CHARITY ACCUSED OF TARGETING CHILDREN
Maybe it’s just me, but I find this distinctly creepy.
A grandfather, mother and small girl pack a shoebox with toys that will be sent to a child in the Third World.
So far so nice, but then grandad says: “Do you want to pray for the child who’s going to get the box?”
The girl dutifully intones: “Dear Jesus, thank you for this day and I hope the one who gets this box will love it.”
She hesitates, trying to remember the words she’s been told to say, and finishes: “I hope God will know the right person to give it too. Amen.”
This child is five years old, for goodness sake, which seems horribly young to be indoctrinated, but then indoctrination appears to be at the heart of what’s going on here.
The grandfather is Franklin Graham, son of US evangelical preacher Billy Graham and president of something called Samaritan’s Purse.
The woman is his daughter Cissie Lynch, who says she’s “Living the Gospel of Christ in my life as a wife and mom”, and the girl is her daughter Margaret.
Each year Samaritan’s Purse raises money for Operation Christmas Child, which sends boxes of presents around the world “packed with love and fuelled by prayer”.
They are distributed at “outreach
Franklin Graham and family events” where children are given a booklet “which tells them the story of God’s greatest gift, his son Jesus”.
The British arm of Samaritan’s Purse is a registered charity with an annual income of more than £13million.
A spokesman said: “Shoebox gifts are given to children regardless of religious affiliation, with no expectations placed upon them, and only with their parent or guardian’s permission.”
But its use of toys to attract children has been condemned by Humanists UK, whose patrons include Stephen Fry and Ricky Gervais.
“This scheme has a questionable history of luring charitable people to donate to a cause that targets vulnerable children who have faced war, poverty and other terrible tragedies and gifts them with shiny toys alongside leaflets that tell them they must follow the teachings of the Bible,” says its director of public affairs Richy Thompson.
“We urge schools and other individuals to avoid this US evangelical charity and instead donate to a reputable and transparent charity which only has the intention of spreading joy and goodwill at Christmas and helping children in need.”
Please give to a reputable charity which only intends to spread joy