AIBU to ask you to watch this video about Operation Christmas Child?

[exexpat]

Operation Christmas Child touches Nepal

We are approaching the final week of this year's Operation Christmas Child programme, which asks people to donate shoeboxes full of gifts for a needy child overseas. Many schools promote it as a nice way for all children, whatever their religion or lack of it, to do something for others at Christmas.

What schools often do not tell parents (because they do not realise themselves) is that Operation Christmas Child is a highly evangelical programme, run by American fundamentalists, which uses shoeboxes as a way to lure small children into the church.

However, the video above - from the website of the OCC parent organisation, Samaritan's Purse - makes it abundantly clear exactly what they are doing, and what they think of other religions (Hinduism = darkness from which children must be saved by missionaries bearing shoeboxes).

Parents may also be interested to hear that Samaritan's Purse is run by Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham; he is best buddies with George Bush and Sarah Palin, describes Islam as evil, diverts the 'international relief' charity's funds to support the campaign against same-sex marriage in the US, promotes abstinence-only sex education in areas with a high HIV rate, and lots of other unsavoury things.

If your school promotes Operation Christmas Child, and they have not told you about the evangelical nature of the programme, please suggest the head teacher watches that video clip and has a good look round the Samaritan's Purse website.

(My apologies for yet another Operation Christmas Child thread, but this is the first one I have ever started, because I think that video deserves a wider audience)

Someone mentioned up thread about the Salvation Army being homophobic and I just wanted to say their leadership has condemned any members who made homophobic comments and I believe the person who made them has now left. As such as an atheist I'm happy to donate to them as whilst they may have homophobic members (as I'm sure all religious charities do) at least the leadership are trying to distance themselves from it. SP seem to revel in it.

And then there was the MN poster (who lived in Bulgaria?) whose child came home with a shoe box from school....

Do they even celebrate Christmas in Nepal?

Does anyone know about Mustard Seed Relief Missions? Our school does the shoebox appeal through them. I know they're a Christian charity, but are they in the same vein as OCC?

you are missing the point i made. if you don't want to support them, then don't ! Giving a box of toys does not meant i am giving any money to them!

the salvation army www.salvationarmy.org.uk/uki/ExploreOurMission believes in "openly sharing our faith",obviously, like any Christian charity!

Aside from the donation you have to put in with the toys, in the video they call the boxes 'tools'. They are the tools with which they do their work.

Whether you're donating money or toys you support the charity in what it's doing. And if you know exactly what it's doing and are happy with that, that's your lookout.

The issue is that many people aren't ok with it and many more aren't ok with it once they realise.

The many threads on here, which each time reveal more people who don't know what they use people's donations for, shows how few people do know what they are up to. Parents get a letter home from school saying please put a shoebox full of goodies together for a poor child in another country. They think that's a lovely idea, endorsed by the school and they just do it because they reasonably expect charitable causes to be charitable and something they would support.

However many people do not support the aims of this charity. Actually I've just searched and can't find them on the charity commission website. Can anyone else find them? Are they actually a registered charity in the UK?

Anyway, regardless of that digression, it is plain from that video that there is not a charitable aim behind this but a recruitment aim. Their aim is to recruit children to a christian organisation. Non-christians are unlikely to want to support this and many christians also may see it as unethical and not want to support it.

Any charitable relationship where there are donors and beneficiaries tends to throw up a power imbalance. Even if the donors try very hard not to put an obligation on the beneficiary an obligation may be felt by them.

People are entitled to be able to make an informed decision on whether to support OCC or not. As has also been shown on these threads very often the schools are shocked to find out what they have been promoting.

birdy by producing a shoebox of gifts you are supporting their aim to recruit children to a religious organisation. If you like that then fine.

Finally, the conclusive proof that Samaritans Purse is not something I want my children involved in. We will be finding another way for us to be involved. It actually turned my stomach hearing the guy in the video describing the boxes as "tools". And I'm a Christian. I just wish organisations wouldn't confuse aid, service and a duty to help orhers with evangelism. It's unpleasant and just downright wrong, especially where poor, vulnerable children are concerned.

Birdybear: you and I both know you have to attach a £3 "admin fee" to each box.

And every box donated validates the OCC operatives view that the public agree with their racist, homophobic, sexist (of course they're anti choice too) views. Their representative on this very site has used the justification that people donate boxes as a reason to carry on their work.

