Conservapedia article on Barack Obama #fundie

Conservapedia article on Barack Obama #fundie conservapedia.com

In the years 2000 through 2004, before becoming a United States Senator and being in the public spotlight, Obama gave 1% of his earnings to charity even though he made $250,000 per year. Since becoming a national figure, that amount has jumped to 6%. Obama's small donations are consistent with atheism and were perhaps influenced by his nonbelieving mother. According to a study by the Barna Group, atheists give less per capita in donations than religious Americans.

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old comment by Ronni Bom

because I am to lazy, and to fat to research again, or even somehow write it again, I'll just paste my text I used to debunk conservapedia in a video, on that godinfected youtube

What about an objective survey, like gallup
http://www.gallup.com/poll/113497/Despite-Economy-Charitable-Donors-Volunteers-Keep-Giving.aspx

74 to 77% is insignificent. 48 against 60 on the other hand is not. Once again I have shown your sources might be incorrect.

But there are some evidence to support you none the less
http://www.gallup.com/poll/21430/Americans-More-Likely-Donate-Money-Time-Charities.aspx

But as we know there is the problem, that this uses the term seldom churchgoers.
And we know for a fact, there is not many charity orginastions, who isn't somehow inflicted with religious views.
And if we look at the US development assistance of the GDP, it is only point 15%, where secular countries like Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Holland give approx 1%.

And just because I like being a dick, my video is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twiygFaeSeU

old comment by emau99

First, you called Obama a Muslim because he went to a madrassa as a child.

Now, you're calling him an atheist based on how much he donates to charity.

There's just no dealing with you people.

@ FSTDT: For those of you who may be interested, here's the "study" by the Barna Group:

http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=296

Basically, it's a telephone survey of 1006 people across the US.

From the Barna Group website (www.barna.org):

What is The Barna Group, Ltd.?

...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.

old comment by Zoo

I'm sorry if I don't give enough money for your taste. I don't exactly have a lot of spare cash laying around.

So my question, everyone on conservapedia: how many hours have you volunteered recently (outside of all church functions)? Not to brag, just to point out that money isn't everything: I've given about 2400 hours at one organization over the last 7.5 years and miscellaneous smaller amounts on short-term projects for other places (in addition to church stuff for more than half of that period, and being atheist the whole time [long story]). There are tons of places that need money, sure, but free labor goes a long way too (and arguably 'hurts' more).

old comment by Syb

I do taxes. I have done taxes for a number of people whose donations lead me to believe that they are extremely conservative Protestants. (Pro-life causes, pro-"family" causes, local conservative churches, etc.)

I have not yet done a single return for one of those individuals who has given 10% of their income to charity. The most I've ever seen was around 6%. The average for those people is maybe 2-3%. And that's of those people who donate at all, and including payments made to churches.

Darling McCain did give a much higher percentage--but only if you remember that because he and his wife were filing separately, he declared only his personal income but a full half of donations made in both their names, and she's the one with all the money.

old comment by CT

According to a study by the Barna Group, atheists give less per capita in donations than religious Americans.

I tell you what, I'll grant them that... but for a very good reason.

Atheists may give less per capita, but a higher proportion of people give.

In other words (for an example) you'll find 1 in 10 Christians donating to charity. (and tithing doesn't fucking count... if you're pressured into donating, it's not a fucking donation at all)
Meanwhile, you'll find 2 in 10 Atheists donating...

Frankly, I find Christians as a whole to be rather uncharitable. And only a complete fucking arse would take charitable donations and claim it makes them an Atheist. (or a bad person, which ASShfly is trying to do)

old comment by Orion

Here's possible reasons that such a survey could turn up said results (note: may be a combination of reasons).

There are two ways a study like this would be conducted; either
- A: Ask people anonymously what their religious affiliation is and how much they donate to charity, a bad method as most people would not know the exact figure if the survey was a phone or in-person survey or would not bother to respond unless the amount was actually worth stating in a written or internet survey.

- B: They cross referenced census records on religious affiliations and tax records on charitable donations. Which would return questionable results as the pressured donations to one's church and the tax benefits of charitable donation would cloud how "charitable" the persons included in stats really are.

old comment by Brain_In_A_Jar

2,500 dollars a year to charity from one man is not a "small" donation; it's way more than they'd dare to ask of the average citizen. It may not be as great a fraction of his income as the average Christian, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's less than what they gave. That's the nice thing about having multi-hundred thousand dollar incomes - you can actually afford to be generous and still have enough left over to live well. (Although surplus extraction theory suggests, I think I'm right in saying, that if anyone being paid ten times the salary of many others isn't also doing ten times the work, they must actually be partially responsible for both overpricing and underpayment and hence poverty and the need for charity for others somewhere in the same market in the first place)

I suppose you could make the argument that it doesn't count as generosity if, even if you give way more than would be asked of you, it's such a small fraction of your total income that you feel no loss, but from the point of view of the person who's receiving the charity, which is actually what matters, who the hell cares about the motives of the donor as long as he gives what you need?

Oh, and since when were Christians with atheist parents considered atheists for the purposes of surveys?

Conservapedia article on Barack Obama #fundie conservapedia.com

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