Richard Dawkins, noted atheist and author of The God Delusion and The Greatest Show On Earth, is sponsoring a new dedicated bank account and PayPal facility to collect donations for non-religious relief organizations.
The new account, to which, Prof. Dawkins will himself donate up to $10,000 to cover PayPal transaction fees, is being called Non-Believers Giving Aid and all the funds collected will go to disaster relief.
Two organizations will be the beneficiaries of the donations: Doctors Without Borders and the International Red Cross. Money will be distributed evenly among the two organizations unless donators stipulate otherwise.
While the effort was inspired by the disastrous earthquake in Haiti and initial donations will be aiding relief there, the new account is intended to be a permanent part of the Richard Dawkins Foundation and will remain available to collect funds to meet future emergencies.
The Non-Believers Giving Aid site offers this explanation of the need for a charitable fund specifically for the non-believing community:
In the parable of the good Samaritain, Jesus asked the disciples out of the three passers by, the priest, the jew and the Samaritain who stopped to help the victim, which one showed the heart of God. They replied the one who had compassion. (The Samaritains had a different set of beliefs to the Jews.)
God Bless Richard Dawkins if his motive for helping is one of compassion
