Patrick Greene Changes His Mind About Converting to Christianity

April 7, 2012 By Hemant Mehta 47 Comments

I don’t really want to post this. The guy has received far more publicity than he deserves. But, given the circumstances, I kinda feel obligated to…

I previously posted about how Patrick Greene had received donations to alleviate his poor vision from atheists and Christians, then told reporters he had been helped by Christians (and not atheists), then told reporters he had converted to Christianity.

Patrick Greene

Now, Greene says he has changed his mind. He’s not a Christian after all. He writes in an (unedited, verified) email:

I am sorry to tell you , that I announced that I had become a Christian much too soon. It was out of the entire hype that surrounded all the loving, kindness, compassion and warmth of my relationship with Jessica Crye and Rev. Graham. After reading all the messages and emails from dozens of people, I realized that, after 50 years of being an atheist, I cannot continue this. I have examined my conscience thoroughly over this past weekend. I cannot go on thinking and feeling that I have changed my heart and mind. I haven’t. It goes against everything I have spent my life accomplishing. Especially since I cannot change my attitude toward gay rights and abortion. I spent many hours looking at the sight for the gay baptists and realized my error. Thank you very much for all your help.

So he’s not a Christian after all. (Though I’m sure many will be quick to point out that you don’t have to change your mind about abortion/gay rights in order to become a Christian — you only have to accept Jesus.)

Now, let’s see if the places that were all too eager to report on his conversion follow up with this postscript. (Christian Post, I’m looking at you.)

Meanwhile, everyone else can stop taking him seriously, regardless of the message. I apologize about posting anything about him in the first place.

Filed Under: Atheist Generosity, Churches, General 47 Comments

More Background on Patrick Greene, the Atheist-Activist-Turned-Christian

April 6, 2012 By Jason Torpy 81 Comments

Hemant Mehta covered Patrick Greene earlier, prior to new information that has come to light.

…

The headline goes “Patrick Greene, Longtime Atheist, Announces Conversion to Christianity”. Hmm… what is this new lock-tight argument for Christianity that has converted an atheist? Apparently a few hundred dollars in donations to help him with his vision made the difference. I could say these funds bought his soul, but it’s more inspiring to say the true-Christian show of support opened his heart. Where were his fellow atheists and humanists in his time of need? This is not a rhetorical question — because we seem to have been right there with him all the way.

Patrick Greene

Medical issues and life stress such as those Greene has faced is exactly what a supportive community is for. This is exactly why the Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers seeks reform in the military. Greene is a veteran, so I take a special interest in stories like this. Greene is suffering the onset of blindness from glaucoma, and that will take away his already meager livelihood as a cab driver. He’s applying for VA benefits as well. The military offers daily stress of training, combat, and tragedy, just to name a few. A recent Pew study also reiterated the need for community, correlating a 24% improvement in post-war reentry from the combat theater. Greene, other veterans, other atheists, and people in general shouldn’t have to go it alone.

Greene was known as a long-time atheist and atheist activist. After considering legal action regarding a local nativity scene, he was approached by a local church. In a show of support, the church took up a collection to “kill him with kindness” (a nice contrast from the simple “kill him” death threats I and many atheist activists receive). He says Christian kindness caused him to reconsider his beliefs. In his reconsideration, he came to believe, “you just had to accept on faith without doubting every period and every comma.” So he decided blind faith is good? Secondly, he stated that he couldn’t reconcile “the vast difference between all the animals and us.” I’m not sure if he means the majority of DNA, skin, bones, hair, eyes, ears, four limbs, capacity for love, pain, shame, and empathy, or maybe he just meant the human propensity for war. I know he didn’t mean the capacity for reason.

If I’m harsh, it’s because all this seems very fishy (…get it?). He has received donations, has a site for donations, and plans to transfer his new beliefs into work as a minister. Why so quick to go to the Christians? Atheists and humanists have come to the rescue of Jessica Ahlquist, Nicole Smalkowski, Damon Fowler, and Constance McMillen in their struggles. Organizations like Atheists Helping the Homeless in nearby Austin, the Foundation Beyond Belief, and the charitable arms present in nearly every atheist and humanist organization show that we atheists are concerned and capable of helping.

