…man does not live by bread only,
but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth
of the LORD does man live
—Deuteronomy 8:3
Internet wide, atheists are taking umbrage at the fact that a Christian organization is providing free solar powered audio Bibles to Haitians. Such atheists complain that money is being wasted on a waste of a book, the Bible (actually, a compilation of books) when the Haitians are in real and material need.
The Albuquerque based Faith Comes by Hearing (contact via website or 800-545-6552) has provided hundreds of audio Bibles and they are doing much more in conjunction with Convoy of Hope:
Convoy of Hope, a disaster relief organization and ministry partner of Faith Comes By Hearing, feeds the hungry and provides pure drinking water to people in need across the United States and around the world. To date, the organization has provided help to 28 million people in 112 countries and 45 states…
Convoy of Hope mobilizes thousands of volunteers each year to deliver food and supplies, and to offer hope to people who are poor and suffering.
Convoy of Hope has people on the ground ready to receive containers of food, clothing and supplies being sent to Haiti…Faith Comes By Hearing is coming alongside their disaster relief services to provide solar-powered Audio Bibles that will minister emotional and spiritual healing to this impoverished nation…
Jon Wilke, Faith Comes By Hearing spokesperson [stated]
Now, imagine standing in a line waiting for aid and hearing Jesus say (in the Beatitudes) 'Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.' Imagine hearing about how Jesus had no place to lay his head. These verses in God's Word can demonstrate that God understands their situation and has not forgotten them.[1]
The ministry offers free downloadable MP3 Bibles, free downloadable Bibles, Bible podcasts and various other formats such as Bible on CD, “BibleSticks,” “KIDZ BibleStick,” etc.
Certainly, atheists, being absolute materialists, do not see how human beings are anything but bio-organisms and require nothing but bio-organic fuel, housing, etc. Yet, the Christian view is holistic and thus, organizations such as Faith Comes By Hearing seek to provide both; food for the body and food for the soul.
Now, what of atheistic hypocrisy?
The fact is that for at least the last couple of years atheists worldwide have been literally wasting hundreds upon hundreds of thousands upon thousands of dollars in donated money not in order to help anyone in need during times of recession, war, poverty, etc. but in order to purchase anti-theistic and pro-atheism bus ads and billboards in order to attempt to demonstrate just how clever they consider themselves to be.
Now, they suddenly anoint themselves the charity police, complain and condemn based, by the way, on relative-subjective-personal preference based “morality.”
Well, my dear atheists friends; first repent of your own astonishingly wasteful back-patting boasting and then, perhaps, eventually, get around to criticizing those who are feeding, housing the needy body and soul—those who have been doing it for millennia upon millennia by the way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For examples of the utter wastefulness of atheists via bus ads and billboards—including how these succeeded only in demonstrating the illogical nature of atheistic claims—please see:
Atheism Essays Particular to Atheist Bus Ads and Billboards.
Notes:
[1] Audio Bibles to Accompany Disaster Relief Teams, Jan 19, 2010
Comments
Hypocrisy? Really? Hypocrisy is saying one thing and then doing another. These same atheists whom you complain are unfairly criticizing the solar powered Bibles are also putting their money where their mouth is and donating money to help aide Haitians. There is no hypocrisy here. The atheist bus ads are a marketing campaign not a persuasion campaign. How much more money do you think that Churches and other religious ministries and organizations spend on self-promotion or constructing million plus dollar steeples? A lot more.
And solar powered Bibles, let alone regular Bibles, are not going to clothe, feed, or house the needy victims. If atheists were really hypocrites, as you suggest, they would be out there distributing pamphlets encouraging people to become atheists rather than making a real difference.
"The fact is that for at least the last couple of years atheists worldwide have been literally wasting hundreds upon hundreds of thousands upon thousands of dollars in donated money not in order to help anyone in need during times of recession, war, poverty, etc. but in order to purchase anti-theistic and pro-atheism bus ads and billboards in order to attempt to demonstrate just how clever they consider themselves to be."
Yowsa! That's the pot calling the kettle black!
James,
Thanks for your thoughts.
