The American Humanist Association, the fancy name for an organization of, by and for athiests, demanded an end to public school children participating in a collection campaign for the needy sponsored by the nonprofit Operation Christmas Child because the charity’s overall mission is one of Christian converstion.
Operation Christmas Child is an endeavor of Samaritan’s Purse, the nonprofit Christian organization started by Franklin Graham to “provide spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world,” the group’s website states.
Among the items sought for the charity for the specific Christmas-time distribution to the needy are toothbrushes and toothpastem school supplies, soap and toys.
But Roy Speckhardt, executive director of AHA, called the collections inappropriate.
In an opinion piece for the Huffington Post, Speckhardt wrote:
“Making matters worse, this program is conducted in public schools and endorsed by school administrators, using student labor to compile boxes of toys, to which booklets are added that include evangelical tracts, sermons, and written prayers — even a pledge card that the receiving children sign to become ‘God’s child.’ These boxes of toys are essentially bribes used to pressure poor children living in developing countries to convert to Christianity. And Operation Christmas Child isn’t shy about their efforts, bragging about the thousands of kids they’ve converted.”
He also complained that Operation Christmas Child “thrives on the labor of students,” as well as on tax dollars that go toward public schools.
AHA filed a complaint in court in Colorado to halt the campaign from spreading among schools in the state. Speckhardt said parents of students at two schools where the program is in place have complained about the program as well.
“Children shouldn’t be encouraged by public school administrators to participate in this exploitation. Not only is doing so an illegal violation of the principle of separation of church and state, that is enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, it’s immoral. It runs counter to the very nature of the altruism that charity is based upon,” he said, in his op-ed.