So what is his background with our community? Patrick Greene was featured on The Atheist Experience in 2008. At that time he was protesting a bumper sticker being sold by evangelist Ray Comfort. His legal grounds? People might think bumper stickers are facts. The Atheist Experience essentially excoriated Greene for counter-productive litigiousness. That year he also spoke at a Church-State Rally in Austin. One local atheist suggested Greene start the online fundraising campaign he has now begun and also coordinated to send financial aid. Greene’s most recent effort was to prepare a lawsuit against a local nativity scene on public land, but it’s unclear what the merits of that suit may have been as it was never filed. It seems he has been involved with the atheist movement to a small extent, but his actions seem to have alienated from atheists to the point that he has sought refuge in the Christian movement.

Arguably, this is a black eye for the atheist community because we couldn’t properly help one of our own. On the other hand, Greene was a member of the atheist community for years and had a bumpy ride at best. He did not endear himself to others and engaged in some questionable activism. Now, he’s embraced a Christian community that is willing to provide some financial support and a livelihood as a preacher. The local Christians in Athens deserve nothing but praise for extending a kind hand to someone who seemed so at odds with their beliefs. Greene, like all people, has worth and dignity as an individual. But all-in-all, I think we in the atheist community shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves for letting him slip away. And the Christian community shouldn’t be too quick to take credit for a saved soul until they really get to know Greene.

Filed Under: Atheist Generosity, Churches, General, Military Atheists 81 Comments

Foundation Beyond Belief Announces Q2 2012 Slate of Charities

April 4, 2012 By Hemant Mehta 2 Comments

The Foundation Beyond Belief has just announced its five beneficiaries for the new quarter — each charity will likely receive several thousands of dollars, courtesy of atheist donors:

POVERTY: Shoulder to Shoulder

HUMAN RIGHTS: It Gets Better Project

CHALLENGE THE GAP: MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger

EDUCATION: National Association for Urban Debate Leagues

THE NATURAL WORLD: Population Connection

…

The lion’s share of my donations this month are going to the It Gets Better Project and — no surprise here — the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues. Both mean a lot to me and I want to see them grow.

If you’re not already a member of the Foundation, consider joining!

Where are you giving your donations this month?

Filed Under: Atheist Generosity, General 2 Comments

Help Atheists Raise $1,000,000 to Fight Cancer

March 13, 2012 By Hemant Mehta 15 Comments

Last month, I mentioned an atheist-led effort to raise $1,000,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The Foundation Beyond Belief along with the philanthropic Stiefel family are eager to make this happen.

The Light the Night walks — the banner events for the fundraising drive — take place this fall, and we want to get people signed up now. (Chicagoans, please join me!)

Need some inspiration? Check out Todd Stiefel in the video below:

Please consider helping out by starting a group or joining one. The fundraising can happen later. Right now, we just need your commitment to participate!

If you don’t, you’re going to force me to grow a beard like Todd. And I promise you nobody wants that.

Filed Under: Atheist Generosity, General 15 Comments

Help Us Win $2,500; It Just Takes a Click

March 12, 2012 By Hemant Mehta 4 Comments

Dan Cohen is a finalist in Zinio’s “You Can Find Me On Zinio” sweepstakes.

Long story short: Go here, click on VOTE NOW, click on Dan Cohen’s name, and the repeat every day until April 16th.

If Dan wins, his company has promised to donate the $2,500 prize to Foundation Beyond Belief!

You can vote once a day. Please tell your friends :)

Filed Under: Atheist Generosity, General 4 Comments

Catholic School Atheist Raises Over $11,000 for Responsible Charity

March 11, 2012 By Shannon Burgdorf 7 Comments

On February 22nd, Daniel, the Catholic School Atheist, began his fundraiser for Responsible Charity.

We here at Friendly Atheist felt so inspired by Daniel’s story that we decided to post about it.

Originally, Daniel’s goal was to double his Catholic High School’s fundraising goal — they are raising money to build a fence for an orphanage in Africa.

