Atheists are no fun...

[Leaper]

Or at least that’s what a letter writer on National Review’s “The Corner” said.

Let’s see, we have scores of Baptist Hospitals, Method Hospitals, Jewish Hospitals, Catholic Hospitals, etc., etc… Each of these have ‘outreach’ programs both here and in the most dismal places on earth, staffed with dedicated medical doctors and nurses. Where oh where are the Atheist’s hospitals, or soup kitchens? I, perhaps somewhat leaning to your ideology, am not so religious… but I am married to one of the most delightful, beautiful and dedicated Catholics on this earth. I delight in her absolute faith, her praying, her laughter, her zest for life, her acceptance of those of lesser faith (like me), her tolerance. All which seems so absent from the liberal atheist.

I’m really very disappointed in you atheists. For people who believe that there’s no afterlife, and that we need to live for now, you’re not doing much to make the “now” very pleasant! Where are the orgies and wanton acts of destruction just for fun, free of the consequences of a vengeful God? You’ve all been holding out on me, dammit!

[Brutus]

@Leaper

Where are the orgies and wanton acts of destruction just for fun, free of the consequences of a vengeful God?

Thursday nights at the KofC hall.

[RedFury]

Here’s an ignorance-fighting tool for an old canard. Use at your leisure.

The old challenge, “How many hospitals have Atheist built?” is debunked through a brief presentation of the facts

**Surely after 200 years of America’s signing of the Constitution the religious industry has developed a system of hospitals throughout the United States. In a sense they have. Hundreds of hospitals bearing a connection to some religious institutions dot the American landscape. The largest and best known of these is the Catholic hospital system. Surely a hospital with a Catholic affiliation must mean the hospital is truly a religious hospital founded and financed by the Catholic Church. Alas, even this is not the case; Catholic hospitals are merely public hospitals with a Catholic label and fewer health services.

In America, as of 1999, 13% of all hospitals were religious (totaling 18% of all hospital beds); that’s 604 out of 4,573 hospitals. (6) Despite the presence of organized religion in America, the Church has managed to scrape together only a few hospitals. Of these 604 hospitals many are a product of mergers with public, non-sectarian hospitals. Not all of these 604 hospitals are Catholic; many are Baptist, Methodist, Shriner (Masonic), Jewish, etc.

Despite the religious label, these so-called religious hospitals are more public than public hospitals. Religious hospitals get 36% of all their revenue from Medicare; public hospitals get only 27%. In addition to that 36% of public funding they get 12% of their funding from Medicaid. Of the remaining 44% of funding, 31% comes from county appropriations, 30% comes from investments, and only 5% comes from charitable contributions (not necessarily religious). The percentage of Church funding for Church-run hospitals comes to a grand total of 0.0015 percent. (7)

The claim that the religious build hospitals gives the illusion that the religious are more charitable than the secular, non-religious. With hospitals, at least, that isn’t the case. Every hospital writes off a certain percentage of medical revenue as charitable care. The religious hospitals aren’t the least charitable of hospitals, but they’re close to it. For-profit hospitals provided, on average, only 0.8% of their gross patient revenue as charity care; religious hospitals came in with 1.9%. On the other hand the secular non-profit hospitals had 2% and the godless secular public hospitals provided 5.1%. **

Much more at source.

Bless the Invisible Pink Unicorn and enjoy.

[Grrr]

RedFury, you sir rock!!

I was about to write out a big long diatribe. But then I read your post and that pretty much says it all.

Thanks!

[Apos]

@Leaper

I’m really very disappointed in you atheists. For people who believe that there’s no afterlife, and that we need to live for now, you’re not doing much to make the “now” very pleasant! Where are the orgies and wanton acts of destruction just for fun, free of the consequences of a vengeful God? You’ve all been holding out on me, dammit!

Generally, it’s because when secular people start charities, it’s usually pretty much solely to help people, rather than to market a belief system. They aren’t called atheist charities because they have nothing per se to do with atheism: just with serving the cause that’s worth fighting for.

[Liberal]

@RedFury

Here’s an ignorance-fighting tool for an old canard. Use at your leisure.

It is, in fact, a tool of ignorance. Secular does not mean atheist. A hospital might be secular just because it’s sponsored by government or industry, and yet be staffed almost entirely by people of faith. Your rather bizarre argument is like saying there are no references to God on money because all US mints are secular.

[Bryan_Ekers]

@Liberal

It is, in fact, a tool of ignorance. Secular does not mean atheist. A hospital might be secular just because it’s sponsored by government or industry, and yet be staffed almost entirely by people of faith. Your rather bizarre argument is like saying there are no references to God on money because all US mints are secular.

