Our first goal and our mission

Wow. 25 members already and $1,100 in loans. Great job teammates.

As captain, I am setting our first goal to loan $50,000 by the end of 2008. So we have 4 months to raise those funds. Certainly to reach that goal we will need more than 25 members. Member growth rate is doing great so far. Tell your friends. Soon we'll be on the first page of the Community area on Kiva, that will give us more exposure.

Why is it important for Atheists to loan as a team?
By loaning as a team we provide tangible evidence that Atheists are making a difference in the world through altruistic acts. Many in our world hold the false belief that atheists do not give to charity and do not have a strong sense of helping others.

Kiva is a great opportunity (since the stats are public) to show that Atheists are making a difference. And who knows maybe we will be the number 1 team one day.

As, The Crater Lake Hermit, points out in the comments, when religious people donate to a religious organization the use of the funds is not openly disclosed. In many countries, including Canada and the USA, churchs (and the like) do not have to pay property taxes or income taxes and are not required to file a tax return. This means there is not any requirements (or overview) on the uses of funds given to a church. So if there is a pastor or minister in your area driving a Mercedes or BMW, now you know how they get away with it. I'm surprised religious people don't demand more scrutiny over the funds they donate for charitable endeavors. Maybe it's because questioning is a sin (whatever that means) in the christian church.

Welcome to Reality

I've been considering creating a blog focused on atheism for a while now. My impulse moment came when the opportunity to create an atheist team on the lending to the poor web site Kiva.org.

Check out the team here.

I think it's important for freethinkers to organize our support for the well being and education of other humans (home sapiens) on Earth.

This blogs goals are to discuss atheist philosophy and promote our Kiva Team (since this is also the team web site). If any team members have suggestions for the "We loan because" and "About us" sections of our team page, please leave comments. I tried to make them as simple and inclusive as possible. Being freethinkers I'm sure we all have our own reasons for lending ;)

Why am I writing on atheism? Because I love reading about religion and trying to understand why my fellow humans are so gripped by the concept of gods. I find the study of religion and religious people can bring insights on the nature of human beings.