Category Archives: Activity

Team #GFGS Does it Again! Over £3,000 Raised For MSF!

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msfTeam #GFGS’ yearly charity fundraiser has finally come to a close, raising an incredible £3,002.80 for Médecins Sans Frontières.  This brings the total amount Team #GFGS has raised for charitable causes to £25,775.83.

A gigantic thank you to all those kind enough to donate, support and be a part of something worthwhile.  I continue to be astonished by the kindness and active nature of those I’m fortunate enough to interact with online. I’ve no doubt this amount will help towards improving peoples’ lives.  Isn’t that good?

MSF is a wonderful global cause.  Please see their website to get a glimpse of the vital work they do and consider supporting them again in the future.

Once again, this goal was achieved because a small number of compassionate people agreed that doing something good was worthy for its own sake, regardless of whatever we believe (or don’t) about anything else.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  I’ll see if I can arrange for a downloadable certificate and update this blog post accordingly.

Who’s up for a new challenge for 2015? Have a fantastic new year!

The Christmas Shoebox Appeal Is A Manipulative Indoctrination Campaign.

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OCC

Christmas is coming, which means it’s almost time to dig out that awful sweater, retrieve the decorative tat from the attic and pay tribute to everyone’s favourite magical zombie Jew-God. This has something to do with sprouts too, for reasons unknown.

However, unlike Jesus, one thing guaranteed to return is the Christmas Shoebox charity appeal (AKA ‘Operation Christmas Child’). This appeal usually makes itself known via your offspring’s school, your place of employment or various other local establishments such as pubs or supermarkets.

‘Operation Christmas Child’ is a seemingly commendable endeavour whereby the general public are asked to fill up empty shoe boxes with unwanted toys, which the charity then transports to children in less privileged regions.

For anyone in possession of a pulse – this will understandably feel like a worthy cause. But are you aware of the charity’s robust ideological goals and troubling behaviour?

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CJ Werleman Releases Plagiarism Nonpology

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werlsat

I recently wrote two blog pieces on Author CJ Werleman. The first detailed some deeply unethical methods of operating and the second revealed an apparent catalogue of plagiarism throughout his work. Prompted by these articles, Michael Luciano with the help of Peter Boghossian have done a great job of uncovering even more instances of plagiarism (14 more at last count1).

After days of lashing out, excuses and potentially libellous claims2 levelled at other public figures, Werleman has released what he understands to be an ‘apology’. You can read it in full here3, but I’ll detail below my initial thoughts regarding some of it.

“Since my recent appearance on the Young Turks Network, my criticism of Sam Harris’ position, as it specifically pertains to the main driver of terrorism led many of his ardent fans to attack me. I have no problem with that – I made myself fair game”

This is the first attempt to deceive. ‘Ardent fans’ didn’t ‘attack him’ because he criticised Harris’s position, they ‘attacked’ him because he invented it. I’d like CJ Werleman to reference what in Harris’s works justifies saying: “[Harris] Has already said, that [he] would support, possibly, a nuclear first-strike on the Arab world”. This sentence is particularly troubling given Werleman so casually interchanges the word ‘Islamist’ with ‘Arab’. Do keep an eye on that CJ. Read more

  1. Now confirmed to be 14 additional instances ↩
  2. Werleman publicly accused Sam Harris of plagiarism only to have said accusations dismantled with devastating precision here ↩
  3. It seems given the negative response to this ‘nonpology’, Werleman has now deleted it ↩

Team #GFGS Returns – Let’s Do Something Good Again!

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Would anyone like to help me do something good again? Back in 2013 I launched ‘Good For Good’s Sake’. This came about after being overwhelmed by the level of compassion & activism displayed by those that engage in the online ‘atheist community’.

I strongly felt that if this shared camaraderie could be channelled in a charitable context, we could really help some people who needed it. As atheists we share only one thing for definite; absence of belief in gods. Our politics, cultural backgrounds and our world-views may differ. Some of you may think Michael Bay makes good films for instance. BUT. There’s one thing I feel we could all agree on: the only thing required to be good is the recognition that it is good for its own sake. We don’t do good for the promise of eternal life, or post-death reward. We don’t do good because it is a doctrinal imperative. We do good because we have empathy, and as conscious creatures, we have concerns for the well-being of our fellow primates across the globe.

