Charities by deities

[herkles]

I found this site some time back, but I think it is good to take a look at. It is about various charities that could match up with deities. It is listed by several pantheons: Gaelic, Greek, Norse, Roman, and Egyptian.

I personally think this is an awesome idea. As Hospitality is very important in my path, this is another way of providing an offering IMO for one of the deities I honor.

What do others think of this?

[Valentine]

I found this site some time back, but I think it is good to take a look at. It is about various charities that could match up with deities. It is listed by several pantheons: Gaelic, Greek, Norse, Roman, and Egyptian.

I personally think this is an awesome idea. As Hospitality is very important in my path, this is another way of providing an offering IMO for one of the deities I honor.

What do others think of this?

 
I am all for work that gets our community-such-as-it-is more engaged with doing work and service in community, in doing just labor, rather than just faffing about trying to figure out which page of Polytheist Tiger Beat is our favorite, you know?

[Jack]

Polytheist Tiger Beat

 
Ehehehehehehehe.

I do some charity work for my deities, particularly for Mara. Not as much as I'd like to do, but I'll get there eventually.

[Juni]

Ehehehehehehehe.

I do some charity work for my deities, particularly for Mara. Not as much as I'd like to do, but I'll get there eventually.

 
Same here. I mostly give through our Emboatening Crew on Kiva, these days, but I would like to do more once I have a paycheck again.

[Sage]

Same here. I mostly give through our Emboatening Crew on Kiva, these days, but I would like to do more once I have a paycheck again.

 
It may seem small but the Emboatening Crew has loaned $1,425 dollars over 55 loans since we started. Not too shabby!

[Juni]

It may seem small but the Emboatening Crew has loaned $1,425 dollars over 55 loans since we started. Not too shabby!

 
I know! I'm pretty proud of us. (On that note, can I borrow the line in your sig for my own?)

[Sage]

I know! I'm pretty proud of us. (On that note, can I borrow the line in your sig for my own?)

 
Please go right ahead! I just had my very first referral yesterday.

[NiDara]

I found this site some time back, but I think it is good to take a look at. It is about various charities that could match up with deities. It is listed by several pantheons: Gaelic, Greek, Norse, Roman, and Egyptian.

I personally think this is an awesome idea. As Hospitality is very important in my path, this is another way of providing an offering IMO for one of the deities I honor.

What do others think of this?

 
I really like this idea. Thank you for posting the link!

[Sophia C]

I found this site some time back, but I think it is good to take a look at. It is about various charities that could match up with deities. It is listed by several pantheons: Gaelic, Greek, Norse, Roman, and Egyptian.

I personally think this is an awesome idea. As Hospitality is very important in my path, this is another way of providing an offering IMO for one of the deities I honor.

What do others think of this?

 
I disagree with a lot of Drew Jacob's choices for the Gaelic pantheon. (I recall that there was some controversy in the Gaelic polytheist community when that post was published.) I like the idea of supporting charities in the name of certain deities, but I'm more interested in community in general, and how I can work for it - supporting the tribe, if you like. Not in the name of any particular deity, but as a virtue central to my flavour of Gaelic polytheism.

There's also lots of charitable service that isn't money-related, of course. I count my inter-faith work and my disability campaigning as this. I could do more 'direct' volunteering, like hospital visiting etc, but at the moment I don't have the time. I should really sit down and ponder what I'd do, though, and whether I can find the time if I try.

Disability politics sometimes has issues with the concept of charity, though. I criticise it a lot in my research and writing. It can be disempowering. That's why I'm careful about what charities I give to, and where I volunteer.

[HarpingHawke]

I found this site some time back, but I think it is good to take a look at. It is about various charities that could match up with deities. It is listed by several pantheons: Gaelic, Greek, Norse, Roman, and Egyptian.

I personally think this is an awesome idea. As Hospitality is very important in my path, this is another way of providing an offering IMO for one of the deities I honor.

What do others think of this?

 

I volunteer over at a school twice a week, and I am hoping to do other things over the summer as well. My gods encourage charity work, and I think they'd like to see me do more of it.

When I have time...

[Tanbrid]

I personally think this is an awesome idea. As Hospitality is very important in my path, this is another way of providing an offering IMO for one of the deities I honor.

What do others think of this?

I agree- it's a great idea. I believe in giving offerings (food, art etc) to deities themselves, but giving money or time (or both) has more of a real-world impact to causes that tie with the deity thematically- this will be subject to ones' own interpretation/UPG but that's ok. Really in general to me this is about being a good person, upholding virtues, like hospitality as you said. This is something that the devotional polytheists, and the humanistic/naturalistic pagans can agree on.  My values overall are the same whether I've been a Christian, an agnostic or a polytheist, the nuances differ.  

Since starting my new job (ok well not so new now) I've been trying to figure out how to give time and money- mainly I donate money at my UU church- as they give away part of the offering each week to a different organization, as well as supporting the church itself. I'm particularly interested in causes that help people get out of poverty/homelessness, and into good housing/jobs rather than temporary handouts. Those are necessary, certainly- food shelves and all that- but I want the underlying problems to be solved so people don't have to keep living hand to mouth.  From what I understand, in ancient Greece, food in sacrificial feasts was shared with the community, so it was a way re-distributing food to the poor.

