Operation Christmas Child.

Susannahmia · 13-12-2007 05:21PM #1

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/default.asp

I remember wrapping up shoeboxes full of toys for this charity in school. I always thought it was a lovely charity and a great idea. However after looking at their website I don't think I will ever do that again!

I didn't realise how hard core Christian they were, forcing their beliefs on vulnerable children. I'm a catholic by birth but this organisation is a bit scary!

I can't believe schools, colleges etc promote this charity. Somehow I doubt many people know what the aims of the charity really are.

Kur4mA · 13-12-2007 05:25PM

It's pretty obvious the aim of this charity is to harvest the organs of childrens from all over the world OMGWTFBBQUACK!?!?!!11oneone!1eleventy!!

chopperbyrne · 13-12-2007 05:27PM

imred wrote: »

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/default.asp

I remember wrapping up shoeboxes full of toys for this charity in school. I always thought it was a lovely charity and a great idea. However after looking at their website I don't think I will ever do that again!

I didn't realise how hard core Christian they were, forcing their beliefs on vulnerable children. I'm a catholic by birth but this organisation is scary!

I can't believe schools, colleges etc promote this charity. Somehow I doubt many people know what the aims of the charity really are.

What?

How can you be of a certain religion by birth?

Susannahmia · 13-12-2007 05:29PM

chopperbyrne wrote: »

What?

How can you be of a certain religion by birth?

My parents are catholic and I was raised as one, I don't practice or really share those beliefs anymore however. Just mentioned it so someone wouldnt give out about me being anti christian or something.

Kur4mA · 13-12-2007 05:29PM

This is clearly a constipiracy.

13-12-2007 05:45PM

We'll probably receive a complaint about this and it will be shut down soon.

chopperbyrne · 13-12-2007 05:48PM

imred wrote: »

My parents are catholic and I was raised as one, I don't practice or really share those beliefs anymore however. Just mentioned it so someone wouldnt give out about me being anti christian or something.

Okay, but you weren't born catholic.

Slow Motion · 13-12-2007 05:50PM

chopperbyrne wrote: »

Okay, but you weren't born catholic.

But you were born pedantic !

Susannahmia · 13-12-2007 05:52PM

Slow Motion wrote: »

But you were born pedantic !

High five!:D

Slow Motion · 13-12-2007 05:54PM

imred wrote: »

High five!:D

Slow by name only

renmorescout · 14-12-2007 11:07AM

I cant see the problem, Just because the organization is run by Christians, doesn’t mean that any kid is refused a shoebox, because of their beliefs. At the end of the day, every shoebox makes its way into the hands of a child that otherwise would get nothing ! A lot of the time, this is the only present these kids will Ever get!

biko · 14-12-2007 11:17AM

Their Leader looks a bit creepy, that's the only thing wrong I can find (besides that god does not exist and stuff)

renmorescout · 14-12-2007 12:14PM

True, ye man is a bit extreme, but I’m sure that means diddly squat to the thousands of kids that will get a shoebox full of nice things! It is not going to change the world, but if it brings a smile to a kid, that will do for me.

Zaph · 14-12-2007 02:26PM

They're run by Billy Graham's son. You'd hardly expect them to be non-denominational with him in charge, would you?

neuro-praxis · 14-12-2007 04:15PM

Wow. It gets uncooler by the day to be a Christian. I must think about taking up atheism, it's such an intellectually and philosophically rigourous belief system, not to mention morally superior in every way. :rolleyes:

I must defend this project, whatever about Franklin Graham, I know nothing about the man, and the Irish branch of this charity is only linked to him in theory.

My church, which was only one of many, collected and co-ordinated five thousand of these boxes in the North Kildare region. That's a lot of work I can tell you. The idea that the children have any responsibility is absolutely ridiculous. They get goodies on Christmas day from an inter-church organisation that is ingoing in its commitment to love and care for disenfranchised children the world over. Absolutely nothing is demanded of them, and they receive gifts and love regardless of colour or creed. Teams of people from small communities all over the world travel to struggling areas to join the full-time staff who set up structures to support poor children and share a bit of Christmas cheer, that's all. Why do they do it? Because they want to share a little of God's love around to kids otherwise starved of the gifts and affection that they should rightfully receive.