Uh, I think there are references to God on U.S. currency, aren’t there?

Secular doesn’t necessarily mean atheist, but apparantly religious-themed hospitals doesn’t necessarily mean religion, either. If anything, the point is that the amount of good deeds done secpfically in the name of religion is equalled or surpassed by those not specically done in the name of religion, so getting smug about religion’s good works is a bit unwarranted.

[Liberal]

@Bryan Elkers

Uh, I think there are references to God on U.S. currency, aren’t there?

Uh, yeah. That’s why I called his argument “bizarre”.

If anything, the point is that the amount of good deeds done secpfically in the name of religion is equalled or surpassed by those not specically done in the name of religion, so getting smug about religion’s good works is a bit unwarranted.

Well, we can work with a new point if you wish, but the point made in the OP was, “Where… are the atheist hospitals?”. Being not specifically religious is the very definition of secular: “Not specifically relating to religion or to a religious body” — American Heritage.

[SentientMeat]

I delight in her absolute faith, her praying, her laughter, her zest for life, her acceptance of those of lesser faith (like me), her tolerance.

Well, as a diamond hard atheist who would ask God if he appeared before me to please turn his clever holodeck/Matrix off, I think I have all of those traits except “praying”.

Although I do have one of these - does that count?

[Liberal]

@SentientMeat

Well, as a diamond hard atheist who would ask God if he appeared before me to please turn his clever holodeck/Matrix off, I think I have all of those traits except “praying”.

I think you do, too. Of course, when you ask God your question, His response will be, “But the switch is in your hand.”

[MrFantsyPants]

I think the first question to ask is where are all the atheist churches?

Were are they, huh? Where?

[Liberal]

Well, there’s always Atheists for Jesus.

[Jackmannii]

“Where oh where are the Atheist’s hospitals…”

I work at one. We turned our chapel into a game room.
And there’s a lighted statue out front of Madalyn Murray O’Hair, shrugging her shoulders.

[SentientMeat]

And there’s a lighted statue out front of Madalyn Murray O’Hair, shrugging her shoulders.

Can you get stigmata by being stabbed in the hand with a pen?

[AncientHumanoid]

I was in an athiest hospital. Once. In 1960. For about 20 minutes.

[AncientHumanoid]

Ever notice how easy it is to misspell atheist as athiest?

“You’re athier than I am, but he’s the athiest, man!”

[Contrapuntal]

@Liberal

Uh, yeah. That’s why I called his argument “bizarre”.
Well, we can work with a new point if you wish, but the point made in the OP was, “Where… are the atheist hospitals?”. Being not specifically religious is the very definition of secular: “Not specifically relating to religion or to a religious body” — American Heritage.

Well, to pick a nit, the point being made in the Op was “Atheists are no fun.” The letter writer referenced in the OP asked a question about the (seeming) lack of atheist hospitals, but the OP was talking about the claim that atheists lack faith, prayer, laughter, zest for life, etc.

[tdn]

@Leaper

I delight in her absolute faith, her praying, her laughter, her zest for life, her acceptance of those of lesser faith (like me), her tolerance. All which seems so absent from the liberal atheist.

Liberal atheists are absent in faith and praying? Say it ain’t so!

Zest for life? I know plenty of atheists who have an abundance.

Acceptance of those of lesser faith? That’s a joke, right? And tolerance? I believe that the trend in conservative churches these days is that tolerance is a bad thing.

[racinchikki]

Considering atheism is not a unified movement or belief system (i.e. there are no atheist churches, no atheist gatherings in the way that there are gatherings and churches for the various religious groups), wouldn’t the lack of specifically-atheist hospitals be kind of a no-brainer? It’s like asking why there aren’t any redheaded hospitals - redheaded people aren’t a unified movement, either.

[edwino]

How would you ever know if a hospital is an atheist hospital? Here in Houston, across the road from where I sit, we have St. Luke’s (Episcopal), Methodist (obvious), Memorial Hermann (?), Ben Taub (community, no affiliation), M.D. Anderson (?), the VA (government so presumably nothing), and TIRR (?). I’ve worked in all of them and I haven’t seen any more or any less religion at the religious ones versus the unaffiliated or ? hospitals. Religion gives the faithful comfort so religious faculties abound. Atheism was never designed to provide comfort, so there is no reason to expect large facilities for atheists in their times of need. That doesn’t mean atheists aren’t out there founding charities or hospitals, it is just that it’s a little like selling coals to Newcastle: “Dying of cancer? Well let me tell you about my hard rationalist philosophy that says that after you die you will rot and be forgotten…”