Bart Ehrman Foundation - Hurricane Helene Disaster Relief Fundraiser

[@taipingwashighaf6514]

I'm not American but when our region was struck by a huge earthquake, we received help in the form of donations and fundraisers from many in the US. Now it is time to give back and help those in need.

[@VictorVæsconcelos]

Deplete your country's economy to help the largest economy in the world? I'm sure you have local charities that need money. Here's how you can contribute to the US: remind people in the US that they are the richest country in the world and they 100% have the money to solve this, solve homelessness, solve the prison system, solve universal healthcare, solve free tuition, provide mandatory paid parental leave and comprehensive childcare, etc. Remind them that the elite has claimed that the following things would "bankrupt" them: the abolition of slavery, the creation of a minimum wage, the right of a union to strike, medicare and medicaid, social security, food stamps, the list goes on. Human rights are human rights, not a game for rich people to play to feel oh so generous. It's always the same excuse, and it's so patently obvious that it's an excuse in the one and only country in history to be worth twenty five trillion dollars a year, especially when East Germany had every single thing I mentioned with an economy of $500 billion, inflation corrected for 1989-2024.

[@thescoobymike]

Good on you Bart. It’s horrible what’s happened. A lot of these places could never have foreseen this happening and there was absolutely no infrastructure in place to support it. I encourage everyone to support Bart’s Foundation and American Red Cross to help these people.

[@rdklkje13]

What do you mean not foreseen? Scientists have been predicting this for 50 years, literally screaming from the rooftops. To largely deaf ears, unfortunately. The Netflix movie Don't Look Up gives a pretty good idea of how this works, more easily digestible than the science itself. Although there are plenty of great sources for this too, such as Radio Ecoshock. Disaster management starts with prevention.

[@utubota5522]

I have always had a lot of respect for you, Bart. This just multiplies manifold.

[@Traverser17]

Hey Bart, I'm from WNC. I had a similar experience of being without communications for days and being stuck in place. While I consider myself very fortunate, it also was a jarring and humbling wake-up call. Other people in my community were and still are severely impacted. It's difficult to express the degree of devastation to folks outside of WNC. Thank you for using your platform to raise awareness and support those in need.

[@ShaneMcMillen-h6f]

I live near Boone, NC. Our area was very hard hit by the storm and we just got power, water, and cell reception back today. My wife and I are very lucky as we sustained less damage to our farm than most of our neighbors. I have been a fan of Dr. Ehrman for many years and will gladly sign up for this special to donate to my fellow Carolinians!

[@flatoutt1]

an aussie here bart that's followed you for years . one of the things i'm getting from this is it's so refreshing and uplifting not having to go into critical thinking mode [trying to suss his motives beyond his words] ,and just run into the peace of "it's bart with his servant heart wanting to help his community in this time of strife "because i believe you are a good ,honourable man of integrity ,i'm in, with bugger all but a lot of bugger all's makes a difference .and also i know what it's like being in a flood about 2 feet over the floor. all the best bart .it's good to help

[@cathykrueger4899]

I’m glad your experience wasn’t any worse but it was bound to have been scary. I’m a Katrina survivor. I donated. I remember how none of us knew the extent of the damage because there was no way to find out. And then there was. I lived in Black Mountain in the 60s and went to high school in Swannanoa. Thinking of all my classmates. As horrid as Katrina was I think I’m qualified to say that Helene was worse. My heart is broken for the people lost and the ones suffering. Thank you so much for this charity. I have never seen you look so sad. I’m crying as I write this.

[@ChrisLambert-Yngvegodi]

Well done Bart. Good luck to all.

[@yeahnaaa292]

Good people of our community. Ante-Up.

[@josephgraf8458]

Done... I look forward to the webinar. BTW, I enjoy the podcast. I had to binge on them a while back to get caught up, but it was worth it. Thank you for setting up this effort within this community to allow us to show our love.

[@jericosha2842]

Really like this. Thank you.

[@stormy8110]

Thank you, Bart!

