Make Me Suffer (for Charity)

At the time of this writing (about 8:20 on Monday), my DonorsChoose challenge entry stands at $2,802, nearly double last year's take. That's outstanding, and I thank everyone who contributed.

Of course, I set a Challenge goal of $6,000, which means we're not quite halfway there. Which means I need to come up with some new way to solicit donations. History suggests that self-abasement often works, and local history shows that "new atheists" are a rich source of cash, so something along those lines would be good. Sadly, there isn't a local equivalent of the Creation Museum, and I'm not about to travel to Ohio just for that.

But here's an attempt at an offer in the same spirit, with three levels, based on the fact that I have had many unkind things to say about the "New Atheist" crowd and the various kerfuffles they have been involved in. So,:

1. The current donation total is $2,802. If I get $1,000 in new donations by the end of the day Friday, I will read and respectfully review one atheist screed chosen by readers. (Having previously said that I'd rather stab myself with a fork than read The God Delusion, this seems like a reasonable trade.)
2. The current number of donors is 31. If I get 100 new donors by the end of the day Friday, at any amount, I will read and respectfully review one atheist screed chosen by readers. This goes hand in hand with the previous offer, so 100 donations of $10 will force me to read and review two books.
3. If I pass the full Challenge goal of $6,000 by the end of the day Friday, I will pledge not to say anything negative about atheism, atheists, stupid and offensive analogies to civil rights organization, "framing" disputes, or related topics for one full year, or until the next time we run a big DonorsChoose fundraiser, whichever comes first.

So, there you go. You can help school teachers and children, and inflict suffering on me at the same time. What could be better?

(Fine print below the fold.)

In items 1) and 2), "respectfully review" does not mean that I guarantee to say positive things about the atheist screed of choice. If I feel it's a badly done book, or the arguments are weak, I will say that-- you're not buying lies. "Respectfully review" means that I will do my best to treat the book of choice as a serious argument, engage with it on its own terms, and review it without undue scorn (thus, I won't use the word "screed" in the review, unless it's a quote).

In item 3), I am pledging not to initiate any arguments on those topics (no matter how bored I may get), and not to join in to any ongoing arguments without direct provocation. I reserve the right to respond to posts or comments directly about me or aimed at me. The decision as to what constitutes a comment about or aimed at me is mine to make, though I may consult with Kate, who has a cooler head than I do.

In all cases, "the end of the day Friday" means whatever time after 5pm Eastern time on Friday, October 19, 2007 that I get around to checking the leaderboard. This might not happen until Saturday morning, depending on what I have going on Friday, but I wouldn't count on that.

Void where prohibited.