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  • TUESDAY NOVEMBER 14 2006 11:30 PM

Jesus to be Lonely on Christmas

Submitted by Lycoris

Edited by FearTheReaper

Tags: jesus, charity, toys, christianity

Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is an organization which distributes toys to needy children at Christmas. The charity collects toys from October to December 22nd every year, as well as cash donations to purchase toys. Campaigns are organized locally and the last two years have been the most successful in the charity's history. New toys are donated by the public, as well as by toy manufacturers, but one toy-maker found its donation unwelcome.

A talking Jesus doll has been turned down by the Marine Reserves' Toys for Tots program.

A Los Angeles company offered to donate 4,000 of the 1 foot-tall dolls, which quote Bible verses, for distribution to needy children this holiday season. The battery-powered Jesus is one of several dolls manufactured by one2believe, a division of the Valencia-based Beverly Hills Teddy Bear Co., based on biblical figures.

But the charity balked because of the dolls' religious nature.


Fair enough, I suppose. The toys are definitely intended for a religious market and in this increasingly multi-cultural society, we must be careful to be sensitive towards others. Bill Grein, vice president the foundation, put it this way:

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."


Wise words, Bill. There's just one little problem with your politically correct position: Why would a Jewish or Muslim family be getting Christmas gifts? Perhaps I'm taking the statement too literally, as I've never been Christian myself, yet I celebrate Christmas every year. My Christmas might concentrate more on Santa and the Grinch than God or Jesus, but it's still Christmas. The foundation's website states clearly that the gifts are intended as Christmas gifts, not the generic Holiday Season that is spoken of around the water cooler at the office.

GOAL: The primary goal of the Foundation is the same as that of the overall Toys for Tots program: i.e. - to deliver, through a shiny new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to needy youngsters that will motivate them to grow into responsible, productive, patriotic citizens and community leaders.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the Foundation are the same as those of the overall Toys for Tots program: i.e. - to help needy children throughout the United States experience the joy of Christmas; to play an active role in the development of one of our nation's most valuable natural resources - our children; to unite all members of local communities in a common cause for three months each year during the annual toy collection and distribution campaign; and to contribute to improving communities in the future.


I'm all for being aware of and sensitive to the cultures and religions in my community, but this situation does seem a little preposterous. On the one hand, Christians should be allowed to celebrate their holiday in the way they see fit. On the other hand, a government organization cannot promote one faith over another, despite all evidence to the contrary over the last few years. It's an interesting dilemma.

Personally, I'm asking Santa for a toy Cthulhu for Christmas this year.

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Comments
Ascanius

Ascanius

USA
October 2006

NOV 17, 2006 01:10 AM

I'm not trying to tell you, or anyone else, that they can't enjoy Christmas. If you use it as an excuse to get together with and appreciate your friends and family then I salute you. Lord knows we don't get enough excuses for that sort of thing. But we're not talking about labor day, or memorial day, or arbor day, or thanksgiving. Christmas is not a secular holiday. That's all I'm saying.

Otoki

Otoki

SUICIDEGIRL

Minnesota, USA

NOV 17, 2006 12:31 PM

Hey, SomeKid,

I'm a JEWISH Atheist. As in, i celebrate Channukah, Passover, and any other holiday my family/jewish friends want to celebrate with me. Thing is, I only endure these holidays because my family/friends don't constantly mention God, but rather focus on family (channukah) and the idea of slavery (passover).

It annoys me a bit when people I know well ask what I want for Christmas, but on the other hand, none of them are pushy religious nuts. Most of them don't even practice a religion. So I cut them some slack, or tell them what I'll be getting them for Channukah.

No one is arguing that Xmas is a secular holiday. Only that many people happen to celebrate it as such,

My Japanese family, for example, don't give a flying fuck about Christ. Most of Japan doesn't care about the Christians' link to Christmas. They just see it as a day to eat cake (yes, cake) and exchange presents.

So if people say they can ignore the religious aspect of any holiday and make it their own, why does that bother you so much? None of us are advocating Jesus dolls being given to low-income kids.

Ascanius

Ascanius

USA
October 2006

NOV 17, 2006 02:03 PM

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Again, it doesn't bother me when people who aren't Christian enjoy Christmas. That's fine by me. A-okay. And I think it's great that you, you're family and Japan in general can and do ignore the fact that Christmas is Christian. I just don't find it that easy to ignore. Brlieve it or not I'm not a pushy person and I don't walk around all season hitting people with a cane every time they say Merry Christmas to me. All I'm talking about is my experience and the way I feel about Christmas, and it bothers me when people expect me to want to celebrate- get presents, sing carols, go to their Christmas party, etc. It doesn't keep me up at night, and I probably wouldn't have spent this much time talking about it if it weren't for the fact that there were nine, count 'em NINE replies to my original response saying, "wait a minute. Christmas ain't Christian."

As far as the Japanese custom of celebrating Christmas, I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know when I say that Japan, like most East Asian cultures I know of, takes a syncretic view of religion. Admittedly, I know more about China and Vietnam, but in East Asia in general you'll find a picture of a Buddhist diety next to a picture of a Daoist deity next to a picture of somebodies grandparents on the family alter. The West doesn't work that way. When people overtly express the opinions of one faith in the West they preclude the opnions of other faiths. Beyond that, I have absolutely no problem with whatever the good people of Japan decide to do on December 25th, and I'm sure they'll be glad to hear it. And if I'm ever in Japan I'll expect that the people celebrating Christmas around me are not Christian and so when they offer me a slice of cake it is in no way associated with the birth of any messiah. America is a predominantly Christian society however, and when most people wish you a Merry Christmas they're doing so with all of the religious baggage that goes along with that whether they no it or not.

