Operation Christmas Child - again, sorry!

[titchy]

Along with many others I have a vehenent objection to my school involving itself with this organisation, so emailed our head.

She has just replied saying that her research has shown that they have calmed their ideas down since all the previous bad publicity. She also said that our LEA, and the DCSF, who provide guidance have not told schools to boycott this organisation - and also apparetnly Princess Anne visited them last year so they have the backing of the Royal Family...

I want to reply, but adding some facts about her comments above - does anyone have any facts and figures (recent ones) that I can throw at her.

I also want her to agree to let parents vote on a charity the school can work with, rather than just asking that they support this one (apparetnly all parents can get information abuot OCC becuase of the Freedom of Information Act and therefore they can make their own judgements ).

Any thoughts?

TIA

For the backpack for Mary's Meals we used old (washed) schoolbags. And old (washed) crocs for the shoes.

It cost very little, and to be honest, we didn't mind the cost, cos it seems like a very good cause!

I was pleased how receptive ds's head was bearing in mind it is a charity they've supported for years. I think it was helpful having the October 2009 newsletter as ammo.

weegiemum do you mean old school rucksacks? Our problem is that our school doesn't allow the pupils to use rucksacks so most people won't have old ones to spare.

I sent my son's school:

www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/Newsletter/october_09/ www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/articles/an_eternal_harvest/ www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/Beyond_The_Box/ and www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/nov/10/religion.society

I also put in the quotes about Islam being a "very evil and wicked religion" and Hindus are "bound by Satan's power".

Someguy Could you point me in the direction of the quotes that you mention. My Ds's school is doing Operation Christmas Child this year, and I want to put together some information to encourage them to find an alternative for next year. Thank you.

2ticks: re OCC:
pursestrings.ca/ www.humanism.org.uk/humanism/humanism-today/humanists-doing/charities/samaritans-purse
secularderby.org/purse.htm
sites.google.com/site/occalert/

Some comments by Graham more generally:

On Muslims:

"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 a very evil and a very wicked religion."
www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2006/10/22/graham.html

Hurricane Katrina:
"This is one wicked city, OK? It's known for Mardi Gras, for Satan worship. It's known for sex perversion. It's known for every type of drugs and alcohol and the orgies and all of these things that go on down there in New Orleans... There's been a black spiritual cloud over New Orleans for years. They believe God is going to use that storm to bring revival."
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9600878/

"..we traveled to the subcontinent of India, with its hundreds of millions of people locked in the darkness of Hinduism? These people were bound by Satan's power." Franklin Graham "Rebel With a Cause" (pg 138-139)

2ticks: just click on the links in SomeGuy's post and you'll get the full quotes.

LuckyKate: can you tell us which LEA you are in?

and SomeGuy: what was your son's school's response?

Thanks amnon and someguy.

amnon, they said they couldn't really do anything this year but the info was there for next year.

Well, that's something.... My school decided to continue to collect boxes, but send them to a bona fide charity instead. In the meanwhile, they sent a letter home informing parents and asking them not to make any more donations to SP.

A bit of a mess, but they had no choice. It is one thing to support OCC when you don't know what it is about. But the moment you know that it uses material gifts to indoctrinate young kids and seeks to undermine local customs, you have to either pull out, or knowingly endorse these practices yourself.

Anyway, well done for raising this with your school... Maybe ask them if they can share the info with other schools via the LEA, so that other schools in your area don't get suckered next year...

they are private, no LEA to deal with.

I succeeded in getting it onto a meeting agenda at our school and they will probably look for an alternative for next year.

Rereading tichy's original post at the beginning of the thread, it appears that the Royal family supports Operation Christmas Child, and for this reason her headmaster believes that her school should support the charity.

Does the Royal Family support OCC because they support the indoctrination of kids in the third world? Do they support Frankin Graham's statement on Islam, Hinduism and New Orlenes quoted above? Or are they so utterly clueless that they support a charity without checking what it's aims are and who is behind it?

I don't know. But in either case I can not understand why the Royal family's support for this outfit means that us commoners need to follow suit. The English civil war of 1642 ended the absolute rule of the monarchy. Perhaps someone inform tichy's headteacher of the outcome of this war, and that we no longer need to follow the Royal families edicts. And if we find their charities utterly objectionable, we are at liberty to refrain from supporting them.

but amnon is n't that the way most marketing works - an endorsement - be it a famous face ir simply word of mouth - means people isntinctively trust the product or service on a more superficial basis and don't look into it deeper themselves because we assume they have already. I've no idea whether the "Royal Family" support OCC but even that interpretation could mean anything from the Queen to a minor member having participated at some point, consciously or unconsciously.

yes, that is how marking works. But if our head-teachers are incapable of seeing beyond celebrity endorsements, how can trust them with the education of our kids?

OCC is run by Samaritan's Purse. The more you dig into SP, the harder it is to distinguish it from the Billy Graham Evangelical Association (BGEA). In the UK, the trustees of both organizations are identical and include Franklin Graham himself. Have a look at the BGEA website - there is a page relating to OCC and it confirms many OCC shoeboxes are distributed by BGEA at Franklin Graham festivals. One of the videos available on the site shows Mr. Graham himself doing just this, explaining that it's a way of getting whole families of children to attend the festival and it's great for evangelism. I doubt many people filling the shoeboxes realise there is a chance that these boxes are going to be distributed by BGEA to promote their own brand of christian fundamentalism. Also have a look at the youth section (dare to be a daniel) of the BGEA website as to the messages BGEA want to give to young minds.