You know, the one from Hadith Volume 4, Book 52, who says:
"O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him!"
Muslim children can push the button again and again and delight in this wholesome recital of their religious faith!
Posted on 11/16/2006 1:05:48 PM PST by XR7
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — After being contacted by The Rutherford Institute and outraged members of the public, the U.S Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program has reversed its decision and agreed to accept the donation of talking Jesus dolls from the company one2believe.Public statements by representatives of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation had suggested that their initial refusal of the Jesus dolls was motivated by a concern that the dolls might offend Jewish or Muslim recipients. In a letter to the president of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, John W. Whitehead pointed out that the Foundation’s rejection of the donated dolls appears to contradict Marine Toys for Tots’ mission of ensuring that needy children are able to experience the joy of Christmas through donated gifts and seems to indicate a desire on the part of the Foundation to suppress the religious message that is the very foundation of the Christmas season.A copy of the letter is available here.
“We are delighted that the Marines have changed their policy to protect freedom of choice and freedom of religion,” said Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “It’s good that needy children will get a chance to celebrate the true spirit of Christmas.”
The stated mission of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is “to assist the U.S. Marine Corps in providing a tangible sign of hope to economically disadvantaged children at Christmas” and “to call the general public to action in support of this patriotic community action program.” The mission of the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program is “to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.” According to media reports, Toys for Tots distributed 18 million stuffed animals, games, toy trucks and other gifts to children based on financial need in 2005. However, the Toys for Tots program reportedly refused an offer by toymaker one2believe to donate 4,000 Jesus dolls, allegedly because Toys for Tots doesn’t know anything about the religious affiliations of the children who receive its gifts and “can’t take a chance on sending a talking Jesus doll to a Jewish family or a Muslim family.”
However, as Whitehead pointed out in his letter, “there is little reason to fear that children or their families will be offended by a gift of the Jesus doll.” Toys for Tots’ materials state that the gifts are unwrapped so any child or parent who does not want to receive the doll need only decline that gift and receive something else. In urging Toys for Tots to accept the offer of the donated dolls, Whitehead noted that standing by their refusal would send a sinister message that gifts with religious themes or messages are not suitable or are considered second-class by a prominent charity that is intimately associated with the United States government.
LOL
The don't let your kids accept Christmas presents, for cryin' out loud!
Political correctness is a mental disorder, as is its host, radical liberalism.
What a PR mess for the Marines. They really did shoot their foot on this one.
i am glad they corrected the previous policy but look for it again next year.
They could just say they are Illegal Alien Talking HayZeus dolls.
LOL- Feliz Navidad, homeboy.
Memo to the Marines,
Free the Pendleton Eight!!!
It's good they reversed direction. Now purge the PC Liberal who made this stupid decision and I might donate again......
no, Christ should not be taken out of Christmas...but I do not understand how a talking Jesus doll effectively speads the message.
The commercialization of Christmas works both ways doesn't it: Humanists who want to take the Christ out of Christmas and capitalists who want to profit upon religious symbols without regard to its spiritual impact.
Nevertheless...what kind of AIRHEAD would anticipate offending Jews or Moslems via Christmas presents? What syllable in C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S does this clown find confusing? With luck, such a BOZO is now looking to pass the time in another venue.
I think she missed the point......
The bigger issue could be that the dolls speak English.
Where is the "press 2" option?
(as an aside, I'll mention that the backlash from the "press one for English" outrage has resulted in a brief Spanish message that simply says "press 2 for Spanish" while English speakers ignore/fail to comprehend that option).
I hear that there is still a ban on "violent" toys. The Marines cannot give out G.I.Joe. Fathom that.
I know this is a charity but Christmas is still Christmas.If business are going to USE CHRISTMAS to make money then those businesses that use it,then disavow it should have ALL THEIR PROFITS CONFISCATED!
You know, the one from Hadith Volume 4, Book 52, who says:
"O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him!"
Muslim children can push the button again and again and delight in this wholesome recital of their religious faith!
Excuse me PC types but Christmas is a celebration of who's birthday? So Jesus gets no dolls dedicated to him on his own birthday? Why that's blatant discrimination and should fall under the auspices of 'Hate crime'.
Oh...I forgot...it's vogue to bash Jesus and mistreat CHristians. Just like the vaulted UN turning it's back on Darfur's slaughter of Christians in Sudan.
Well, like the lady who missed the point about cockroach intestines and taking the Lord's name in vain, as you rightly suspect, I do not see the spiritual significance of talking Jesus dolls.
To me, the doll without the 'written' word is meaningless religious exercise (that does little more than caricature the context of Christian belief) but maybe not in the same way that your shout without the coachroach intestines is meaningless. Call me clueless.
No problem here, they'd just cut of His head as they do with other Christians or "infidels."
I have no intent on changing an opinion, only in voicing mine.