Again, it does not bother me if people can ignore the religious aspect and make Christmas their own day. I just don't see why it bothers so many people that I can't. That's the only reason I keep posting. Believe it or not this isn't really a big deal for me. Just an annoyance to endure for a couple of months out of the year. I just think it's worthy of response that people keep telling me to lighten up and just celebrate a day that is really (for me, and for the majority of people) about the birth of Jesus.

And by the way, Japanese/Jewish? How you doin'? love

Volkov

Volkov

San Antonio, TX
OLD SKOOL

NOV 17, 2006 03:51 PM

sportbikepilot said:
Toys for Tots has reversed itself and accepted the dolls



did they? I can't find an update on the news story. I had actually mentioned this story to a staff NCO I work with and he agreed that when we accept torys for donations we aren't allowed to take anything of a religous or political nature.

he did say, though, that it's been considered before...but in the event that they did recieve something like that we would in turn donate it to a local religous charitable organization. but on the whole it's preferable to just direct the donor to those orgs.



malkav11

malkav11

Saint Paul, MN
July 2003

NOV 17, 2006 04:24 PM

Somekid, you got a bunch of responses because right here:

SomeKid said:
Man, you can't have Christmas without the Christ. IT"S THE BIRTH OF JESUS. So tell me, how many non-Christians celebrate Christmas? And then tell me how a song celebrating the nativity isn't really Christian. I want to hear this.



you very explicitly deny that it is possible to do just what I and a lot of other people do: have Christmas without Christ. I get that you may not have intended to do so, but you did. So you were set straight. S'all.

And for the record, I would argue that while Christmas started out as a religious holiday it's moving in a secular direction and it's my hope that within my lifetime the religious aspect of the holiday will be largely nonexistent. (Yes, indeed, the liberal War on Christmas strikes again!) But we'll see.

Ascanius

Ascanius

USA
October 2006

NOV 17, 2006 10:31 PM

Yeah, I concede that that second post was a little over the top, but there were only three posts responding to it before I posted again and tried to felsh my ideas out a little better. I mean, I'm really not trying to be argumentative, and I did get some very good replies to my later posts, but I got a lot more replies to what was, on my part, a knee jerk response. But, you're right. I concede that I was 100% wrong in the post you cite above. I don't think it invalidates what I went on to say when challenged, though. Rather than say "You can't have Christmas without Christ," what I meant and should probably have said was that non-Christians should never be forced to or feel obligated to celebrate Christmas. So thanks for calling me out on that, and I think we've all said all we have to say, yeah? blackeyed

thefreak

thefreak

NEWSWIRE

Gardner, MA

NOV 17, 2006 10:52 PM

RudieCantFail said:
Is it just me or does that doll look like Will Ferrell?





-TM

malkav11

malkav11

Saint Paul, MN
July 2003

NOV 17, 2006 10:53 PM

Fair enough.

Otoki

Otoki

SUICIDEGIRL

Minnesota, USA

NOV 19, 2006 05:10 AM

SomeKid said:
Yeah, I concede that that second post was a little over the top, but there were only three posts responding to it before I posted again and tried to felsh my ideas out a little better. I mean, I'm really not trying to be argumentative, and I did get some very good replies to my later posts, but I got a lot more replies to what was, on my part, a knee jerk response. But, you're right. I concede that I was 100% wrong in the post you cite above. I don't think it invalidates what I went on to say when challenged, though. Rather than say "You can't have Christmas without Christ," what I meant and should probably have said was that non-Christians should never be forced to or feel obligated to celebrate Christmas. So thanks for calling me out on that, and I think we've all said all we have to say, yeah? blackeyed


Thank you very much for admitting to it. It'd be nice if everyone was mature enough to do so, so we wouldn't end up with drawn-out debates on things that were never meant to be debated...

OctoberSeven

OctoberSeven

Downers Grove, IL
December 2002

NOV 20, 2006 07:47 PM

RudieCantFail said:
This company needs to come out with a Jesus action figure for little boys. After all, they wouldn't want to convert the heathens only to go and have them catch teh ghey by playing with dolls.

GI Jesus:

Crucify this, mutha fuckas!!!




Passion II: Revenge of the Christ

"Jesus is back, and this time he's here to kick ass and let dad sort 'em out!"

Otoki

Otoki

SUICIDEGIRL

Minnesota, USA

NOV 21, 2006 11:18 AM

Family Guy?

RudieCantFail

RudieCantFail

I'm lost
January 2006

NOV 21, 2006 11:46 AM

Penfold said:

RudieCantFail said:
This company needs to come out with a Jesus action figure for little boys. After all, they wouldn't want to convert the heathens only to go and have them catch teh ghey by playing with dolls.

GI Jesus:

Crucify this, mutha fuckas!!!




Passion II: Revenge of the Christ

"Jesus is back, and this time he's here to kick ass and let dad sort 'em out!"



love biggrin

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