Salvation Army bans Harry Potter toys

[delalluvia]

Why the Salvation Army is no longer getting my money.  

The Salvation Army says it refuses to distribute Harry Potter and Twilight toys collected for needy children because they're incompatible with the charity's Christian beliefs...

I was told to withhold a six-inch Harry Potter figure, but when I picked up a plastic M-16, I was told, 'That's for the 10-year-olds,'" he said.

"I was shocked...war-themed toys and toys from TV shows and movies with far more violence than Harry Potter and these were considered appropriate toys?"



http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2010/12/08/16477981.html

[David In Indy]

Oh brother!

That is ridiculous! What about those Narnia movies and books? Those have magic in them too, along with witches and other magical creatures. They don't seem to have a problem with those stories. So why all the fuss about Harry Potter and Twilight?

Thos Narnia movies are very good btw, so please don't misunderstand me. I just don't understand the difference.

[Penthesilea]

Yup, no surprise here. Salvation Army = evangelical

For Evangelicals, everything related to "wizardy" or other supernatural powers = from satan.
Lots of fun when your kids go to school or kindergarten with kids from evangelical families - not. They seriously tried to ban me (not only me, all parents) to let my kids go to kindergarten in costumes on carnival, they try to intervene when second graders read a book at school about "The Letter-Switcher" (because he can switch things by magic, from a cat to a bat, etc.), they run to the highest school-officials when a class of sixth graders wants to see a Harry Potter movie, yada, yada.

To call it a pet-peeve of mine is an understatement. Evangelicas get me all up in arms if necessary. I would never-ever support a charity related to any kind of evangelical church. World Vision is another well-known evangelical charity. There are more.

Of course, not only wizardy is from satan, homosexuality is too, in their eyes.

[Lynne]

My first exposure to the Salvation Army was when they took in my former stepfather in Nashville, who was an alcoholic and on the brink of death.  And his own family and ours had exhausted every possibility we could imagine - this was years and years ago.  It's hard not to be grateful for that.  He stayed there, sobered up, attended meetings and services and helped load and unload trucks.  Six weeks later he left and went back to his old ways.

That said, though, it always bothers me when strings come attached to charitable giving...it seems, well, uncharitable.

And the evangelical backlash against Harry Potter and such is just ridiculous.  Read a fable by Aesop sometime?  Or maybe only Veggie Tales (bleh!) are OK...

 

[Berit]

I really have mixed feelings when it comes to the Salvation Army. I have seen many good things done for needy people, especially women with mental disorders and drug abuse. BUT it is in it's basic structures a VERY conservative church. They absolutely ban same sex marriage - witch we have in Sweden....

I so recognize what you decribe about evangelicals, Penth. I live in a small village with a very influential evangelical church and many things are very unpopular, Halloween ex. Gays are "accepted" as long as they live in celibacy.......

[Sheriff Roland]

I've never been a fan (or financial supporter) of the organization, however, there have been follow-up stories denying this one. (This denial story's been around for 2 days already. It appears we believe what we want to believe)

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/904111--no-ban-on-harry-potter-twilight-xmas-donations-says-sally-ann?bn=1

No ban on Harry Potter, Twilight Xmas donations, says Sally Ann

Published On Thu Dec 9 2010

The Salvation Army denies a story published Thursday that the Calgary wing of the Christian aid agency is refusing to take donations of toys that it believes promote black magic.

“This is not true. There must have been some miscommunication. We don’t know where that story came from,” said Andrew Burditt, spokesman with the Salvation Army in Toronto.

He said the agency is scrambling to issue a statement Thursday morning to clarify the situation while trying to determine the origins of the story out of Calgary.

Canadian Press reported that a volunteer who was helping put together toy hampers for less fortunate children said he was given strict orders not to put certain toys in those hampers.

That volunteer was not named in the story.

Among the toys deemed unacceptable were Harry Potter books, action figures and DVDs, along with Twilight merchandise.

“There is no set national policy,” Burditt told the Toronto Star Thursday morning. “These are local decisions. But more often it’s the parents who decide what toys they receive. That’s not a decision the Salvation Army makes. We just want to put joy on the faces of children on Christmas morning.”

Burditt said the agency delivers 300,000 toys to 100,000 children across the country at Christmas.

The Salvation Army was mired in another controversy recently when it came to light that the Toronto Eaton Centre had a policy prohibiting Sally Ann campaigners to ring their bells inside the mall during their Christmas kettle campaign because the noise was an irritant to tenants of the mall.

Cadillac Fairview, the operators of the Eaton Centre, was flooded with angry emails and quickly met a few days later with the Salvation Army to reverse the longstanding policy.

[Sheriff Roland]

In reference to thie original link, the article is signed by [email protected], the sun organization having been in the news these past months as attempting to start up an all new, conservative slanted station (read, FOX NORTH).

Me thinks this is just the type of ENQUIRE-like 'news' we can expect from the new tele-news station.

[Lynne]

Thanks for setting the record straight about the toys and gifts that the Salvation Army is accepting, Roland.

[delalluvia]

Dunno Roland, the article that 'sets the record straight' pretty much echoes what the original story said,

There is no set national policy,” Burditt told the Toronto Star Thursday morning. “These are local decisions..."

So someone locally could easily make these decisions and per Burditt, there is no one at the Salvation Army that would prevent them from doing so.  So the story could easily be true.  And while I'm leery of tabloid type stories, tabloids often do get the dirt on things first.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Oh brother!

That is ridiculous! What about those Narnia movies and books? Those have magic in them too, along with witches and other magical creatures. They don't seem to have a problem with those stories. So why all the fuss about Harry Potter and Twilight?

Thos Narnia movies are very good btw, so please don't misunderstand me. I just don't understand the difference.

Hey, David. C.S. Lewis is widely regard as a Christian writer, and the Narnia books are widely regarded as Christian allegory (Aslan the Lion = Lion of Judah = Messiah, for example). That could be the difference.

Edit to add: Probably makes a difference, too, when witches, wizardry, etc., are depicted as evil rather than as good.

[Marge_Innavera]

Oh brother!

That is ridiculous! What about those Narnia movies and books? Those have magic in them too, along with witches and other magical creatures. They don't seem to have a problem with those stories. So why all the fuss about Harry Potter and Twilight?

Any work by C.S. Lewis is sacred and untouchable, regardless of what theological anomalies they might contain. He's a truly sanctified bovine in that respect, however little sense it might make.

And yeah, it's ridiculous; but whoever expected either religion or politics to make sense?  Rationalization is an art form in both contexts.