And this news story comes under the heading "Oh, for God's sakes" . . .

from cnn.com

Toys for Tots rejects Jesus dolls
POSTED: 1:51 p.m. EST, November 14, 2006

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- 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.

Toys are donated to kids based on financial need and "we don't know anything about their background, their religious affiliations," said Bill Grein, vice president of Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, in Quantico, Virginia.

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."

Michael La Roe, director of business development for both companies, said the charity's decision left him "surprised and disappointed."

"The idea was for them to be three-dimensional teaching tools for kids," La Roe said. "I believe as a churchgoing person, anyone can benefit from hearing the words of the Bible."

According to the company's Web site, the button-activated, bearded Jesus, dressed in hand-sewn cloth outfits and sandals, recites Scripture such as "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" and "Love your neighbor as yourself." It has a $20 retail value.

Grein questioned whether children would welcome a gift designed for religious instruction. "Kids want a gift for the holiday season that is fun," he said.

The program distributed 18 million stuffed animals, games, toy trucks and other gifts to children in 2005.



I'm not exactly sure what kind of people would attempt to send dolls like this indiscriminately in a time when tension between Christians, Jews, and Muslims is at an all-time high, but I do know one thing: Whoever they are, they will probably claim to be persecuted for their faith.

Come on, ladies and gentlemen--we're supposed to be ambassadors of reconciliation, not insensitivity. If you are reading this and you were part of that project, then may I submit that it was probably blocked not because of some God-hating military officer but because God isn't interested in being any more embarassed by Christians than He/She/It already is?

Next time . . . send a bike and leave the dolls at home.

Recently, I wrote about ecumenicalism.

Fresh from the enthusiasm of a Buddhist meditation seminar I attended, I advocated (with the fervor of any devoted newbie) a point of view that, at my core, I don't completely agree with. You see, spirituality doesn't involve merely the communal (if it did, then we wouldn't see such an emphasis in so many religions on prayer, fasting, and meditation) but an individual search to know, at some level, one's creator. In essence, one cannot have spirituality divorced from identity, from the core truths of our individual beings that make us who we are.

Let me begin with a question:

Do you know who you are?

I don't mean knowing your name, or your social class, or what position or job you hold. I mean, deep down, when all of those things are stripped away . . . who are you? What do you value most in yourself? In life? In relationships? What makes your blood boil (or to run cold)?

What resonates with you?

In other words, deep down, when all of your relationships and plans and dreams come crashing down around you . . . what's left?

The most damnable aspect of this world is that it asks so many people to be something different than who they are . . . and one of the chiefest voices crying out for people to abandon their identities is religion. "In the name of God" has become the world's most destructive phrase, because it often accompanies the act of depriving someone not only of life and livelihood, but of who they are. And to lose who you are is to lose the only means by which you can walk in this world without becoming overwhelmed in its depravity, its cruelty, and its misery.

It is, in essence, to lose your own soul.

Those who lose their identities beyond the point of getting them back become ghosts, walking zombies unseeing and unremarkable. They do nothing, they accomplish nothing, and they are nothing . . . except breed others of their own kind (either by devouring or infesting them). Eyes hollower than the darkest night, they wander aimlessly, and despite their large numbers, they wander alone.

To know yourself, then . . . to really know yourself, is at its essence what it means to be alive.