More thoughts in reply to Naomi J...

[Tanbrid]

I disagree with a lot of Drew Jacob's choices for the Gaelic pantheon. (I recall that there was some controversy in the Gaelic polytheist community when that post was published.)

I like the idea of supporting charities in the name of certain deities, but I'm more interested in community in general, and how I can work for it - supporting the tribe, if you like. Not in the name of any particular deity, but as a virtue central to my flavour of Gaelic polytheism.

Disability politics sometimes has issues with the concept of charity, though. I criticise it a lot in my research and writing. It can be disempowering. That's why I'm careful about what charities I give to, and where I volunteer.

I would define charity as a cause/organization which intends to do good, but doesn't typically challenge the overall social/economic/political system.  It's important to look at how much they actually spend on the cause, and how much on publicity/special events, and what the leaders are paid. Also who is on their board- are they representative of the communities they are advocating for? (This is an important one for disability related groups)

Whereas an advocacy/activist organization does try to change the system- or keep it the same- (often not tax deductible as a result- not considered a charity) Likewise, look at the same factors when evaluating them.

Drew's list includes both- its reflective of his own secular opinions on politics and spiritual experiences. (I knew him locally as an activist as well as a Pagan) There's a lot of mythic figures in there that can be debated whether they have "deity" status or not, but that's neither here nor there.
Both have their roles to play, I think, but it's important to have a larger perspective of vision of the world you're working towards.  Then once you have that, you can figure out what small piece you can handle doing.

[Sophia C]

I would define charity as a cause/organization which intends to do good, but doesn't typically challenge the overall social/economic/political system.  It's important to look at how much they actually spend on the cause, and how much on publicity/special events, and what the leaders are paid. Also who is on their board- are they representative of the communities they are advocating for? (This is an important one for disability related groups)

Whereas an advocacy/activist organization does try to change the system- or keep it the same- (often not tax deductible as a result- not considered a charity) Likewise, look at the same factors when evaluating them.

...
Both have their roles to play, I think, but it's important to have a larger perspective of vision of the world you're working towards.  Then once you have that, you can figure out what small piece you can handle doing.

 
Agree entirely. I tend not to give to disability charities unless they aim to be user led, ideally with at least 51% of their user population on the board, e.g. 51% people who self-define as having learning difficulties on the board of a learning disability charity. I make a few exceptions, though, such as Hearing Dogs for Deaf People (because my dad and not-stepmother have benefited from them so much).

You make good points about activist groups vs charities, too.

[Aster Breo]

Whereas an advocacy/activist organization does try to change the system- or keep it the same- (often not tax deductible as a result- not considered a charity)

If you're talking in broader terms than your own personal definitions of these words, I just want to point out that the legal definitions of things like "charity" and "nonprofit" -- as applied to organizations -- differs from country to country.  

In the U.S., legally speaking, "charities" and "nonprofits" are synonymous, and are defined by the tax code.  The specific definitions are found in section 501(c), which is why these kinds of organization are sometimes referred to as a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) organization.

Also, there's a common misunderstanding that this type of organization can't get involved in lobbying.  However, 501(c)(3)  nonprofits -- which are how most of the familiar direct service *and* advocacy organizations are categorized -- can lobby legally within certain budget limitations.

There are different kinds of organizations that might look the same to casual observers but that are defined differently in the tax code, like 501(c)(4)s and PACs (political action committees). These have different limitations on lobbying.  Generally speaking, they can spend more of their budgets on lobbying activities.

And, of course, what constitutes a "lobbying activity" is also defined in the tax code.  But many people, even many who work for these organizations, are unfamiliar with or confused about these definitions.

Since the limits on lobbying are based on the proportion of the organizational budget spent on those activities, it's often possible for an organization to do far more lobbying than seems allowed.  This is increasingly true as electronic communication becomes ever easier and less expensive.  F'ex, the cost of paper and postage for letters to supporters asking them to contact their legislators about a bill are included in the cost of lobbying activities, in addition to the cost of the labor to create those letters. Now, with email, websites, texts, social media, etc., that kind of communication barely costs anything. So, the organization can do more with the same percentage of its budget.

Again, these are U.S. definitions.  Other countries handle nonprofits differently, so they can do different kinds of things.

Sorry if that was a tangent.  This is a particular interest of mine.

[Sage]

Agree entirely. I tend not to give to disability charities unless they aim to be user led, ideally with at least 51% of their user population on the board, e.g. 51% people who self-define as having learning difficulties on the board of a learning disability charity. I make a few exceptions, though, such as Hearing Dogs for Deaf People (because my dad and not-stepmother have benefited from them so much).

You make good points about activist groups vs charities, too.

 
I've been thinking a lot about what you're saying here and would like to get on board as well. When identifying disability charities, is there an easy way to determine if they're user-led or not? Or are there "safe" charities to consider?