Volunteers turned away from soup kitchen for being atheist

[Mermaid]

not very Christian of them, now, is it? Supercilious, judgmental assholes.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/1 ... r=Politics

Even after a Christian soup kitchen told a group of atheists that it wasn't a "good fit" to volunteer, the generous non-believers tracked down another faith organization to help out.

The Kansas City Atheist Coalition (KCAC) was eager to deliver Thanksgiving meals to the poor and the elderly with the Kansas City Rescue Mission, a holiday program it had contributed to for the past two years. But this season the door was slammed in the group's face, The Kansas City Star reported.

"We are an unapologetically Christian organization, and we always have been," Julie Larocco, development officer for the Kansas City Rescue Mission, told the paper. "We want to share the message with the people we serve that 'God loves you, and you are not alone.' It seemed to us that this (atheist) group probably would not want to deliver those meals."

Larocco also noted that since they get hundreds of volunteers around the holidays, they wouldn't have a problem replacing the atheist group in delivering the estimated 2,400 meals.

[Jason78]

That's Christians for you.

btw, Supercilious is now my new word of the day :D

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Nothing new here. As most of you know I've spent the better part of this past year in shelters and have eaten plenty of meals at soup kitchens or what's perceived as soup kitchens.
The churches use these places for monetary gain, 'public relations' and so on, but the have a virtual monopoly on the shelter/soup kitchen gig. They get trainloads of dollars from the feds and states not to mention donations that quite often go to padding their bottom line. It's BIG BUSINESS folks so don't expect anytime soon they'll welcome our kind to muscle in on the action.
If the atheist 'megachurches' want a toe hold in the homeless and hungry cash cow this is a huge opening for an underserved segment of society that is far more open to atheism than you might think.

[Mister Agenda]

For what it's worth, another Christian soup kitchen was happy to accept their help.

[josephpalazzo]

That decision is logical: if the christian groups are doing to "prove God's love" then there is no place for an atheist group. It's up to the atheist group to start their own kitchen soup.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

That decision is logical: if the christian groups are doing to "prove God's love" then there is no place for an atheist group. It's up to the atheist group to start their own kitchen soup.

The rub is a soup kitchen alone accomplishes little long term. Here in Columbus shelters house and feed about 600 people daily and that doesn't even touch those turned away for various reasons and those who won't go to shelters or soup kitchens because of the stigma attached or lack of transportation there and many other reasons.
It really needs people not into it for the paycheck or the feel good thing, but people who really want to transform lives without 'the word' tossed in as bait. It also requires people with a good working knowledge of how to secure funding then how to offer the many support services AND a willingness to work with the patchwork of church groups also involved. They also need to be able to work well with legislators.. A tall order, but before you crtiticize the current system you need to offer a better solution.

[josephpalazzo]

That decision is logical: if the christian groups are doing to "prove God's love" then there is no place for an atheist group. It's up to the atheist group to start their own kitchen soup.

The rub is a soup kitchen alone accomplishes little long term. Here in Columbus shelters house and feed about 600 people daily and that doesn't even touch those turned away for various reasons and those who won't go to shelters or soup kitchens because of the stigma attached or lack of transportation there and many other reasons.
It really needs people not into it for the paycheck or the feel good thing, but people who really want to transform lives without 'the word' tossed in as bait. It also requires people with a good working knowledge of how to secure funding then how to offer the many support services AND a willingness to work with the patchwork of church groups also involved. They also need to be able to work well with legislators.. A tall order, but before you crtiticize the current system you need to offer a better solution.

Thanks for the info. In my ivory tower, I'm quite insulated from that world. Nevertheless, it's up to that atheist group to work around what is already established and the contraints built in the system if they really want to contribute. Otherwise they should stay out. But it's not reasonable for them to demand that the christians allow them in, if those christian groups don't want to for the aforementioned reason they gave out.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Yeah, volunteering to dish up a meal to a few hundred guys living on the streets or in shelters is akin to placing a bumper sticker on your car saying 'Support our troops'.
If atheist groups want involved they really need structure and not finger pointing. It's meaningless sour grapes.