Out of fear of the Religion of Peace™: Christian charity bans Christmas themed children’s gifts. (Hat tip: LGF readers.)

Operation Christmas Child, run by the charity Samaritan’s Purse, sends festive packages to deprived youngsters in countries ravaged by war and famine.

Donors are asked to pack shoeboxes with a cuddly toy, a toothbrush and toothpaste, soap and flannel, notepads, colouring books and crayons - but nothing to do with Christmas. Stories from the Bible, images of Jesus and any other Christian literature are expressely forbidden - in case Muslims are offended.

Yesterday the charity’s policy of censoring its own faith was described as political correctness gone mad.

Last Christmas, Britons filled 1.13 million shoeboxes for Samaritan’s Purse to send to children abroad.

But Barbara Hill, who works at the worldwide charity’s UK headquarters in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, said: “Anything we find in the boxes which has a religious nature will be removed. If a box was opened by a Muslim child in a Muslim country they may be offended so we try to avoid religious images.”

The charity has also banned war-related items such as Action Man-type figures, as well as chocolate and cake.

UPDATE at 11/12/06 7:07:02 am:

Franklin Graham responds to the UK branch’s apparently unilateral decision to hide their Christian origins: Statement on ‘Operation Christmas Child’ London Story. (Hat tip: Catttt.)

Recently, a media story from London reported that the Operation Christmas Child organization in the UK was removing Christian or Christmas-themed materials it collects for distribution to needy children around the world. Such a practice is inconsistent with the global mission, policies, and practices of Operation Christmas Child and Samaritan’s Purse, the international Christian relief organization which has conducted the annual Christmas project for the past 13 years.

Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, immediately reiterated to staff around the world that “Samaritan’s Purse is unashamedly a Christian organization and Operation Christmas Child is a distinctively Christian kid’s project. This project is not merely a Christmas gift distribution project—every shoe box gift is given in the name of Jesus Christ in order that children around the world might know the true meaning of Christmas.”

Since its beginning in 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and distributed more than 46 million shoe box gifts to underprivileged children in some 130 countries. The project requires the help of approximately 150,000 volunteers working in several thousand collection and processing centers in 11 sending countries.