[@rogeriopenna9014]

Hope everything get's fine Dr Ehrman. Speaking of Bible and natural disasters, I live in Novo Hamburgo, southern Brazil. Southern Brazil was hit with the worst flooding in history this May. The water level surpassed in half a meter what had been until now the worst ever flooding, the historical flood of 1941, that our grandparents used to talk about. (well, I am 45, so if it's a father, grandfather or great grandfather talking about obviously depends on your age) Porto Alegre, the state capital, had large sections submerged FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH. Even the international airport was underwater and will only re-open this October. Now, why I am talking about this? I was left many times angry and quite upset by the amount of evangelical Americans that said the floods were "God's wrath" because of a Carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro, full 1000 miles from where these floods happened, back in 2019. It was a carnival parade featuring Jesus being whipped by Satan. Actually, it was just a relecture of the Via Crucis, the Romans and Jews being replaced by Satan. At the end, Jesus was even saved by some angels and stuff, representing his ascenssion to heaven. But no matter, so many evangelicals got upset and said we were paying the price, despite the distance and time to that carnival parade. It just shows how nonsensical this religious fanaticism is. Even if god was real and was angry at a frigging carnival parade, he would now punish people based on a country political borders???

[@lazykbys]

I'm not sure I can attend due to living on the other side of the globe, but I'm always hopeful.

[@bunk_foss]

I don't support Bart Ehrman's message, but I support this.

[@SangYoonLee-ht1wf]

Well he's message is plausible, yet not conclusive. I think misguided people who exploits his works for their arguments are in the wrong. Both extreme religious fanatics and atheists should open their eyes and think more critically of what they believe or consider as the truth.

[@bunk_foss]

@@SangYoonLee-ht1wf You've gotta define religious fanatic.

[@bunk_foss]

@@SangYoonLee-ht1wf I don't like how a Baptist Fundamentalist, or really any Protestant handles the revelations of God, myself. If that's who you refer to when you say religious fanatic.

[@helenyoung6561]

I think that God is trying to get us away from and protect us from all disasters and the like. I go with what the 12 steps and John Shelby Spong have said about God. E is a God of the best of my understanding and wherewithal and one that I would choose to respect love and worship. Idk if we can pray or wish away all disasters and stuff like that, but I do think it helps. Thing is everyone has to do their share of the praying. If we just leave it up to a few people it won't work. and it is just too much. Thanks for your video -again. I'm one of the "Christians for Bart Ehrman" people. 🙂 - - - hope that's ok with U. ? . . 🙂

[@rdklkje13]

We need Christians to stop enabling fossil fuels and fascism. Remembering instead their role as compassionate stewards of the Earth. That would make a difference. As a Christian, working with your community on this is probably the most helpful thing you can do. There are a number of Christian communities out there doing this already, of course, but the most influential ones are paving the way to hell for everyone, including themselves, at breakneck speed. The more Christians stand up to show them and the world how misguided they are, the better.

[@evedillingham6847]

I made a donation but will not be attending the Zoom. Please take care, and I hope your community recovers quickly from the devastation.

[@Anointed-n6q]

Praying for you Bart. You da man ! Prayer is direct back and forth communication with the Devine Presence of the Holy Spirit of the one true God of Abraham, Issac N Jacob through the breaking of hash infused last supper Melchizadekian psilocybin fungi Presence bread and by hash infused anointing oil poured over head and by smoked hash. This is how we pray; give us this day our daily 🫒🍄🌿bread

[@charlesloeffler333]

Thank you Bart, but grand-niece and her new husband graduated from App-State last year and have loaded up their truck with supplies for people in Boone. I was able to help them. Otherwise I would contribute to your aid fund

[@RichardSmith-u7f]

Tromp Junction

[@flatoutt1]

bart me again ,just on the god/suffering topic ,you might find this interesting and food for thought.i came across the interesting ,thoughtful charachter of pommy, mark dowd who had that question after the 2004 tsunami and went out to asia with a camera crew to try and get some answers .;great doco ;tsunami- where was God pt 1 kzbin.info/www/bejne/oH7CpXZ8e52ara8

[@russellmiles2861]

If rich Americans can't be bothered taking out insurance; who cares. Perhaps help poor people who experience adverse weather incidents in the Third World all the time and just get on with it and don't wing. What about a fun raiser for Amleke

