Last week we noticed that the latest charity to be supported by Humble Bundle was a faith based organisation and one that appeared to include religious teachings amidst their work with Russian orphans. However, Humble did not mention this on their website which seemed amiss. People have strong views on religion and how it is taught to youngster, so by not disclosing this fact some people may have given to a charity that they might not agree with.
When religion is in the mix you have to ask questions, regardless of what religion it is. How much of the money will be used to help the orphans and how much will be used for religious purposes? What happens to kids who are of a different faith? The charity operates in Russia where the orthodox church is extremely homophobic so gay gamers may feel unease at supporting religious groups in the area.
We asked Humble Bundle for comment and this was their respone:
When we prepared the bundle page, we weren’t aware of the charity’s religious affiliation. To ensure that we’re being as transparent as possible, we’ve updated the text on the bundle page. The new text is also pasted below:
Change30 is a faith based non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire purpose in Russian orphans by providing them with the love, guidance & resources they need to lead fulfilling lives.
Change30 builds relationships & trust with orphans through ongoing orphanage support, life skills classes, young moms programs, and partnership with volunteer mission teams. After orphans graduate from the orphanage, Change30 helps equip these young adults for life on their own through a variety of programs and a community of supporters.
Change30 provides free services to orphan graduates such as safe temporary housing, vocational training, and courses to learn basic life skills.
Funding from Humble Bundle: Fundraising received through Humble Bundle will be used to fund orphanage support, life skills classes, young moms programs, temporary housing needs, and vocational training programs for orphans & orphan graduates in Russia.
They have now stated that funding from the Humble Bundle will only be used top help the orphans rather than any religious agenda, something that should have been clear from the start.
However, you have to question Humble’s statement that they did not know the charity was faith based. Two minutes on the Change30 web site and you would spotted that fact, so how much due diligence are Humble doing? Not as much as they should be, judging by their response. Are they giving money to any charity that comes calling without checking how it is spent?
Humble Bundle has had ties to charity since its inception, with each bundle letting you dictate how much of your payment goes to a given charity. It defaults to 15%, with some bundles tied to specific charities and others letting you pick from a list of thousands instead of supporting the featured charity – as shown on the Attack on Titan bundle. Other charity entries do note when they are faith based, but we hope Humble are more rigorous in future.
MrYd
So now they’ve spent the 4.5 seconds it takes to find out that information, they issue a statement with a single mention of it being a “faith based” charity.
But look at that second paragraph where they mention the “mission” of the organisation. They’ve taken it directly from the website, with 2 bits missing. Firstly, it’s just “resources”, not “critical resources”. And secondly they miss out the whole bit after “lead fulfilling lives” where it says “and develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ”.
So I don’t believe that bit about only helping orphans and not funding their religious agenda. That appears to be the whole point of the charity and there’s no way any donations won’t be funding that.
The lesson to learn here is always check who you’re donating to, and if you want cheap games without funding such shenanigans, move the slider all the way to 0% or pick another charity.
ron_mcphatty
Yeah it really didn’t take long to find the religions info once TSB pointed out what to look for, which means either Hunble Bundle knew all along and are bullshitting to damp the firey internets or they genuinely ‘weren’t aware’. That’s more troubling because it makes me think that they don’t give enough of a shit about the charities they sponsor to read their About pages thoroughly, which also may mean they accidentally chose a charity with an obviously dodgy moral compass one day. That makes me wonder if their fundraising machine has reached the faceless corporate stage and there’s places to donate that are more deserving?
super5tar
A lot of religious organisations do charity so it’s hardly unusual. Doesn’t bother me.
MrYd
There’s a big difference between religious organisations doing charity stuff (which I’m fine with) and using charity as a cover for religious work, which is what seems to be the case here.
Usually, they use children as the excuse. Who wouldn’t want to help some adorable orphans? Inevitably, there’s some sort of religious propaganda attached to it. Which is the last thing they need (I’m sure they’ve got bigger problems) and also particularly evil, spreading some useless message about Jesus to vulnerable children.
And the charities usually turn out to be run by some vile homophobe.
Shoeboxes full of toys for orphans for example.
TSBonyman
If their intentions are pure then they are doing a great kindness for some kids who desperately need it. And hopefully there will be no “learn this song about Jesus and then we’ll give you these toys”-shenanigans.