Last week the news broke that the Toys for Tots charity operated by the US Marine Corps Reserve turned down a donation of dolls from a Christian toy company. The dolls happen to be based on characters in the Holy Bible who speak Bible verses when a button is pressed.
Bill Grein, vice president of Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, in Quantico, Va. stated a reasonable reason why they had to turn down the donation.
Toys are donated to kids based on financial need and “we don’t know anything about their background, their religious affiliations. As a government entity, Marines “don’t profess one religion over another,” Grein said Tuesday. “We can’t take a chance on sending a talking Jesus doll to a Jewish family or a Muslim family.”
Of course the toy company was not happy.
Michael La Roe, director of business development for both companies, said the charity’s decision left him “surprised and disappointed.”
“The idea was for them to be three-dimensional teaching tools for kids,” La Roe said. “I believe as a churchgoing person, anyone can benefit from hearing the words of the Bible.”
David Socha, head of one2believe, stated in a video news report that even if non-christian children got the Jesus dolls they would see them as historical figures. (see: Talking Jesus Doll Rejected By Toys for Tots and click on the video link on the right side of the article)
Now if they gave away 4,000 Abe Lincoln dolls that spoke the start of the Gettysburg address then I might believe the “historical figure” argument. But seeing as these are religious dolls spouting Christian scripture it is plain to see that their “historical figure” argument is a sham. Then there is this:
God’s strategy was for parents to bring their children to a place of spiritual discovery. This would stimulate the creative imaginations of the children and they would begin to ask their parents about the God of Israel.
God has placed an inquisitive nature about spiritual matters in children. It is in a child’s early developmental years that they need to be introduced to the Lord. The best way to engage a child’s imagination is with an object lesson or story. Jesus used these methods of teaching throughout his ministry. He taught people spiritual principles through the use of object lessons and parables.
With this in mind, we at one2believe have developed many teaching tools and resources for parents and Christian educators. In this media frenzied world, we know that it can be a challenge to capture and hold the attention of children when it comes to teaching them the Word of God.
Consequently, our mission is to partner with as many parents and Christian educators to see 10 million children taught 50 Bible stories by the end of 2007.
So one2believe didn’t donate those dolls because they wanted some disadvantaged children to have a happy Christmas, they wanted to donate the dolls to indoctrinate as many children as possible into their cult.
And to show you how powerful religious conservatives are, Toys for Tots announced on November 16th that they will now accept the dolls.
“The talking Jesus doll issue has been resolved,” the organization announced on its Web site Wednesday. “Toys for Tots has found appropriate places for these items. We have notified the donor of our willingness to handle this transaction.”
Chalk another up for religion at the expense of reason.
