Good Without God: Secular Philanthropists

The desire and inspiration to help a fellow man has no divine origin. It is a natural emotion; one that is borne of empathy and the natural high of appreciation. Everyone feels it, regardless of faith. It goes beyond being decent and nice and it goes further than helping one's own kind. Our helpful spirit has roots in our ancestors' cooperative instincts, but it has evolved into the capacity to be generous beyond expectation. Here are ten very notable secular philanthropists who do their work for the good of mankind because they know it is the right thing to do, not because they will go to hell if they don't.

Andrew Carnegie

Regarded as the second richest man in history (John D. Rockefeller being first), Andrew Carnegie earned his vast wealth building the US steel industry in the 19th century. He then turned to philanthropy, founding the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. Each entity uses its endowment to further education and relations within the human race. Carnegie was an outspoken atheist who recognized evolution and believed that religion caused more harm than good. By devoting the latter part of his life to the betterment of the human condition, Carnegie set an amazing example for many atheists and agnostics who would come along after him.

Robert Wilson

As a hedge fund manager who has amassed over $225 million over his career, Robert Wilson seeks to gives away 70% of his wealth before he dies, and he does it in huge chunks. His main focuses are in conservation and education. In 2007, he gave $22 million to the Nature Conservancy and in 2007 he gave $22.5 million to the New York Roman Catholic Archdiocese. The foundations he has set up give away more than any other Wall Street personality. They're not all evil. Even though he is an atheist, he does not have a problem donating money to a fund linked to Catholic schools. While we're talking about setting examples, Wilson teaches us that we're all citizens of Earth, no matter what our creed, and we all deserve the same dignity.

Richard Dawkins

An outspoken and renown author, Oxford University professor and evolutionary biologist, Richard Dawkins is the quintessential atheist. In 2006, he started the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, which raises money to fund education and humanitarian efforts. It raised $500k for the Red Cross and Doctors without Borders for Haiti Relief. Though not nearly as wealthy as some of the other people on this list, Dawkins is committed to making the world a better place through secular initiatives, including the OUT Campaign which encourages atheists to identify themselves to family and friends, using the same method that Gay Rights activists do to help bring the public's view of atheists into a positive light. Dawkins has also received many awards for his humanist work, including American Humanist Association's Humanist of the Year Award in 1996.

Ted Turner

Another Humanist of the Year winner (1990), Ted Turner has given heavily to numerous foundations, including a $1 billion pledge to the UN Foundation to promote world peace. Though he is known for founding CNN, Turner's other contributions to the media world include the popular cartoon character from the early 1990's Captain Planet, who protects planet Earth with the help of children. His list of philanthropic foundations include: the Turner Foundation, which focuses on conservation and the environment, as well as the problem of population growth, the Captain Planet Foundation, which educates and empowers children to make a positive impact within their communities, the Turner Endangered Species Fund, and the Nuclear Threat Initiative. If there was any doubt about Turner's atheism, he divorced one of his ex-wives over the conflicts that arose when she adopted Christianity.

George Soros

Soros, a currency speculator who is among the world's richest men, admitted to being an atheist in an interview with 60 minutes. Soros made $1 billion in a single day, Black Wednesday (16th of September, 1992). Usually, we hear of such great fortune corrupting people, but Soros had the fortitude to turn his wealth into a positive force for others. In the 1970's, he provided funds to help black students attend the University of Cape Town during apartheid. The Open Society Institute was founded in 1993 by Soros to promote non-violent democratization of post-Soviet states. As of 2003, the OSI had given away a total of $4 billion. Soros has also given large amounts to other foundations than his own to help fight world hunger and poverty. While some would say that a humble life is a good life, George Soros shows us that with great wealth we can also be an enormous source of good.

Norman Ernest Borlaug

The founder of the "green revolution," Norman Borlaug won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize, the 1977 U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2002 Public Welfare Medal from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the 2002 Rotary International Award for World Understanding and Peace and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2006. Even Penn & Teller think this guy is amazing, calling him the "Greatest Human Being That Ever Lived." What did he do? As a result of being responsible for developments that increased crop yields in third world countries, as well as creating disease-resistant wheat, Borlaug is credited with saving 1 billion lives. His faith, or lack thereof, is a matter of much debate. Both atheists and Christians would love to claim him as their own. Regardless of his beliefs, which he did not make known, Norman Borlaug was clearly a humanist, saying, "You can't build a peaceful world on empty stomachs and human misery."

Todd Stiefel

In 2009, GlaxoSmithKline bought Todd Stiefel's family business for $2.9 billion, leaving him with a huge fortune and a lot of ideas. Stiefel resolved to use his fortune to better the world and has become one of the nation's biggest donors to atheist causes. In February of 2010, he gave $500,000 to the Secular Coalition for America, lobbyist group for secular and humanist organizations. During that month, he also joined the Richard Dawkins Foundation as a trustee. Though his wealth is very new and he's still a minor figure on the topic of secular philanthropy, Stiefel has only begun his work in making the world a better place. He wants everyone to know that atheists are "equally capable of being ethical as people who are religious. We just want to be good for goodness' sake." Todd Stiefel has recently made news by donating $20,000 to the ACLU of Mississippi to help them organize a high school prom for students whose original prom was canceled in reaction to the idea of a student bringing her lesbian girlfriend as a date.

Louis Appignani

Another name on this list that you may not recognize, Louis Appignani is a successful entrepreneur. In 2001, the Appignani Foundation was created to "support secular activities that will address significant, viable and long term human goals on our planet." An ardent humanitarian, Appignani also founded the IHEU Appignani Center for Bioethics, and the Appignani Humanist Legal Center. He believes that all mankind is part of the same family and we share the same home, Earth, and that the best way to solve our society's problems is to set aside our differences and embrace humanism, science and futurism. It is interesting how each name on this list has its own approach to the human conundrum. Appignani's is through the law and ethics.

Bill Gates

Everyone knows Bill Gates as the once richest man in the world, and they probably hate him for how he got that title. While his business practices may have left more to be desired, his legacy will probably be much more valiant. As of 2007, his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had given over $28 billion in charity, making Gates the second most generous philanthropist in America. The Foundation, created to be completely transparent in how it uses its money, focuses on health and poverty, including AIDS research and child vaccination. In 2005, Bill, his wife Melinda and the singer Bono were Time magazine's Persons of the Year. Gates has stated that he does not believe in the Sermon on the Mount and has diplomatically dodged the question of his own beliefs.

Warren Buffett

Buffett identifies himself as agnostic, and he sits proudly atop the list of the most generous Americans. He has pledged $30 billion in assets to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is just one of five foundations to receive a total of 85% of his Berkshire Hathaway shares that he holds as its Chairman & CEO. Buffett has long planned to give away his money, citing that he does not believe in dynastic wealth. Other charities he has given to include Ted Turner's Nuclear Threat initiative, Planned Parenthood, the World Food Programme, and the Glide Foundation. Buffett is very outspoken about many issues, mostly involving money, but he shows through his actions that he is not a greedy man. You could say it is better that he has the money than someone else.