You are mistaken. Time and time again atheist orgs stated that the bus ads/billboards are specifically for persuasion.
But regardless, you cannot deny that they wasted tremendous amounts of money (and your tu quoque is just that--illogical).
I will post about the atheist "charity" in about a week or so.
You also miss the point that what is being sent is food, water, Bibles, etc. Denying the facts makes you react emotionally and you thus miss the point.
I can see where you may think this is not a good approach, but our organization has been working with the Haitians since 1986, providing them free audio Scriptures in their own language.
These audio Bibles are still in the states enroute to dozens of relief groups who have called ASKING for them. They are not displacing, delaying or denying any emergency essentials to this troubled area.
The Haitians have been preyed upon for a long-time by those interested in exploiting their natural resources and impoverishing their people. We believe the people of Haiti are that nation's most precious resource and we desire to empower them with the Scriptures in which they believe in a format they can use.
Roughly half the nation is unable to read and predominantly Christian, so giving them the Bible in a Bible in a format they can use--audio, is completely reasonable.
Kettle meet pot. Pot meet kettle. BTW, when you do get around to posting about atheist charity, be sure to include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Oh, and Warren Buffet. I'm sure these individuals, as well as numerous other secular, non-theistic organizations will appreciate the free plug.
Before you write in a "plug" for Faith Comes By Hearing and their electronic gadget,"Proclaimer" in your editorial and blog, you might want to consider if the device is listed and tested by Underwriters Laboratories (UL).
Has this product been tested to be safe?
Is this product UL listed?
Another consideration is <b>service</b>. Who will service this device if found to be defective?
I'll see what I can dig up on the exportation of electronic devices to countries outside of the US.
Hypocrisy is a Christian trait..
The Evangelical Christian organization Focus on the Family is funding a 2.5 million dollar anti-abortion ad.
Yes they are hypocrites. At least you'll never see churches spending money on billboards and other self-promotion while there is still real suffering in the world. Will you?
All, thanks for the comments.
Andy,
Tu quoque is just that—logically fallacious. The atheist hypocrisy to which I refer is in complaining of theists being waste full while atheists are making wastefulness into an art form--and getting you to excuse it.
Mark,
What!?!?!
Focus on the Family is spending money to discourage the brutal, dismembering murder of beautiful, innocent and defenseless human babies!?!?!
How dare they?!?!?!
My "Proclaimer" solar-powered audio Bible is malfunctioning. Should I pray for it, or is there a tech support number? I hope God isn't outsourcing his customer service.
Hi, you commented on my blog, Politicalcrud.blogspot.com
When you say "I will post about the atheist "charity" in about a week or so." I find it offensive. Great charities, such as Doctors without Borders, the American Red Cross, and Amnesty International, just to name a few, shouldn't be mocked by an ignorant fool such as yourself.
And before you try to say 'but those aren't atheist' blah blah blah, I can assure you myself and any other human with a heart has no problem donating to any non-theist organization. I personally have donated to the American Red Cross for aid in Haiti.
Food, water, and shelter are infinitely more important than e-bibles. If you don't think so, you're a monster.
It would only be hypocritical if we bought pro-atheist ads in Haiti after the earthquake.
If I just survived an earthquake that just about destroyed my city, the last thing I'd want is someone pushing their religion upon me.
marketing campaign not a persuasion campaign??????????????
Marketing <> Persuasion = False
Marketing = Persuasion = True
If they had provided any other entertainment resource, it would have been considered a respite from the harsh realities. A Bible is of course something all together different.
Everybody funny.... Now you funny too... George Thoroughgood
Let me start by asking if you know the difference between advertising and responding to a humanitarian crisis?
Advertising is an attempt to persuade someone. It can be as trivial as trying to persuade someone to by some mouthwash or it can be trying to persuade someone on something of more importance such as health care or religious ideas.
Christians engage in quite a bit of religious advertising such as radio ads, newspaper ads, billboards, and so forth. Just like the atheists are doing.