1] a child gets a shoebox of small gifts which delight him/her-he is also offered Bible classes which are not compulsory.
OR
2] a child gets nothing which is fine as he/she has nothing anyway and no one is ramming religion [especially -God forbid Christianity] down them.
I am not in any way evangelical and no longer do OCC boxes I prefer Mary's Meals backpacks.But I'd rather give in the name of Christianity then withold in the name of atheism.If you are starving you take the food offered.

oh no , not a Christian organisation? that sounds terrible- they er blow up buildings don't they? no ? make people miserable by forcing them to be be Christians, er no ? They lock people in cupboards and chop their heads off, no ? oh right , the vast majority have their religion as an impetus to choose to help people less fortunate than themselves. You are trying to make ordinary people sound like cultish terrorists. you don't like them, fine . you don't agree or believe in their religion , fine . Just leave others to make their own minds up.

Birdy, all this thread is aiming to do is point out to people, who may not have realised, that Operation Christmas Child is an evangelical programme. They can then make up their minds whether they want to support it, or if they would prefer to support one of thousands of other charities which do good things for children living in poverty, without imposing their religious beliefs on them. At the moment, the way OCC presents itself in schools does not give people the information they need to make an informed choice, because it glosses over the evangelistic aims of the programme.

Greylady - you left out option 3) which is that a child gets something worthwhile (clean water, vaccinations, education, housing, protection from trafficking, possibly even a box full of toys and school supplies) without any religious overtones. Unfortunately, Operation Christmas Child does not offer option 3, but many other charities do (Plan, Mary's Meals, Unicef, Rotary Club etc etc). I would go for option 3 every time.

you withhold from charity every day, grey lady. Half a million charities in the UK. Every tiime you don't give to them someone is losing out.

OCC is not saving them from starving. You are right though if you are starving you take the food offered which is why is it important to remember that power imbalance and not exploit it. Reputable charities try not to exploit it. OCC is all about exploiting that power imbalance.

Ah, birdy, now we see where you are coming from.

As for leaving others to make up their own minds that is exactly what posters have been saying to you on this thread. they want the info to make an informed choice. And for many that informed choice is to support another cause.

And to expand on exexpat's point 3) donations given to OCC divert money from other causes.

Most Christian charity organisations don't say 'we are first a Christian organisation and second an aid organisation' which was SPs defence at the absolute shitty way that it treated the Catholics caught up in the El Salvador earthquake.

Lots of these threads mention faith schools but a lot of UK faith schools are Catholic and many Catholics including the late Pope are uncomfortable with OCC, for very good reason

Can you contact your school and make sure they know this too, tantrum?

Are you lemon drizzle cake OP? It's about time there was some kerfuffle in your school again.

But OCC aren't listed in the charities commission website charity search tool. So that means they aren't a charity & you are donating to a private company actually.

Hmmm I don't like the sound of that, even if I did agree with their aims/ methods.

birdybear - I take it you are a Christian, so you may choose to support OCC. That is your right. But please be aware that not all the activities of Christian evangelists in developing countries are positive, or even harmless, which is why many people, even Christians, are so wary of supporting missionary activity overseas.

In Uganda, American evangelists have been instrumental in drawing up a new law which imposes the death penalty for homosexuality. Christian groups in South Africa and other places suffering from an Aids epidemic have promoted abstinence from extra-marital sex as the solution, rather than condoms and anti-retrovirals (which do you think would be more helpful for women whose husbands are HIV positive?). Women in several Latin American countries cannot have abortions even if they were raped, or if their lives are in danger - because of the influence of the church. Christian evangelists may not blow people up, but as far as I am concerned some of them have a lot of blood on their hands.

Samaritan's Purse is anti-abortion, anti-condom and anti-gay, among other things. People should know about that before they choose to support Operation Christmas Child, which gives them a way in to new communities through their weakest link, their children.

milktray - much as I dislike Samaritan's Purse, they are in fact a registered charity: their number is 1001349 and if you search on the charity commission website you will find them.

For better or worse, promotion of religion is a legitimate charitable activity under UK law.

(you may not have found them because Operation Christmas Child is just a programme run by Samaritan's Purse, rather than a charity in its own right, as far as I am aware)

I couldn't find Samaritan's purse on there either. Thanks.

Ah thanks for clarifying that exepat

Um, still can't find it. Am I being really dim?