Morality, Ethics, and Religion

[julie]

Thinking further, the reading circle would be free, we need only convince libraries to host us. It would promote literacy. It could be a free 3 week or however long course, where the volunteer would pick out a book to read to the group and they could then discuss the book. As an added bonus, we would have the children come up with their own story we could assist them in writting. They would leave the course having read great books, learned how to look independently at what they are reading and having pride in writting their first book. The only cost I can see is in advertising. What could be better than getting children excited about reading and writting and enhanceing their thinking skills which in turn brings out a better student?...

[julie]

Really, aside from sponsership of something, any of the things I mentioned would be thrilled with any amount of money we could give. Food banks love food donations and if we wanted it to be sizeable, we could organize neighborhood collections. If we organize park clean ups, the city may voluntarily add our names to the sign as sponsers if we stick with said park. Prisoner rehabilitation is something I'm very interested in ( I think the system isn't always successful). There's probably things involved in working with prisoners which would prevent us from doing anything...But one thing I can think of is being a "religions guide". The idea there is belief in god does help many people, so maybe we could educate them on the different religions and schools of thought available, so they can find a path that moves and inspires them. Or maybe tutoring them so they can get their geds....Soup kitchens could always use volunteers, I'm sure NAMI ( national alliance of the mentally ill) could use any donations to help make them more well known, therefor availble to more people. Animal shelters need all sorts of donations- monetary, supplies, dog walkers etc. So really we can start anywhere.

[gnomon]

Time, money, people, ideas, lots of things we don't have enough of yet. How about we start with ideas? Where do we start with something small that's worthwhile?

For the same reasons, the Universist board decided to start with something small, simple, and with a logical connection to the mission of the organization. Since part of the official mission was public education, they decided to sponsor a college tuition grant focused on certain religion/science/philosophy topics. But I think they also sent some money to help with the hurricane Katrina recovery. Since there were few actual "congregations", and no way to pass a collection plate, the money came from voluntary online donations.

[julie]

If we utilized the plate passing method, we could reach many different charities. We could designate a time period for collecting donations to a certain charity. Upon handing money over a new charity could be chosen. As Deists we have a wide variety of public interests, and in this manner we could " stick our hands in all the pots" so to speak. I do think it would be good to eventually have a "pet" cause so we can make a real dent somewhere. This isn't meant to say we drop the collection plate though.

[cclendenen]

Time, money, people, ideas, lots of things we don't have enough of yet. How about we start with ideas? Where do we start with something small that's worthwhile?

For the same reasons, the Universist board decided to start with something small, simple, and with a logical connection to the mission of the organization. Since part of the official mission was public education, they decided to sponsor a college tuition grant focused on certain religion/science/philosophy topics. But I think they also sent some money to help with the hurricane Katrina recovery. Since there were few actual "congregations", and no way to pass a collection plate, the money came from voluntary online donations.

Unified Deism does not yet exist from a legal standpoint, so there is no bank account or finances yet. We want to have a solid charter so that there is no potential for even the perception of financial mismanagement. I assume donations would go directly to any charity at first (and maybe always, but I'd have to check with our Director of Charities and Social Services).

[Lily]

Chuck and Julie, I love where you guys are going with this! I'd like to offer a suggestion: Without getting too involved in legal matters, couldn't you just add a page to UD that offers links to charities specifically chosen because they represent the principles of Deism? I think there are more than a few of us who would appreciate a resource like this.

To respond to Dean's original post:

It's obvious to us that we do not need to be religious to be ethical, but what part has religion played in teaching us this? Would we have been able to develop morality and ethics without religion? I do believe that religion has played an important part in the evolution of man. Perhaps we are beginning to outgrow it, but it is something that mankind needed. Like training wheels.

[Deshaneman]

I would love to help with this. I have thought for a long time the only advantage religion has over every other idea is numbers. They have the numbers of like minded folks. I would love to be part of this. I had a thought this weekend about going into flood damaged areas and trying solicate flooded stores to donate the clothes they are going to throw away, and letting volunteer groups wash them and distribute them to the needy or under privelaged.

I am in. I wish I was smarter or had some more winters behind, but right now I am just a warm body willing to help.

[julie]

Those are great ideas Lily and Shane! Shane, whenever a charity commitee gets organized, the more people the better!

[cclendenen]

I did a tiny bit of research and found figures on the top 200 charities. These are not the newest numbers out there, I am sure, but they are pretty complete, and they can be sorted by category. The link here will take you to the list(after an advertisement) sorted by "charitable commitment" (Charitable services as percent of total expenses). You can sort any way you like. There is a link to the charity itself along with detailed information about operating expenses, govt. support, etc. Some of these are real eye-openers for me.

Other links you will probably want to check out:

http://www.bbb.org/us/charity/
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.c ... n.list.htm
http://www.charitywatch.org/toprated.html
http://www.givespot.com/features/highlyrated.htm

And for those wishing to volunteer:

http://www.volunteermatch.org/

[julie]

The first link has mysteriously gone defunct...I couldn't check out all the links, my phone is incredibly slow today. They do look like excellent resources! When UD gets everything going, I have an additional idea. Along with posting charitable links as Lily suggested, we could blog about the charities. This could inform people what the charity does, how the money gets spent,its history, as well as updates on how its doing. So is there any idea when UD will persue legal status and begin talking charities? One year, 2, some months? I'm just excited about all this and am hoping to be a part!

[cclendenen]

The first link has mysteriously gone defunct...I couldn't check out all the links, my phone is incredibly slow today. They do look like excellent resources! When UD gets everything going, I have an additional idea. Along with posting charitable links as Lily suggested, we could blog about the charities. This could inform people what the charity does, how the money gets spent,its history, as well as updates on how its doing. So is there any idea when UD will persue legal status and begin talking charities? One year, 2, some months? I'm just excited about all this and am hoping to be a part!

Huh, the first link was a bit slow, but it worked. I know about phones.

UD should be legal in a month or two, but I don't know about finances. We may want to incorporate before actually handling money. Would it really be necessary for UD to handle money? Couldn't we just point? I share and welcome your excitement.

[julie]

Sharing and pointing is great! I wonder though, with share and point, if it is possible for charities know the money is comming through us? Selfish sounding, I know. My point is we can make ourselves known which can help boost awareness for Deism in the public eye. People will see our positive contributions and realize we are a serious and caring community. Maybe even people will learn about our charitable interests and come to UD to see which charities we are supporting, therefore adding to charity contributions. Some people may join Deism, but maybe we can give charities a larger donation base as well. We help them, which in turn helps us, which in return helps them more. If these are bad ideas, then these are just tired rambling thoughts. But...if they're good, then they were really inspired thoughts...haha!