Have you heard that there’s a new Scrooge in town? “Really? Atheist group files complaint over religious-themed care packages,” the Washington Times tells us. “Atheist group seeks to deny poor children Christmas gifts,” says the Alliance Defending Freedom. To hear Christians tell it, one would think “atheism” is some strange new cult that involves painting oneself green and ritualistically sacrificing little Cindy Lou Who’s toys.

I’m a Christian and a divinity school graduate, but I’m with the atheists on this one. There is no reason for public schools to be involved with or promote Operation Christmas Child as run by Samaritan’s Purse.

{mosads}I have a lot of respect for Samaritan’s Purse and commend the ministry for its good works. They’re known for collecting Christmas boxes for needy children every year, but they do a lot more than just that.

Even so, it would be a rare atheist who is outright opposed to charitable giving. The only atheists I know of who might be said to oppose charitable giving are atheist Republicans (yes, these exist) who don’t like the government getting too charitable with giving away their own money.

The problem with Operation Christmas Child, for atheists, is that the care packages aren’t just care packages. They’re laced with religious tracts and Bibles promoting Christianity in general and evangelicalism in particular.

For a public school to choose to participate in and promote Operation Christmas Child is to promote the spread of Christianity around the globe, and that is why the American Humanist Association sees it as a comingling of church and state.

It’s actually quite normal for public schools to partner with religious charities. I’ve known my share of schools who worked with local churches to provide Christmas presents and basic needs to impoverished families in their districts.

However, in these cases, the churches provide only the gifts and necessities, not Christian literature and Bible tracts. While it’s always possible for a family to be moved by a church’s charity and want to know more about the Christian gospel, in these cases, the schools’ partnerships with religious charities do not directly promote the spread of evangelicalism or any religion.

Let’s be real about this, Christians: if our kids came home with fliers from a Mormon ministry inviting them to create Christmas care packages which would then be packed with copies of the Book of Mormon and delivered to needy children by Mormon missionaries all over the world, would we not cry “separation of church and state”?

If our public school children came home with fliers from the American Humanist Association wanting to pack care packages with Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion and tracts about how “There’s probably no God, now stop worrying and enjoy your life,” would we be eager participants? Or would we be the ones going to court?

The coming battle for religious freedom is real and it’s critical, and when we evangelicals try to use public schools to impose our religion on others, we do very real harm to our claims in that stake.

So, fellow Christians, give the American Humanist Association a break. It’s not like they’re lobbying to change all instances of “Merry Christmas” to “nothing happens when you die.”