to not want to contribute to Samaritan's Purse

[pantshavenames]

DS came home from school yesterday with a letter requesting a shoe box full of stuff for Harvest festival. I disappeared into a fug of nostalgia about the good old days of dented tins of peaches but then was directed to the brochure that came with it.. not only can I not put any food in it (WTF? for a Harvest Festival?), it's for a charity called Samaritan's Purse which is a christian charity bribing with knickknacks reminding people god loves them and here's some Haribo.
He's not in a church school and I'm really uncomfortable about giving any money/goods to this charity. On a quick google, it seems incredibly right wing and evangelical and I'm not. I'm a bit shocked at the school thinking this was Ok tbh..
So AIBU?

yanbu

they are not reminding Christian children that God loves them, they are trying to convert people from other faiths

it's quite naughty isn't it?

There are loads of threads on this with tips on how to deal. I really think we ought to write to local councils and stop schools getting involved in Samaritans Purse - I think most of them don't realise what kind of organisation it is. So no, YANBU IMO

I have read on MN that they are a right wing organisation.

(It is for Christmas btw at my school, not Harvest Festival)

Anyway, I am not particularly happy about them brainwashing a child to get the gifts that I have given freely with no strings in my DS's shoebox. As with your school, my DS's school is not a church school.

But the fact of the matter is that schools have handed out this stuff with written requests etc. I think it is too late to change it for this year (I would not go into battle with my DS's school because they are very good with him and have helped him enormously and I do not want to rock the boat). I think if it is to be changed, we need to just hand over the shoeboxes this year, but then send a letter to the head or whatever asking them to consider whether it is appropriate for next year and could they choose a secular alternative.

On the plus side, we have packed our shoebox and DS (3) undertands that we got the presents for a little boy because his mummy hasn't got enough money to get any presents. He has put in 2 new nice cars which he really wants himself but he has understood that this little boy has a greater need for them than he does. This is a major achievement for my DS who has a little speech delay and poss. ASD.

yanbu.
The choice of name is cynical as well i think, who wouldn't want to give to the proper Samaritans? are they hoping there is a subliminal association?

YANBU. I looked into them a couple of years ago and wrote to my DS's school saying I did not think it appropriate and suggesting we did shoeboxes for the children in local women's refuges instead. Their response was a little patronising, and the school continues to participate. We take no part in it.

We thought about sending this letter to the Head...
'We?re concerned that the school has chosen to support Samaritan?s Purse as part of its Harvest celebration. Samaritan?s Purse is an American, fundamentalist group run by Franklin Graham. Graham is well known for declaring "The god of Islam is not the same God of the Christian or the Judeo-Christian faith. It is a different god, and I believe Islam is a very evil and a very wicked religion.? Clearly his views do not match those of the school.

The leaflet you gave us says ?[we] will make available to children a booklet of Bible stories?. Other charities, like Save The Children, have expressed strong concerns about these practices. Criticisms of the Samaritan?s Purse have been widely reporting by the BBC and The Guardian.

We approve of the ideas behind this exercise, but feel that more liberal, less religious, European charities like Oxfam, Save The Children and Médecins Sans Frontières would be more appropriate to support.

The letter we received states ?We would like everyone to take part?. We hope that our son won?t feel excluded because we cannot support such a controversial, religious fundamentalist charity. We wonder if an alternative project might be possible if there are any other parents that do not support the aims of a charity like Samaritan?s Purse.'

What do you think?

Gosh that should sock it to em pants! I might leave the liberal bit out personally, sounds like you're getting political, I know what you mean but... the religious point is strong enough.

whereyouleftit I'm interested in what the school said in response to you - if they carried on doing it what was their explanation etc?

Lol... I had to recommend to Dh to remove right-wing fascist mfs to try and avoid politicising it. I always thought liberal was too wishywashy to be political

Tell that to the lib dems

OMG that is completely outrageous! If that was going on a DSD's school we would be on the war path for sure! Thankfully they still ask for tinned food.

From Wikipedia:

The accounts for Samaritan's Purse UK for 2006 show a turn over in excess of £22 million..[29] Of this total, £1.3 million were disbursed on relief and aid projects with the balance spent on promotion and operations associated with the evangelical project Operation Christmas Child.

That's not a lot spent on aid and an awful lot spent on proseletysing.

Samaritan Purse has provided us with some great educational opportunities. Education is first and foremost about asking questions, not taking things at face value, digging beneath the surface. Our kids, and apparently, some of our head-teachers need to learn not to blindly accept what they are told by SP's well funded PR machine.

Hi everyone! For me doing a shoebox with my kids has been hugely rewarding as it gave me an opportunity to explain how well off they are compared to kids in poor countries. Sure I could have just sent money but my kids wouldn't have had so much fun choosing presents for their 'child'! I heard some schools were cancelling shoeboxes this year. That's sad isn't it, I guess loads of kids who have nothing won't miss the shoeboxes but people have lost the opportunity to show them we care