His original goal, $1,200, was reached and surpassed quickly. In fact, over the course of 14 days (through March 7th), Responsible Charity, received $11,184.12 worth of donations from 516 people worldwide thanks to Daniel’s support.

Daniel is beyond pleased with the response:

Thanks to each one of you, a school will be built in Kolkata — a secular school where kids can learn without the baggage of religion. We have literally changed the lives of many kids forever. I am so happy right now! I can’t wait to get the official letter from Responsible Charity stating what we have raised so I can show it to my parents and my school. I’ll be sure to keep you up to date on how it goes. YOU GUYS ROCK! Thank you so much!

I have had the pleasure of short email exchanges with Daniel. And it turns out he recently came out as an atheist to his parents:

[My parents] called me downstairs and asked about some of the posts I’ve had on facebook about reading Hitchens or Bible quotes. I just told them then that I was an Atheist. My mom seemed ok with it and told me just to not be to cocky around other people but my dad wasn’t very happy. He seemed ok once I told him about the page. I’m extremely happy with the results that I’ve gotten and actually I just found out that after 2 weeks my school has gotten $63.25.

Yes, you read that correctly.

In two weeks, Daniel, the Catholic School Atheist, raised over $11,000 to help build a school for kids in the slums of India… while his Catholic School raised just over $63.

Quite the difference.

And on top of that, he has the courage to come out as an atheist to his parents. Brave kiddo.

Truly, the outpouring of support for this new, small charity is remarkable.

The Catholic School Atheist plans to keep his Facebook page open indefinitely to continue helping Responsible Charity.

Meanwhile Responsible Charity had this to say:

GOAL ACCOMPLISHED! — 25K Raised, it took us a while, then a great big push from a brave 14 year old young man over a week ago and we got there! (more about him here: www.facebook.com/catholicschoolatheist) — There were many fundraisers, small and large donations from supporters since day ONE, as well as folks from around the world who learned about our efforts over the last year. The time has come to now build our first secular school for children living in slums. More to come, stay tuned!

Hemley Gonzalez, founder of Responsible Charity, described the school goal on his personal facebook page nearly a year ago:

We need to open a school to eliminate many of the challenges we currently face in the slums. As of today (April 11, 2011) we’ve been able to place 11 children in two schools in the area but it has not been without difficulties and many rejections. We now need to take control of the situation and give more children a place where they are welcome regardless of their caste and can prepare them to enter higher education schools…

The cost of establishing a new school and maintaining it for the first year will run in the neighborhood of $23,000-$25,000USD, this includes deposits, monthly rent, commissions and small to medium repairs if necessary as well as the cost of salaries for teachers, caretakers, uniforms, books, medicines, kitchen, nutritional program and other supplies will have to be calculated in the future as we start to take kids off the streets and into a place that will positively change their lives forever.

Daniel and Hemley have been exceptional examples of not just atheism but of good human beings who want to help the world because it’s the right thing to do.

Bravo!

Filed Under: Atheist Generosity, General 7 Comments

A German Shoemaker Wants to Help Atheists with Their Soles

March 10, 2012 By Hemant Mehta 17 Comments

David, a shoemaker from Germany, is working on a quest to make sure atheists have soles :)

… admittedly, an atheist shoes sounds like a peculiar idea. But we think a shoe is a lovely, understated way for atheists to out themselves and to be less shy about their godlessness. And we also think our Bauhaus-inspired, 1930s-infatuated shoes will be a welcome antidote to the samey junk pumped out by the big sneaker corporations…

Love the video. Buy our shoes! Show them off to someone you’re interested in. It’ll be like Grindr for the Godless.

David also mentions that he plans to make a Jesus shoe. With water in the soles. So you can walk on water :)

If you’d like to support his endeavor or pre-pay for a pair of shoes, feel free to support him on Kickstarter.

(Thanks to Roland for the link!)

Filed Under: Atheist Generosity, General, Humor 17 Comments

Is It Important to Wait for Marriage Before You Have Sex?

