I donated my tenner this morning, but I’ve been keeping an eye on the Atheist Bus’ Just Giving page all the same.
When I donated, the £5,500 target had already been met. At the time of writing, the target had hit £20,300 and counting.
My only concern is that with this coming in the run up to Christmas, it will almost certainly be used as a hook to pin the “atheists want to ban Christmas” annual story on the media donkey once again. Can I suggest that a small footnote is made at the bottom to the effect of “* And have a happy Christmas, too!”?
UPDATE: I’ve since been informed that the poster campaign is due to start in January, so that kills that idea.
I must say, I’m quite surprised that This Sort Of Thing qualifies for a tax rebate under justgiving. I mean, I’m glad that it does! I’m just surprised.
Plus, you can find some hard-hitting research on the actual differences in giving between religious and non-religious folk in this 2003 report, co-authored by some young then-fresh-faced scamp called “Julian Harrisâ€.
P.S. Sanbi – it’s incredibly easy to register a charity and claim “social benefit”. As long as you’re not entirely lining your own pockets, you can set up pretty much anything.
You can’t set up a charity for donating money to a political party either, more’s the pity.
It’s outrageous that you can get tax relief on giving to pretty much everything else. Classic anti-politics.