The world is going crazy if you have got to hide the reason WHY you do something in order to be allowed to do it in peace.

renmorescout · 15-12-2007 01:54AM

I have been involved in this Charity, and each year Irish people send about 300,000 shoeboxes, filled with sweets, toys, and love, to kids who would never get thing like this, ever ! I will be traveling to Odessa, early in January to help with the distribution. I will let ye know how I get on, when I get back.
But That figure again !! 300,000 boxes + 300,000 happy kids!!

Nightwish · 15-12-2007 02:03AM

I stopped supporting this charity when I realised its mission. I refuse to back faith based charities, as I dont believe in using personal spiritual beliefs to give charity, or spreading a certain mission. This year I arranged for the shoeboxes for my girl guides to go directly to an orphanage in the Ukraine.

Karoma · 15-12-2007 02:04AM

http://wdka.hro.nl/~0764944/marbles/strips/2007-03-26.jpg

renmorescout · 15-12-2007 02:21AM

Karoma wrote: »

http://wdka.hro.nl/~0764944/marbles/strips/2007-03-26.jpg

Like the comic Karoma, But if you took the time to look at what happens to a shoebox, before it is shipped, you would see that every box is checked, and any not suitable items are removed. And Operation Christmas Child works hand in hand with local charities, providing aid all year around, not just a shoebox at christmas! I have no problem with people not liking the Christian axpect of this charity, but there are not a lot of Atheist run charities to take their place!
As I said before, 300,000 irish shoeboxes means 300,000 happy kids!
It the Christian groups dont do it, who will ??

nesf · 15-12-2007 03:12AM

neuro-praxis wrote: »

Wow. It gets uncooler by the day to be a Christian. I must think about taking up atheism, it's such an intellectually and philosophically rigourous belief system, not to mention morally superior in every way.

*attempts to save you and bring you to the light that is agnosticism*

neuro-praxis · 16-12-2007 04:24PM

nesf wrote: »

*attempts to save you and bring you to the light that is agnosticism*

siochain · 16-12-2007 07:33PM

Hi Folks,
You cannot under estimate the effect these shoe boxes have on the kids. These kids are in seriously deprived areas of the world, many are in orphanages and in many cases either disabled and or suffering from mental trauma.
I have seen first hand the distribution of these boxes and the impact they have on the kids is hard to describe. How amazed and appreciative they are of something as basic as bubbles.
At no time was religion\faith mentioned during the distribution. The charity does a lot of positive work all over the world and is making a real difference (as are many other charities of different faiths). People should really know all the facts and or experience something themselves before knocking it.

Peace

siochain · 16-12-2007 08:59PM

imred wrote: »

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/default.asp

forcing their beliefs on vulnerable children.

I assume you can back this up?

Dizzyblonde · 16-12-2007 09:52PM

I do a Christmas Child shoebox every year - I look forward to it and think it's a wonderful scheme. I certainly won't stop doing it now, and I hope this thread doesn't stop others from doing it.
Unless there is proof that the scheme is doing harm, then I say stop being negative about it. In my opinion it's a very worthy cause and much needed.

Puteq · 06-10-2008 10:32AM

I searched boards for 'Operation Christmas Child' because i feel torn on the issue. I am an atheist, and I hate the idea that something I do would be manipulated to force a religious ideology on anyone, particularly a vulnerable child who doesn’t know any better. However having read all the opinions in this thread, I think it is a good idea to fill one of these shoeboxes. It is a good thing no matter what the idea behind it is, and when you think about it as kids you were told santa came down the chimney and left presents under the tree for you – that made you happy despite the fact that it was untrue ... this is the same thing so i say go for it everyone, fill a shoebox this year! I think its relevant to note that there are no atheist charities filling shoeboxes for kids (not that i know of anyway) so until there is this is the best we have, this is one of the good side-effects of religion so we might as well not throw the baby out with the bathwater in rejecting religion.

Nevyn · 06-10-2008 10:52AM

Well then Puteq get invovled with Boards.ie christmas charity, Santa Strike Force.

http://www.santastrikeforce.com/2004/11/some_answers_i_.html#more

Whats this all about
We're quietly buying and distributing cool stuff for kids to hospitals and care-centres because it sucks being there for xmas and and Santa is very busy and we feel he should have some human helpers and the positions have been vacant long enough so we're volunteering. These gists are NOT given to the individual kids but rather to the charities themselves so that all kids will get use of them over the year.

