Comedian Doug Stanhope Raises Money For Atheist OK Tornado Victim

One of the more memorable moments of television coverage immediately following the Oklahoma tornado disaster was a CNN interview conducted by Wolf Blitzer. He was speaking with tornado victim Rebecca Vitsmun amidst the rubble of her neighborhood and he asked her at the end of the interview "Do you thank the Lord?" She replied that she was an atheist and that moment has become a viral hit online.

Comedian Doug Stanhope is asking all atheists to step up and raise money to help her in a new Kickstarter project. Here are the details from the project page:


Rebecca Vitsmun - while in a sea of "God" rhetoric in the aftermath of the Moore, OK tornado - was being interviewed by CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

When asked by Wolf "Do you thank the Lord?" she quickly responded that she was an atheist.

It's important that our community shows that we have your back when you come out publicly as an atheist.

Let's show the world that you dont need to believe in a god to have human compassion nor does all charity fall under the banner of religion.

Let's get this courageous woman and her family back in their own home.
 
What We Need & What You Get
We dont know the exact cost of putting a family back together when you dont even have a toothbrush anymore so we randomly chose 50,000 dollars as a goal. And that's probably low-ball.
 
 
The Impact
The impact of getting Rebecca and her family properly housed by the atheist community will do far more good than sitting in bars or chat rooms mocking people of faith. Like religion, free-thinking will be more easily spread through compassion and decency.
 
Other Ways You Can Help
Post, Tweet, Call, Email, Text, Write, Yard Signs, Smoke Signals, Myspace...
 
Maybe prayer would be as effective as Myspace.
 
Just get the word and the link to people.
 
#AtheistsUnite on Twitter
 
I just hope folks arent as dumb as me and screw up "atheist" every time.
 It ends "ist!" dammit!

The perks being offered by Stanhope to donors include everything from a "Get out of Hell Free" card to "The Holy Grail."

The project is raising money at a dizzying pace and has passed $44,000 after less than 24 hours.

Click here for more info or to donate money to Atheists Unite.