Just got my Corporate Extortion Package.

[Lally]

At my old work, we weren't forced to give, but we got an extra vacation day if we did... which I never did because I hate the whole corporate charity extortion b.s. and it was so hard to get a day off scheduled anyway.

There is a large corporation that someone I know works for (I know it's dumb to be so vague about it but I get paranoid about it coming back to me, or especially that person), and they assign one sucker to run the whole corporate campaign for that region, meaning arranging fundraisers and hounding other people to fill out donation forms. This person is on salary, so he/she doesn't get paid any extra for doing it, and sometimes has to work on weekends or on his/her own time -- and of course, still has to donate a portion of his/her salary as well (in this person's case, it's $100 per month lumped once per year). If this person were to not comply, it wouldn't result in getting fired, but being put on a "list." Being on this "list" could hurt his/her chance at a promotion in the future. Sounds pretty much like extortion to me. It makes me so angry!

 

[Zarvox]

Regarding the boy scout thing, here's my two cents.

I'm an Eagle Scout. I totally second all the great things that have been said about taking loser nerds and turning them into upstanding young men. Yes, at the National level, they're anti-gay, and anti-atheist, but you know what?

Fuck National with a shovel.

National doesn't really have all that much power. If they want to say something, it doesn't matter in the slightest unless the scoutmasters choose to let it matter. You may remember that at the end of the Penn & Teller episode, they got back dozens of responses from scoutmasters saying, "Sure, we'd love to have your atheist kid in our troop!" So find out what local troops are in the area, and find out what their policies are. If the scoutmaster is of the opinion that (as mine were), "Look, as long as they don't run around flaunting their atheism/homosexuality, I don't care," consider giving your money. Plus, if you donate directly to the troop, ALL of your money stays local, and NONE of it goes to overhead.

Again: national doesn't matter. They don't have any real control over what happens at the level that the boys actually experience. While "The Boy Scouts of America" is a hate-promoting organization, Troop 50 out of Pine Shores Presbyterian probably isn't.

 

[Krisken]

Regarding the boy scout thing, here's my two cents.

I'm an Eagle Scout. I totally second all the great things that have been said about taking loser nerds and turning them into upstanding young men. Yes, at the National level, they're anti-gay, and anti-atheist, but you know what?

Fuck National with a shovel.

National doesn't really have all that much power. If they want to say something, it doesn't matter in the slightest unless the scoutmasters choose to let it matter. You may remember that at the end of the Penn & Teller episode, they got back dozens of responses from scoutmasters saying, "Sure, we'd love to have your atheist kid in our troop!" So find out what local troops are in the area, and find out what their policies are. If the scoutmaster is of the opinion that (as mine were), "Look, as long as they don't run around flaunting their atheism/homosexuality, I don't care," consider giving your money. Plus, if you donate directly to the troop, ALL of your money stays local, and NONE of it goes to overhead.

Again: national doesn't matter. They don't have any real control over what happens at the level that the boys actually experience. While "The Boy Scouts of America" is a hate-promoting organization, Troop 50 out of Pine Shores Presbyterian probably isn't.

Which is why I support on a troop by troop basis, not on the national level as United Way does.