to ask for your help in writing an objection to Operation Christmas Child?

[autumnwinds]

Our local primary is supporting OCC and has published a piece in the village magazine explaining how wonderful it is and how much the local children enjoy it, what a difference it makes to needy children, and inviting local residents to donate too. The piece omits any reference to the evangelical christian literature that is distributed with the parcels and the way that the gifts are used as a tool to agressively convert recipients to christianity.

I would like to write a reply for publishing in next month's issue trying to give the full picture so that people can make an informed choice about whether to donate to this charity, and to suggest some alternatives that don't come with the religious baggage.

As I don't have a child at the primary yet I'm not sure about tackling the school itself about it (they are not a faith school, so not sure they should be supporting this). DC will be starting next year so I might save that fight for next xmas!

Anyway does anyone have any ideas about a few lines I could write, something succinct and unemotional? I feel quite cross about it but don't want to come across as an equally fundamentalist atheist. I've been looking for some evidence on the web for people who want to know more but most of it is not well referenced...

I'm not much of a poster but I've been around a while and I remember a few years ago mnetter from Bosnia posting that her (Muslim if I recall) children came home from nursery with these boxes.

.........so on that basis it doesn't matter whether it's observed in that country or not. But is an opportunity to give the children some things they otherwise would never have.

I'm not much of a poster but I've been around a while and I remember a few years ago mnetter from Bosnia posting that her (Muslim if I recall) children came home from nursery with these boxes.

Exactly. It isn't a prerequisite that you have to be a Christian or even that you have to convert to it. EVERYBODY gets a box.

Speaking of Syrian refugees I assume that you will also be writing to the many Muslim charities involved in the relief effort to ensure that there is no religious material involved there? Or ensuring people who visit the gurdwaras for food aren't given any material relating to Sikhism?

Or is it just Christian charities you like to target?

And what an earth makes you think the people receiving these boxes aren't capable of chucking it away if they're not interested?

I'm sure rather than the nice things and essentials in these boxes what they really need is someone handwringing over what they should read because they want to impose their own choices on them.

I'm sure the OP learned about religions before making a choice to reject them. Why shouldn't someone in a poor country do the same or not as the case may be?

Operation Christmas Child's parent organisation, Samaritan's Purse, describes every shoebox as a 'gospel opportunity' and a 'tool for mission'. The main aim of OCC, as far as they are concerned, seems to be to encourage young children to sign up for a 12-week 'discipleship' programme, and convert to an American fundamentalist style of Christianity.

From their website: "Millions of boys and girls have indicated that they have committed their lives to Jesus Christ after receiving shoe box gifts and participating in our follow-up program."

The evangelism has not been made clear in the way they present themselves to school, so I think it is entirely appropriate for the OP to try to give a fuller picture so that people can decide whether this is something they want to support.

The head of communications of Samaritan's Purse in the UK appeared on a couple of threads on here last month, admitted there was an issue with schools not being made aware of the evangelism, and later promised there would be 'unparalleled transparency' next year - but not this year.

There are lots of other charities, including some shoebox ones, that do good stuff at Christmas without linking gifts to evangelism.

www.inminds.co.uk/occ.html

Have a read through the above and then see what you think about this organisation. I managed to get my place of work to stop collecting shoeboxes for them by pointing out that many of our (very) multi-faith students were being called disgusting names by the people running the show...who describe the boxes as: "These gift filled shoeboxes provide powerful tools the local churches can use to evangelise people."

Also see sites.google.com/site/occalert/ for more information - harmless eh....?

jellyboats, I think the problem with the Muslim child in the nursery being given a box was that not only did the Christian literature sit in direct opposition to his declared religion, but he was also a child from a comfortable family going to a paid for private nursery. He wasn't 'in need', he was merely being targeted for conversion.

The presents are given in the spirit of christmas

No, they are not. They are given in the spirit of "let's use this opportunity to introduce children of other religions (and none) to Jesus Christ".

If it was just about the joy of giving, why bother with the evangelical tracts? Lots of other charities leave this out, including many Christian ones.

These people have an agenda. And I don't see why they should use our generosity & the needs of vulnerable children to achieve it.