With this in mind, Team #GFGS has raised a staggering £22,773.03 for charitable causes so far. We’ve done this by ourselves, without media or corporate backing. Without promoting an ideology, or indoctrinating as a condition of our good deeds. A small group of people, in an even smaller pocket of the World Wide Web came together to achieve something that will make a positive difference to many people. That has to be good, right?

This brings me on to our third charitable drive. Are you up for the challenge? I’ve decided to choose Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). Many of you will be familiar with what they do already. For those that aren’t, please see the below video and their website here.

MSF is an entirely Secular charity that delivers emergency medical aid on a global scale to those who need it the most, regardless of race, religion, creed or political affiliation. As with the last fund-raiser, this one will also end on Christmas Day 2014. Be a part of something important.  You can donate online by clicking ‘Sponsor Me’ below, or text ‘GFGS50 £5 (or any amount) to 70070. Spread the word where you can. Please keep an eye on my Twitter feed for updates. If you wish to hold an event for Team #GFGS to raise some money, please let me know!

Be good,

GS

Special thanks to @Wavish for the #GFGS logo

Click to be part of Team #GFGS

Team #GFGS raises £22,773.69 for charity in 2013

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Image Created By @Wavish

What a year!  Team Good for Good’s Sakes’ WaterAid fundraising finally came to an end on Christmas day, finishing on an astonishing £11,843.03, smashing our £11,000 target goal.

This also completely obliterated our previous £10,930.66 record for Red Nose Day earlier in the year.  This brings the total amount raised for charity by Team #GFGS in 2013 to an incredible £22,773.69.

This was achieved because a significant, but by no means huge, group of people decided that contributing to charitable causes was a worthy idea for its own sake, regardless of what you do or don’t believe about anything else. This was done without media, financial or corporate support of any kind.  That’s incredible, and I think everyone who played a part should be proud of themselves.

WateraidTotalWaterAid is a fantastic organisation.  I need not waste your time explaining why access to clean water is such an imperative, so please visit them to see exactly how they will use the money to do good. From setting up sustainable water access in the poorest of places, to creating communities which are educated and trained in the skills required to maintain that infrastructure. Please consider choosing WaterAid should you be considering a charitable cause to fundraise for in the future.

I honestly didn’t think we could surpass our Red Nose Day efforts.  It’s such a pleasure and privilege to be continually surprised by the passion, intelligence, activism and good humour of those that engage with my Twitter feed.  Thank you.

A massive thank you to everyone that donated money and shared the fundraising page around. I’ve no doubt what we have achieved here together will help change lives for the better.  And why would we like to do that?  Because it’s a good thing to do.

I don’t really think about my Twitter shenanigans much further ahead than the present. This is due to understanding that my digital lifespan is also finite, with a limited shelf-life and therefore I don’t take it for granted that people will always be interested in what I have to say.  It’s for this reason that I am cautious about making plans for another charitable drive so soon, but if I’m still around in April and people are still interested I will consider setting up another cause for us to get our teeth into.  Up for the challenge?

Obviously, I understand the chances of reaching these heights again in 2014 are unlikely.  But I said that last time too.  And I’d be ecstatic to be wrong again.

Have a great New Year. Be Good

GS

Download Certificate (PDF)

Team GFGS WaterAid Fundraising

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Image Created By @Wavish

Image Created By @Wavish

Back in March I started Team Good For Good’s Sake (#GFGS).  The idea was to raise money for a good cause, simply because we agreed that doing good is worthy for its own sake.

The result was staggering.  Nearly £11,000 was raised. Thoroughly spanking the myth that one cannot be good without God firmly to the other side of mythsville.

It is for this reason I have started a new cause for us to support, this time WaterAid.  This is a great charity.  Please click to see just what it is they do, and how important it is.  Please click ‘Sponsor Me’ below to donate.

Just giving

You can also donate via text by texting GFGS99 £5 (or any amount) to 70070.

I’m still constantly awed by the intelligence and compassion displayed by the people who interact with me on Twitter.  This kind of thing strikes me as special, and I’m fully aware that it cannot last forever.  Because of this, I think it’s great to use our shared camaraderie to do something worthwhile whilst we can.  Why?  Because we can.

Rather than having a short space of time to raise funds,  as was the case previously, I’ve decided this will be an on-going initiative, ending on Christmas Day.  I realise £10,390 is probably impossible to repeat or better, so I have set the starting limit to £500, but you’ve surprised me before!

I’ll provide any updates here and tweet them out accordingly.

What will we have achieved by Christmas day?

Thanks

GS

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