We regularly post news about the Humble Bundles, partly because they offer ridiculous bundles of games for not much money, and they also raise a lot of cash for a number of charities. However, it’s come to our attention that one small, but very important fact is missing regarding the current charity they are supporting: Change30.

Here’s the mission state for the charity, as seen on the Humble website:

– ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW –

Our mission is to inspire purpose in Russian orphans by providing them with the love, guidance & resources they need to lead fulfilling lives. Our heart is for the orphans of Russia to not only survive, but thrive.”

That same wording is on the front page of the Change30 website, but dig a tiny bit deeper and you’ll find a different version of the wording is used on their ‘About‘ page:

The mission of Change30 is to inspire purpose in Russian orphans by providing them with the love, guidance & critical resources they need to lead fulfilling lives & develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Humble Bundle have used the wording that does not mention religion and you can also see that the promotional video included on the Humble site does not mention any religious agenda:

It should also be noted that the Change30 website is raising money as “2017 is a milestone year as we believe that God is calling us to enhance the scope of Change30 in exponential ways,” and that “teams of volunteers from U.S. churches travel to Kaliningrad to help meet physical & spiritual needs and spread the love of Jesus Christ with Russian orphans and orphanage.”

So I think you get the point that this is a heavily religious charity, so why Humble Bundle have not mentioned this hard to understand. While the charity is based in Arkansas in the US, the relationship between Orthodox Christian ideology in the country and the controversial and widely criticised state laws relating to the LGBT community mean that this is definitely something that needs to be disclosed. There’s no information of what sort of Christianity Change30 are preaching to impressionable youngsters. Is it the kind where everyone is considered equal, or the stricter kind that promotes intolerance of those who are considered different?

The fact that Humble Bundle have not disclosed that the charity has a religious angle to their work is questionable and irresponsible. Unless donors actively research Change30, they may not be aware that their money may be used to promote a charity they may not agree with.

Faith is a touchy subject at the best of times and we are in no way implying that Change30 are up to anything nefarious, but after having a twenty year old sleep on my sofa for eighth months last year after he was thrown out, penniless and homeless, by his strictly Mormon parents, it has made me acutely aware of the effects of religion on the young.

We’ve reached out to Humble for a comment and will update this story with any response.

Source: Humble Bundle / Change30, and thanks to TSBonyman for the tip off