how do you feel about toys for tots rejecting the jesus dolls?

Question

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15717485>1=8717

the article is above. a lot of people were posting on the msn boards that they were offended and i say they shouldn't be. i agree with the reasoning that they don't know who the toys would be going to. who's to say the people that received them wouldn't be offended? as usual it's always one-sided. you can't emphasize christmas being a christian holiday given it's entirely pagan origins either. do you you agree with toys for tots or not?

for those of you that obviously didn't bother to look at the article. the dolls are fully outfitted to look like jesus and other biblical figures, and they spout off scripture verses.

fish don't be oblivious. they meant they don't know the religious affiliation of the families.

i suppose i should refrain from commenting on some of the ignorance.

skeff you make a good point. they said they've done better keeping religion out of it. it makes sense.

NOTE-let's try this again. for those of you that are reading my words wrong..i AGREE with toys for tots rejecting the dolls. i think they should keep religion out of something like that.

Answer 1

Definitely a good thing that they refused to distribute this toy. Toys for Tots is a federally funded charity, and to do so would defy the separation clause. If Toys for Tots were privately funded, then it wouldn't matter.

And as for 'removing the Christ from Christmas,' get real, Christ jumped ship a long time ago. It's a commercial holiday, perpetuated by tradition. I have no problem with that; I think it's great that there's a time of year to leave work and see family. But to me, and many others, it's not about religion. Some may see this as saddening or angering, but this nation was never founded on religion, and so technically there shouldn't be any Christmas at all.

Why is Christmas a universal holiday (in the US) while all the Jewish holidays are 'optional?' Either make all religious holidays universal, or none; otherwise there is no equality.

Answer 2

Who will it really offend? What kids get toys from the Toys for Tots program? It's not like Muslims celebrate Christmas. I guess if an atheist parent or pagan parent doesn't want them, they dont' have to accept it. My husband and I talked about this, and I understood their reasoning (Toys for Tots) at first, but now I'm wondering. I mean, we know Christians stole a bunch of traditions. That was 200 years ago (or more). Get over it. Also, why would they give CHRISTMAS presents to a family who doesn't celebrate it? I know not everyone is Christian (pagans, atheists, etc.), but if religion is a major issue, maybe they should ask about religous prefrences in the future. I have NO CLUE how the program works. Keep in mind, we're talking about THOUSANDS of toys that were turned away, this could lead to many people (Christian and non) rejecting the toys for tots program. It's so hard to be fair to everyone, without being unfair to someone. Thousands of toys. These kids probably don't get much. Any gift would probably be welcomed by parents and children. If parents were to pitch a fit about FREE gifts given to their kids, they probably don't really deseve the program anyway. I know, I wouldn't want my daughter given a muslim toy, but there's not a mainstream muslim holiday. Let kids be kids, and take whatever gifts are offered. It's a charity, for pete's sake.

FYI: Toys for tots has found homes for the Jesus dolls. They have talked to the distributer and found places for the dolls to go. This just shows they know EXACTLY who recieves their gifts.

Answer 3

I agree. Toys for tots needs to ensure that it does not become a venue for promoting religion - it is a secular charity attempting to service the entire community. If they started overtly endorsing Christianity, they might well lose some of their donor base, offend some of the recipients parents with non-Christian beliefs, and get bad press. Also, a lot of the organizations who actively participate in the process are made up of people from many religious backgrounds. Salvation Army would probably do it, but it is a decidedly Christian organization.

Answer 4

I think they did the right thing. Too many people try to preach and toys is not the way. Just like it is not nice to pass out tracks instead of candy on halloween.

When toys like this first came out I thought it was a good idea because the purpose was not to preach to the unbeliever, but to provide bible type toys to the children of christians instead of the He Man type toys that were so popular at that time.

This may not be the same company that started the bible oriented toys in the 1980's but those type toys should go out only to the people who want them.

The toys for tots people are right, they do not want to give them to people of other faiths.

Answer 5

It is wise to me. with the aid of fact the article states, "Toys for babies does not be attentive to something with regard to the non secular affiliations of the youngsters who acquire its presents." Now, like it or not, Chistmas has taken on an extremely secular ingredient and dissimilar non-non secular or perhaps non-Christian families substitute presents in this time. If evidently the relatives that gets the toy isn't Christian, then, nicely surely that's a undesirable present, and Toys for babies merely desires to verify that each and every physique the youngsters they provide gives you to are happy. i could recommend the producer of the dolls donate them to church homes so the undesirable in the congregation can get them.

Answer 6

I don't think giving Jesus dolls to Toys for Tots is a good idea. Would someone give a Buddha doll or a Hari Krishna doll, or perhaps a Ron Hubbard doll for the Scientologist child? Who knows who these toys are going to be distributed to and would some child necessarily be excited to receive this? I'm not knocking Jesus (for the thumbs down fairy) I'm just saying a Jesus doll would not be appropriate for all children.)

Answer 7

I think it's wise. Even though Christmas is "technically" a Christian holiday, the celebration of it, especially gift giving, has become very, very secular. It could be very upsetting and confusing for a child raised by athiests, agnostics, or anyone else who does not ascribe to Christianity but doesn't want to deprive their children of Christmas to receive such a doll. A coworker was raised with Christmas as a very secular holiday and enjoys it thoroughly, but ascribes nothing religious to it whatsoever. Her mother was a non-practicing Jew and her father was a non-practicing Catholic. I feel pretty confident, since I've known my coworker for nearly seven years, that her parents would have been seriously disturbed if they'd received a Jesus doll from Toys for Tots.

Answer 8

Look at the situation closely . . . it's a Christian Holidy for the celebration of Jesus' birth. (Yes, I know the origins and I know Christ was born in the Spring.) Christians are the most likely group to go out and buy toys for donation since they consider it their holiday. So I think the better question is why would you deliberately offend the people most likely to do the donations if you really were concerned about gathering gifts? If you were worried about offending children, you could leave those dolls unwrapped and allow the parents to accept or reject the gift for their child. I predict Christians will donate to children through other agencies now.

Answer 9

Toys for Tots are Great ! The dolls should be given to the elderly as they would understand and respect what they stand for. Small children learn to respect, but as far as I am concerned these dolls are not toys. They are a collector's item. Good idea is to give them to Nursing homes, where the older person can really appreciate them. I am no young chicken, and I would Love to get one of these as a gift. But for small children NO. They don't understand the true meaning. They are too Young. I think the right decision was made.

Answer 10

This is certainly the "United States of the Offended". Its getting ridiculous, it really is.
If they are giving out an item that has something to do with Christmas, then of course Jesus would be something that has to do with Christmas. If you take Christ out of Christmas, do you know what you have? Nothing. Just a day people give gifts to each other. As a Christian, I will not accept that. Gifts don't save you, Christ does.
Anyway, about the toy: Who the hell made a "Jesus" doll anyway????