Showing an innate aptitude for picking lose-lose situations, the American Humanist Association (AHA) has threatened legal action against public schools that participate in an evangelical Christian charity called ‘Operation Christmas Child’ that delivers Christmas toys to poor children.

Unfortunately, everyone involved looks stupid or loses:

• The AHA (who usually inspires me) looks like a cross (ha!) between Ebenezer Scrooge and The Grinch, wanting to spoil a child’s Christmas on a technicality. 
• The people collecting gifts look stupid because they allow themselves be roped into a missionary drive. 
• The missionaries are exposed for using Christmas to force children into a superstition. 
• World-class Stoopid: The parent who “was not aware of the Christian nature (of Operation Christmas Child)” — I mean come on! What do they think ‘Operation Christmas Child’ is? A pregnancy drive? 
• Most of all: the impoverished children.

Of course AHA has an important point:

“The toys collected by Operation Christmas Child come with pledges to Christianity for its recipients to sign.”

This is the most reprehensible (albeit common) form of proselytizing: taking advantage of another person’s plight. How charitable is that? So AHA’s cause is just. It’s just that – like so often – I see fellow atheists wielding a broadsword where a scalpel should have sufficed. 

If I were of a superstitious belief, I’d now spout some metaphors about roads to unpleasantness being greased with goodwill.

Alas, I don’t want to come off as an ass myself.

At least no more than AHA.