And anyone who thinks that Christmas is a "Christian festival" needs a history lesson.

there are plenty of Christian charities that don't have the strings attached or an overtly right wing fundamentalist message

Christmas is by it's name a Christian celebration so I don't object to a Christian charity but I will not have my kids involved in one so anti the things I believe such a gay rights and freedom of religion

also what is with all the talk of 'haters' I feel like I've walked into a 6th for common room

YANBU OP x

Samaritan's Purse makes the oh so delightful Franklin Graham a considerable amount of money, around $500.000 p.a. Nice work if you can get it.
Lovely views

A rather important part of Samaritan's Purse Mission Statement:
Vulnerable children are rescued, educated, fed, clothed, and sheltered, letting them know that God loves them, Jesus died and rose again for them, and they are not forgotten.

And Samaritan's Purse spent $150,000 on the campaign against same-sex marriage in the US - rather an inappropriate use of funds for a 'humanitarian aid' charity, wouldn't you say?

They are really not the sort of organisation that the majority of British parents would want to be associated with, I suspect - but the cuddly 'let's do something nice for poor children at Christmas' image they project in British schools glosses over all that.

Hmm. Maybe I've been a bit naive. There is no way I would want to support a charity that spreads homophobic sentiment.

Jellyboats, Lottie, Seasick and all the others who seem to be arguing that the OP shouldn't point out the evangelical side of OCC to parents who may not be aware of it (since from her OP it certainly sounds like the school hasn't made it clear) - can you please give me one good reason why parents should not be given the full facts?

Because if I were a Muslim/Hindu/Jewish/gay/atheist/Catholic parent - in fact anyone who wouldn't willingly sign their own child up for a 12-week discipleship course run by American fundamentalists, which I am guessing would be 90+% of the parents in most schools - I would be pretty pissed off to discover, after I had put together a thoughtful box full of gifts for an underprivileged child, that my gift was going to be handed over as an inducement to sign up for bible classes.

Is this a common practice in schools? I'd only come across it as someone in OH's office used to collect them and didn't know anything of the background. It wasn't done at my son's school ( and to be honest given the ethos of the school I can imagine there would have been objections, including from me if I'd known the full story)

And also to be honest I'm slightly surprised it's being promoted in schools given the evangelical aspect. Aren't there many more neutral charities which schools could support at Christmas, e.g. Crisis at Christmas, Oxfam and even Christian Aid as it doesn't proselytize.

I used to go along with it but I did have reservations about the efficacy of it as a method of getting things to children in need which they actually wanted or needed. We don't do it now and I feel I'm doing much better just making donations to mainstream charities.

Exexpat the person in OH's office didn't explain the background to him, it was this charity, however. If she had there is no way either of us would have supported it.

Exactly. Operation Christmas Child and it's supporters have a long history of being seriously economical with the truth about the real aims of the programme.

(because the truth would put most people off)

*its (hate iPad autocorrect)

It would be far more Christian to give money to an aid organisation than to spend a fortune on irrelevant junk and the shipping costs that involves.

If my child had difficulty accessing education, clean water, healthy food, vaccinations and health services, safe housing etc - then those are the things I would want for them. Not a box of cheap tat from a foreign culture that was probably manufactured with child labour.

YANBU

here are some alternative suggestions

You don't agree, you don't participate, start and end of it. Launching a one woman mission to make sure everyone else thinks the same as you is unreasonable

This.

OCC seems to me to be little more than a con. It appears to be not about the giving of gifts but about the spreading of a specific doctrine. The shoe boxes are merely a vehicle, a kind of Trojan horse, to give the evangelists a foot in the door and a reason to engage in communication with children that they otherwise would have no access to.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with evangelism, if that's what they want to do. But what is wrong is using gullible people's kindness to finance it under the false pretence of it being a nice giving thing to do at Christmas.

heidihole, you haven't read the whole thread, have you?

I do hope the UK head of Samaritan's Purse comes on to this thread like he did the last one.

My favourite part was when he told us how secretly miserable all gay people are.

What a lovely charity

Yanbu op.