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Salvation Army bans Harry Potter toys

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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:

--- Quote from: David In Indy on December 11, 2010, 03:31:02 pm ---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. :-\

--- End quote ---

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.

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