Noted atheist and columnist for the U.K. Guardian Roy Hattersley recently wrote the following:

http://www.preachingtoday.com/31397

"It ought to be possible to live a Christian life without being a Christian," laments Roy Hattersley, a columnist for the U.K. Guardian. An outspoken atheist, Hattersley came to this conclusion after watching the Salvation Army lead several other faith-based organizations in the relief effort after Hurricane Katrina.

"Notable by their absence," he says, were "teams from rationalist societies, free thinkers' clubs, and atheists' associations—the sort of people who scoff at religion's intellectual absurdity." According to Hattersley, it is an unavoidable conclusion that Christians "are the people most likely to take the risks and make the sacrifices involved in helping others."
Hattersley also notes that this pattern of behavior goes beyond disaster relief:

Civilized people do not believe that drug addiction and male prostitution offend against divine ordinance. But those who do are the men and women most willing to change the fetid bandages, replace the sodden sleeping bags, and—probably most difficult of all—argue, without a trace of impatience, that the time has come for some serious medical treatment.
"The only possible conclusion," says Hattersley, "is that faith comes with a packet of moral imperatives that, while they do not condition the attitude of all believers, influence enough of them to make [Christians] morally superior to atheists like me."

Hattersley's conclusion as to why this is so ("... faith comes with a packet of moral imperatives that, while they do not condition the attitude of all believers, influence enough of them to make [Christians] morally superior to atheists like me.") is totally false, but given his atheist background, his mistake is somewhat understandable. It is not "moral imperatives" that motivate Christians to serve and reach out to those in need. Rather, it is the Spirit of Christ and the love of Christ empowering believers that motivates this type of service and outreach to the least.

I'm certain many secularists will take issue with Hattersley's take. But before you do, where were you in the aftermath of Katrina?

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"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."
Winston Churchill

Here is a link to the entire, original column by Hattersley.

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"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."
Winston Churchill

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"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."
Winston Churchill

Makes sense.

If a person believes in an afterlife or whatever and how they live their life now having an effect of some sort on it then they are more apt to act in such manners in certain ways then those who don't.

Having faith in an "afterlife" has zero influence on doing types of service such as this, coming from so many involved in various faith-based organizations. The message of Christianity is no one "goes to heaven" based on how moral or immoral of a life they have lived. Salvation comes only by placing one's faith in Christ. An atheist could devote their entire life in service to others, as the author notes. Yet, when it's time to step up to the plate and serve, the atheists are nowhere to be found. What is it operating in the life of a Christian that causes the author of the article to conclude persons of faith far out-serve secularists? The author concludes it is a superior "moral code of behavior." If that was the case, atheists would have no problem adopting such a code of behavior, all the while remaining atheists.

No, there is something much more dynamic at work, here.

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"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."
Winston Churchill

LOL

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

Try this on for size:
It's almost completely due to organization. Christians, at least sects of Christians, see themselves as organized groups. They also see it as a duty to help out with charity, as it has been a tradition and seems to have biblical mandate. No such union exists of atheists except maybe a couple one-issue lobbying groups to protect religious freedom. Why? Atheists are not a religious group, merely individuals who share a common belief. They don't go to Atheist Temple every week. They don't start the Atheist Bake Sale and Homeless Shelter. But occasionally they do volunteer for either religious of non-affiliated organizations to do work.
An atheist who wants to help will either have the "I am one. I am useless." mentality, will join an existing group to help out, or will try to do things alone and not get much done (unless he/she is rich and can start a new organization... which will probably allow Christians.
The Salvation Army comes to mind. Do only Christians give to the Salvation Army? No. Do only Christians volunteer for the Salvation Army? No. My mom goes to their church. Their church is dedicated to helping all, not just Christians. And yet there is one member of the parish who believes only Christians should be helped. Guess how much this affects Salvation Army's policy. Zilch. And this member still takes part in helping out. Why? Because she is part of the organization. Though if she had her way, she wouldn't lift a finger to help an atheist.
Meanwhile an atheist might feel a need to help all, even Christians, but feel directionless and without a framework. Good-intentioned person. But unorganized as hell. I often find myself in this category. The last time I managed to do anything substantial for the poor other than miniscule donations was in conjunction with a student group.
Organization. It's a necessity to get things done. Christians are organized and generally unified in purpose. Atheists are not. Atheists generally have to work with Christians to get things done... and typically don't run around trying to claim Christians are less moral.

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That information is classified and to be given only on a need-to-know basis...

And I do not need to know.

You suggest that Christians help others because of a group mentality going on, but what drives them to find such a group in the first place? A desire to serve the Lord and Savior whose sacrifice gave the gift of eternal life is what. And when you have that knowledge within yourself you naturally want to follow His teachings, to Love Your Neighbor as Yourself. Does atheism teach that?

No. But atheists sort of figured it out on their own. We don't need a book to tell us right from wrong.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

The funny thing is that the "organized" part of their religion is what many non-religious people claim to hate. Rather than seeing like-minded people get together, some claim religion has brain-washed them. There are many secular service organizations. Funny that they're mostly populated with Christians too.

In any case, organization is not the explanation. The sign-up sheet at colleges for the spring break Katrina clean-up was open to everyone. I think it's simply a lot of young people answering the question, "What would Jesus do?"

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"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves." ~Ronald Reagan