An atheist backed donation to the American Cancer Society was declined recently, sparking quite an uproar. Thankfully this uproar got the attention of the offending cancer society, and they (graciously?) re-accepted the donations.
It's pretty sad to hear that such a large organization would outwardly decline money that goes to cancer research just because the people offering the cash are atheist. The American Cancer Society doesn't advertise as a religious organization, so what gives? The source argues the valid point that approximately 2/3 of scientists in America are either agnostic or atheist, so how on Earth would declining money from anyone benefit the cause of cancer research? If most scientists aren't religious then it makes no sense to decline money from a non-religous donor. Stupid move, American Cancer Society.
Anyway, the story kind of has a happy ending; if you want to call it that. Really it just seems like the American Cancer Society acted dementedly. Their decision to decline a donation from Todd Stiefel of Stiefel Freethought Foundation and the Foundation Beyond Belief garnered some negative responses from many people. In response to all of the negative press they got from the jerkwad move they made, they decided to begrudgingly accept the donation offered by the atheist organization. Well, honestly, Todd Stiefel should have declined offering the donation a second time. He could've found a private science organization to donate the money for some private cancer research since the American Cancer Society are such publicly sour sports.
Atheism shouldn't be a stigma
Even though a statistical majority of the United States identifies with some sort of religious belief, the number of atheists who are "openly out," so-to-speak, is growing. It's not a social stigma the way it used to be; or at least it shouldn't be. People like those responsible for declining the donation for the American Cancer Society are among those who are still obviously misguided in what is acceptable and what isn't in these modern times of freedom and openness with one's beliefs and thoughts. It's sad that in this era there are still people who blindly follow theological beliefs, urban legends and fables; especially when some of those who stand on that side of logic are responsible for stigmatizing those who side with freedom of thoughts and life without "god."
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©2011 Chelsea Hoffman is the Author of "Chloe and Louis," and the "Fear Chronicles," series of books. She also covers a myriad of true crime stories online. Click here to visit Chelsea Hoffman's official blog and contact website.
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Comments: 16
Anyway, I'm glad that in the case of the cancer people, this case got resolved happily. As much as it might seem true, religious people do not have the sole jurisdiction of wisdom.
Regardless of the inappropriateness of the manner in which the contact handled the offer, those questions create suspicion for me regarding the validity of any outrage arising from this story. It sounds to me like the donor got the intended result; something to crow about.