February 29, 2012 By Hemant Mehta 58 Comments

I know your answers to this already, but if you’re an evangelical Christian, the expectation is that you’re abstinent until marriage. In some cases, you may even wait until your wedding day to share your first kiss.

Director Matt Barber and his team are trying to tell the story of people who go to these churches and abide (or don’t) by these teachings. Turns out waiting for marriage isn’t for everyone, even some of the Christians interviewed:

Jesus, Don’t Let Me Die Before I’ve Had Sex will be a feature-length documentary examining the sexual teachings of the Evangelical Church and exploring the undercurrent of idealism that leaves many people feeling frustrated and confused. Told in an honest and fair fashion, the movie will paint a picture of what is taught explicitly and implicitly by showing how churchgoers react to those teachings through anecdotes of first kisses, chastity rallies and secret obsessions…

Again, they’re not pushing an agenda that says Christians are right or wrong. They’re only interested in telling the stories of people who grew up with these rules around them and explaining where this sex-negativity (my term, not theirs) comes from.

If want to help this documentary come to life, they are raising funds on Kickstarter and would appreciate your generosity.

Filed Under: Atheist Generosity, General, Pop Culture 58 Comments

Last Day to Donate to Jessica Ahlquist Fund

February 29, 2012 By Hemant Mehta 8 Comments

Tonight is it! The scholarship drive for Jessica Ahlquist closes today. After that, I need a week or so to figure out what donations were made directly to the American Humanist Association and what money will be contributed from the Evil Little Thing t-shirt sales, and then I’ll report back how much was raised altogether.

Can we hit $50,000…?

Thanks for your support, everyone!

Filed Under: Atheist Generosity, General 8 Comments

Don’t Let Faith Stop You from Donating Your Organs

February 27, 2012 By Hemant Mehta 29 Comments

Recently, Israel did something smart regarding organ donation:

Until now, Israel ranked at the bottom of Western countries on organ donation. Jewish law proscribes desecration of the dead, which has been interpreted by many to mean that Judaism prohibits organ donation. Additionally, there were rabbinic issues surrounding the concept of brain death, the state in which organs are typically harvested. As a result, many patients died waiting for organs.

So Israel has decided to try a new system that would give transplant priority to patients who have agreed to donate their organs. In doing so, it has become the first country in the world to incorporate “nonmedical” criteria into the priority system, though medical necessity would still be the first priority.

So if you sign up to donate your organs, that’ll help you in the case you ever need one yourself. It’s almost as good as a policy that would have everyone automatically listed as organ donors unless they actively opted out of it.

At the Huffington Post, Eliyahu Federman asks religious Jews to stop believing that donating your organs would “interfere with a religious duty to be buried intact” and learn a lesson from atheists:

A student once asked a religious sage what lesson he could learn from an atheist. The sage answered: “If someone comes to you for help, you should never assume God will help him. Rather become an atheist for a moment by recognizing only you can help him.”

On the issue of posthumous organ donation my religious friends could learn a lesson from my atheist friends. They should recognize that only they can help those in need of organ transplants.

…

Atheists believe that when you are dead your lifeless body is just a cadaver. The notions of afterlife and proper burial are nothing more than delusions and rites that help us cope with death. The atheist has no basis to object to organ donation. If you can help someone in your death, then why not? The religious person on the other hand is sometimes fraught with questions about the afterlife and preserving the body for proper burial. Question that may unfortunately lead one to hesitate from becoming an organ donor.

I think all religions can and should agree that in this matter, a lesson can be learned from the atheists. Atheists ideology posits that our dead bodies will ultimately decay anyway, so why not use them for something positive? At the end of the day, there should be nothing more life affirming and religious than being able to save someone in your death.

I think he gets it exactly right. When it comes to doing the right thing with your dead body, atheists shouldn’t have any qualms about it. But religion makes you reconsider doing the right thing for the sake of a delusion. It boggles my mind that anyone would put stock in some sort of post-life psychological satisfaction. But there’s no good reason not to become an organ donor right now.

And even though this happens during your life, you should consider becoming a marrow donor, too. I signed up; it was incredibly easy to do.

Filed Under: Atheist Generosity, General 29 Comments
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