Hey Larry, did you see this? Bravo for the Marines!
But the mere presence of a talking Jesus doll might offend a Muslim parent! < / sarcasm >
I hear ya, Ben. Only I do not view the image of Jesus as a season specific symbol. In the same way that you find the cross, not as an object, but rather as a symbol to be viewed in the context of the church. A cross viewed outside the understanding of Christian fellowship is meaningless. Some objects may be just objects, others are more than just objects. Further, I do not accept the pluralistic view that objects can be properly understood to have different meaning to different people. The significance of Jesus' birth, and the significance of the message that he conveyed can not be properly understood without also acknowledging the significance of the Cross.
Thus, the doll removed from its spiritual significance does become exactly what you suggest: just another object among many. And the true intent of his birth, of the Christmas season, is lost in the mix and tends to have a different meaning to different people. So, for some and I'm one, the doll becomes a caricature and/or a means for the manufacturer to financially exploit a religious symbol.
Like you, I am not attempting to change anyone's opinion--I am just voicing how some who are Christians might reasonably hesitate in distributing the talking Jesus doll.
Good for them, maybe this will put this to bed.
Now if we can just get some Christian-oriented toys that children will appreciate that aren't as lame as a "Jesus action figure."
"and capitalists who want to profit upon religious symbols without regard to its spiritual impact."
Bingo.
I'm just mad I never got the "Jesus throws out the moneychangers" action set with the spring-loaded arms for overturning tables.
Why would they be giving Christmas presents to Jews and Muslims, anyway?
You should see my collection of dolls. My daughter who died in 2004 and I collected them for years. I would estimate that I have about 75-100 dolls. I have more Beanie Babies than dolls. We also collected them. I remember when she had to go to the Mayo Clinic in MN, we would shop a nearby store to find Beanies we did not have. The first Christmas after she died I did not want to put up a tree but some friends told me to. Well, I wanted to decorate it differently than before so I collected all the Beanies and used them to decorate the tree. It was different but beautiful in its own way. I had birds peeking out from the branches, all kinds of animals including a snake. I have a photo of it on my other screen.
Just what do you think every other company is doing during the Christmas season? Should their profits be confiscated? I guess you were teasing.
Jesus dolls? I know there must be a reason that there weren't Jesus dolls when I was a child and when my parents were children and when my grandparents were children. I'm thinking real hard about what that reason might be . . .
Are you serious? A ban on violent toys? Everyone should find another avenue of charity so the kids can get some decent toys. Especially the boys.
Besides that "political correctness" is illogical. Why should the Marine Corps be worried about Muslim and Jewish children accepting Christmas presents. Neither religion believes in Christmas or its meaning. This whole dust up is just a tempest in a teapot. It should never have happened. I am glad the Marine Corp came to a commonsense decision on this one.
I don't know about "Jesus" dolls but there were Catholic nun dalls because I got one. That was when nuns wore the black and white habit.
I don't know about "Jesus" dolls but there were Catholic nun dolls because I got one. That was when nuns wore the black and white habit.
That's a magnificent story. I'm sure sorry to hear about your daughter.
So, for some and I'm one, the doll becomes a caricature and/or a means for the manufacturer to financially exploit a religious symbol.Just like the birth of Christ, without our awareness of His subsequent death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, is meaningless. Without the Bible story to go along with the doll, it's just a charicature of a guy with a beard.
Utterly intimidated.
One was freed.
The navy corpsman who confessed that they did it, and tried to cover it up. They freed him from the courtroom and then re-confined him in a jail cell for his role in the coverup. What part of confession do you not get? Granted the whole solitary confinement was not necessary.
If that isn't Billy Ray Cyrus...
Or as succinctly stated by Goethe in Faust:
Freud muss Leid und Leid muss Freude haben."
8^)
And to think I gave them $20.00 already. Does ANYBODY know what Christmas is about? Know how appropriate a Jesus doll is? Know who is the main character in those manger scenes beneath the trees? Criminyentley!!
Did you mean this reply for the Toys for Tots post? If you did, could you explain?
Anybody would confess if they were shackled to the wall, threatened to be killed, and were to poor to get a lawyer.
I think the "talking Jesus doll" is weird and disgusting, and I don't think they should have allowed it. Or maybe they should let only Evangelicals sign up to get it.
"Anybody would confess if they were shackled to the wall, threatened to be killed, and were to poor to get a lawyer."
Another confessed yesterday. No doubt, all around a bad deal. See you buddies getting killed everyday. Pieces of legs and arms, heads laying around, and you were just talking to each other. Might tend to make anyone stress out and snap. Whether a few snapped or not, who knows. It is hard to judge unless you are there yourself. Shooting someone unarmed, and not a combatant, I have a problem with that. As I understand it, the corpsman didn't know but went along with the cover up.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