[@cecolson]

Flood insurance is extremely expensive in the United States and is NOT included with general homeowners or renters insurance policies. It is so expensive that only the financially very well-off, if they live in a floodplain, can afford it. However, people of western North Carolina DO NOT LIVE IN A FLOOD PLAIN and therefore had no reason whatsoever to expect the disaster that recently occurred. They live in the Appalachian Mountains. Furthermore, the majority of the population in western North Carolina are far from wealthy. Most are, financially, middle to lower middle class with a significant number of families living below the poverty line. They had NO reason to expect severe flash-flooding and enormous mudslides such as they have recently experienced. You need to educate yourself before flippantly making disparaging comments and criticisms.

[@russellmiles2861]

@@cecolson we are talking about the most wealthy country on Earth - not Bangladesh or PNG. If folk choose not to have insurance that is really their lifestyle choice.

[@cecolson]

@@russellmiles2861 Why do you assume everyone in this country is wealthy? My God! You have never seen the shacks some of our citizens live in! You are too ignorant to comment on this matter. Families who are financially middle-class cannot afford flood insurance. Regular insurance does not cover damage from floods. It is an addendum to a regular policy and is extremely expensive.

[@russellmiles2861]

@@cecolson if there are poor people it is because you choose to be that way - it is not necessary.

[@cecolson]

@@russellmiles2861 Tell that to the people who have no other options. There is barely any industrial work in the US anymore and that is the sort of jobs that allowed millions to live above the poverty line. Those jobs were shipped overseas thanks to our feckless “leaders.”

[@DeconvertedMan]

Global warming is making everything worse. What can we do? :/

[@user-et2ti5nk9e]

Why donate, won't God provide 🤔?

[@Viktor-wz7yk]

God is not real

[@thomasjacobs9889]

He was busy helping professional football players score touchdowns during the first weeks of the football season. Priorities!😂

[@leedoss6905]

​@@thomasjacobs9889😂😂😂😂

[@SP-vb8jj]

Donating is God providing.

[@rdklkje13]

Nice initiative, slight correction: Helene was/is not a _natural_ disaster. This kind of event has become increasingly likely and increasingly powerful as a result of humans burning fossil fuels and refusing to take responsibility for it. Without us, Helene may well have remained a tropical storm, or maybe a Cat 2 hurricane. From a Christian perspective you might say that humans, in particular through capitalism, have reneged on the stewardship role God envisioned for us. And that we're utterly failing to recognise that Created in the Image of means, among other things, with the creative power to completely alter Earth's biosphere whether we do so consciously or not. And whether we kill off most complex life, including ourselves, in the process - which is our current, collective choice. Want to make a different choice? If you're in the US, do whatever you can to keep Trump & Co. a 1000 miles from The White House, then pressure Harris to come to her senses and stop supporting fascists abroad, you know, just like she doesn't support them at home. Shouldn't be that complicated. But I digress.

[@alexreid1173]

I don’t really disagree, but Helene IS a natural disaster. That’s the correct scientific word for it. We can’t say for sure that Helene would have been different if climate change weren’t happening. What we CAN say is that climate change is making hurricanes like this more common. And more people will suffer because of that.

[@rdklkje13]

@@alexreid1173Actually, these days we _can_ say this for sure and at least two rapid attribution studies are out already. This means that “natural disaster” is NOT the correct scientific term for Hurricane Helene. It’s only partly natural, and the worst devastation is the part that we have caused ourselves.

[@rdklkje13]

@@alexreid1173Devastation caused both through the ways in which we have increased the destructive powers of a hurricane like this one, and the ways in which we have failed to adapt adequately to this development. We really are very powerful creatures, I just wish we’d learn, properly, to use our power for good.

[@charlespflanze9651]

Nonsense. Scientists say there was a flood just like this in the area in 1916. What's your excuse for that one?

[@rdklkje13]

​@@charlespflanze9651How am I supposed to respond rationally to such an uninformed comment??? How about you do Earth Sciences 101 somewhere, then we'll be able to talk. Radio EcoShock is a great science resource for non-scientists.