In contrast to advertising humanitarian relief is focused on helping people meet their basic needs in a time of crisis, often the result of a natural disaster. Food, medical support, shelter, etc., these are the things that constitute humanitarian relief. There is no focus or effort on trying to persuade someone.
That is the difference. Having established this difference let us see if what you are claiming about atheist hypocrisy holds up.
Were the atheists spending money
Part 2 (sorry didn't notice the word limits)
Were the atheists spending money to put up billboards in Haiti in response to the earthquake?
No.
Were atheists spending money to run radio ads promoting atheism in Haiti in response to the earthquake?
No.
All the billboards and bus ads that you are holding up as examples of hypocrisy are done in areas that are not experiencing any disaster. They are advertising, the same as that of Christian organizations.
Your logic is badly flawed in that you are comparing an apple with a rock and saying that they are the same.
Further you ASSUME that atheists are not contributing to the relief efforts in Haiti. That is wrong. There are several atheist groups contributing supplies, money, and time in Haiti to provide basic needs such as food, clothing, and medical needs.
One of many examples is Skeptics and Humanists Aid and Relief Effort (SHARE) in which 100% of all donations go to Doctors Without Borders with nothing
Part 3 (being rather long winded I really dislike word limits - not to mention that it is being posted in reverse order)
One of many examples is Skeptics and Humanists Aid and Relief Effort (SHARE) in which 100% of all donations go to Doctors Without Borders with nothing kept out for operating costs.
There are many others.
The reason why you do not seem to know about this is that you apparently let your bias and prejudices against atheists get in the way of your reasoning skills and the need to check your facts.
Befuddled2,
You are responding to arguments that no one has made and also engaging in non-sequiturs.
Thus, you succeed only in arguing against yourself and straw-men (or is it “straw-non gender specific personages”?).
PS: the mis-ordering was due to republishing after fixing a hyperlink.
Samuel,
You are tackling the wrong argument.
Mine runs thusly,
1) Atheists have spent years wasting money during times of recession, poverty and war on bus ads and billboards to make themselves seem smart.
2) Now, they are condemning Faith Comes By Hearing for wasting money on audio Bibles (even though they are also providing food, water and other goods).
3) Therefore, atheists are hypocritical
You complain about atheist's wasteful spending on advertising in the midst of calling atheist's criticism of sending audio Bibles to Haiti. Advertising and humanitarian relief are two different things, as I pointed out.
Had atheists sent the Humanist Manifesto along with humanitarian relief you would have been justified in calling them hypocrites.
Had atheists complained about a church billboard in downtown Fort Worth you would have been justified in calling them hypocrites. However neither of these happened.
Further your tone and the way you contrasted the "wasteful" spending of atheist advertising with Christian good works seems to strongly imply that atheists do not give to or participate in any charities.
I will say again you are comparing apples to rocks in your cricism.
"Audio buybulls" (because one must buy the bull to believe it) are being sent to pervert Haitians to fundy christ-inanity to another, not to help the needy.
Pointing out the waste of money is not "anti-religion". What IS anti-religion is insulting others' religion and imposing their own on the desperate. Haitians are christians - catholics - and neither need nor want fundy christian bu**sh**. But since fundy christians think catholics are "satanists", it does not surprise to see such hypo-christianity or lack of concern for them as human beings. The fundy godbots are whoring religion, insulting the Haitians as part of the "10/40 window" bu**sh**.
Real charity is given without conditions or self-promotion. If the fundy godbots were really concerned about Haitians, they godbots would give aid without mentioning religion at all. If the Haitians want to hear the fundy christian bu**sh**, they'll ask. Otherwise, shut up and do real charity.
(bu**sh** = buckshot)
Excellent article! Atheists can talk about the evil of "pushing religion" on people all they want...but what if they are wrong? If atheists are right and I, a Christian, am wrong, then when I die I will have lost nothing. However, if I am right and they are wrong, when they die they will have lost everything. Why keep Bibles away from hurting people? Let them choose what they want to believe. Why this need for atheists to keep information away from people?
Also, there is a big difference between secular organizations and doing good works in the name of atheism. I'm still waiting to hear about those exclusively atheist charities.
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