A “perturbed parent” – one parent, by the sound of it – has convinced fellow atheists in the American Humanist Association that giving Christmas presents to poor children in the Third World is tantamount to proselytising: the AMA has threatened to sue a school for taking part in Operation Christmas Child.
By preventing the giving of these Christmas gifts, atheists are engaged in their own twisted brand of evangelism: they are ramming home Richard Dawkins’ cheery view that in our universe there is “no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.” Surely there must be some parents “perturbed” by that?
From here:
A South Carolina charter school has canceled its annual Christmas toy drive after a group of self-described humanists complained that the project violated the U.S. Constitution and accused them of bribing children to convert to Christianity.
Renee Mathews, the principal of East Point Academy in West Columbia, S.C., said the annual Operation Christmas Child project was halted because the American Humanist Association threatened to sue the school.
“We received a letter saying we had to cease and desist immediately or they would take legal action against us,” Mathews told me.
[…..]
[T]he American Humanist Association decided to intervene on behalf of a perturbed parent.
“The boxes of toys are essentially a bribe, expressly used to pressure desperately poor children living in developing countries to convert to Christianity, and are delivered with prayers, sermons, evangelical tracts and pressure to convert,” read a letter the AHA sent to Mathews.
The AHA said a public school cannot affiliate itself with a group like Operation Christmas Child without violating the Establishment Clause.
This is just an indication of how far Satan’s generals will go to destroy the Faith. There is absolutely nothing in the Samaritan’s Purse program that could even begin to suggest forcing or indoctrination of children.
The AHA is using the government, courts, and now the schools to promote their religious beliefs. Threats of law suits is the act of a bunch of bullies, and this should be telling to everyone what sort of people these “humanists” really are.
This is pretty sad. There are misguided individuals under every flag. 🙁
Unbelievable. The emptiness of the hearts that aspire to such meanness, while proclaiming themselves to be the voice of an enlightened humanity. Sad times indeed with much worse to come I fear. “Save us, gracious God, from the dark forces that threaten the lives of your people, in nations and societies and in the human spirit.”
This is very sad. Perhaps, we can change the name to “Operation New Year Child”. Our goal is to give gifts to needy children (Christians and non-Christians) in the Third World. Everybody (Christians and non-Christians alike) celebrates New Year.
On the surface this may sound like a good idea, for it would enable the giving of gifts to needy children to still be practiced. However I would submit that it is actually a bad idea for what would really be accomplished is a victory by the forces of evil, they would have succeeded in removing God from yet another part of our lives.
If it is the law in the USA that religion must be removed from all parts of government than tell the government that it is the thing that is going to be removed and not God. Go ahead with Operation Christmas Child and do it completely separate from the government. If any politicians show up (i.e. for a photo op) tell them to get lost. If they were so unwilling to protect religion when it was included in the schools than they have no right to associate themselves with it for political gain.
The sad truth today is that if a person decides to run for office the fact that they are a person of faith can actually hurt their chances of being elected. If they are a Born Again Christian many voters would consider them to be unfit to hold public office. Funny it just hit me that the Diocese of Niagara voters elect their bishops the same way.
Not only is it true with the Diocese of Niagara but from the evidence that has been the policy of the ACoC for at least ten years. This is proven by the fact that many so-called bishops seem to believe their word is superior to THE WORD.