giving. Its giving when Christians do it, when Jews do it, when Muslims do it, when Sikhs do it, when Wiccans do it, etc, etc.

I think that there is an obligation for people to put their money where there mouth is and give according to their beliefs (as I'm sure many people do). The concept of tithing - where its almost like a tax - is a good way to put this across. To me, it gives some of the flavour of what I'm getting at.

I don't know anyone else who has used the word 'tithing' in a non-religious way, so in that sense I may be unique. And if a blog title gets people interested, that's a good thing.

The other technically incorrect thing about the title of that particular post is that I used the word 'atheist' when I don't mean that at all, as atheism has no value system attached. People don't pick up on that as much - there seems to be cultural associations with tithing that haven't translated well across the Atlantic.

[FMF]

Just for the record, "tithing" is literally "giving 10%," not just "giving."