How does it work
You buy stuff from our list on Amazon or donate cash to us. Then you sit back and feel great about yourself. Thats it!
The stuff gets delivered to us and I am organising delivery of it to the various targets.

I dont have a credit card, how can I help?
You can transfer funds in complete confidentiality to this dedicated account and I'll use it to buy last minute items where needed.

There is a completely dedicated account and every penny into it is for the SSF and will be spent on SSF related items.

I do have a credit card and I want to donate money rather then buy toys!
just click this button -> }

Is it right to spend so much on toys when some kids need treatment!
I'm firmly of the opinion that it is the states responsibility to provide basic health care for kids. As such, and I know this sounds harsh, but I dont want to let them off the hook.

However last year started out as a bit of a nice thing to do for kids but SO much stuff got bought and so much money was donated that I felt this year it would be overkill to turn all of it into toys and games. So, I'm going to take the cash we collect and spend at least some of it on more serious things for kids charities. In this I'll be guided by the suggestions of the targets themselves. It might not be anything spectacular but I think its a good way to go with the whole thing.

How do we know we can trust you
I guess in short, you dont. But I have a long track record of doing crazy stuff for kids charities and all the SSF people on Boards.ie trust me implicitly. You can check later with the targets if you like! (Temple Street, Crumlin and also Barretstown have been hit in the past two years...

Someone said something about a Strike Force? Whats up with that?
Some people are grouping together to buy some of the bigger ticket items that would be too expensive for one person to buy realistically. We've nicknamed them Strike Forces. The post on the SSF board on Boards.ie.

Aren't we just feeding Boards.ie's profile? Is this an ego exercise for DeVore? I think charity should be done for charity's sake.
So do I.
All presents will be delivered in the name of the Santa Strike Force. Its not possible to completely remain anonymous as word of this will get out I'm sure but all the same I want to just walk up to a target and more or less say "You've just been hit by the Santa Strike Force" and walk away. We did that last year and this year most of the charities dont know we're coming. However in order to publicise it we had to remove a certain amount of anonymity.

renmorescout · 06-10-2008 11:10AM

Well said Puteq ! As I said earlier in this thread, Operation Christmas child IS a Christian run Charity. It makes no bones about that. Any yes, most, but not all, the charities it works with over seas, are Christian run. The reason for this is, they are usually the only people on the ground, helping these kids.
There is no problem supporting non Christian charities, if they are trustworthy, and if any one knows of such a charity, they should make contact with www.samaritanspurse.ie. I was lucky enough to go to Odessa last January, to help in the distribution on shoeboxes, and after seeing the joy on the kids faces, have no problem in helping out again.

4zn76tysfajdxp · 06-10-2008 11:19AM

Susannahmia wrote: »

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/default.asp

I remember wrapping up shoeboxes full of toys for this charity in school. I always thought it was a lovely charity and a great idea. However after looking at their website I don't think I will ever do that again!

I didn't realise how hard core Christian they were, forcing their beliefs on vulnerable children. I'm a catholic by birth but this organisation is a bit scary!

I can't believe schools, colleges etc promote this charity. Somehow I doubt many people know what the aims of the charity really are.

Christmas is a Christian holiday. It is, by definition, religious. If you don't like it don't celebrate it. It really is that simple.

ejmaztec · 06-10-2008 11:36AM

They don't want shoe-boxes, they want AK47s.

EamonnKeane · 06-10-2008 01:38PM

Valerie Immense Gown wrote: »

Christmas is a Christian holiday. It is, by definition, religious. If you don't like it don't celebrate it. It really is that simple.

Christmas is a winter holiday co-opted by Christians. The 'true meaning' of Christmas is that winter in northern Europe is miserable so we should have a festival to cheer ourselves up.

AnonoBoy · 06-10-2008 01:45PM

ejmaztec wrote: »

They don't want shoe-boxes, they want AK47s.

I don't often use this phrase but:

EPIC FAIL!!!!

Operation Christmas Child.

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