Invisible Children is an incredible organization that is doing a lot of good. While not a Christian organization, the founders of this organization are Christians, and the Christian faith motivates many of the people who work for it. As far as the criticisms go, please see this response from the organization itself: http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html

I have yet to see a criticism of IC that isn't completely or partially answered by the link above, at which IC answers the criticisms that have been put forth by various people.

Luke 17:2 (NIV) - It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. God bless the children! And God bless this organization. It is our duty as Christians to pray that this monster is stopped. Glory be to God!

So many religious charities working overseas have covert interests that aren't mentioned, including spying, resource scouting, and pacification of native populations for corporations.

The book "Thy Will Be Done" documenting how the Summer Institute of Linguistics/Wycliffe Bible Translators' missionary work in Latin America helped destroy the Amazon and further corporate interests (including those of the Rockefeller family) is instructive. The entanglement of missionary/evangelical work with big money interests goes back even further, to the settlement of the US, the winning of the west, the takeover of Hawaii, etc. And probably further back even yet.

I wouldn't donate to any of them. It may be very sincere people on the ground doing the work, but the work is dirty nevertheless. People are very naive about such things.

Thanks for posting this. I've seen "Kony 2012" on social networking sites quite a bit recently and sort of thought it was about a computer game. Not quite sure how I got that impression, but I appreciated an article about it so that I am now informed, and know more than "Kony 2012."

Hannah: I don't know if you're aware of how much good missionaries have done in the world over the last 2,000 years. Missionaries have established untold numbers of hospitals and schools, and even the very missionaries you decry, Wycliffe Translators, are responsible for preserving many languages around the world that would have otherwise gone extinct. Missionaries have also been instrumental in ending numerous harmful social practices around the world, including foot binding and suttee. Today, missionaries are at the forefront of caring for AIDS orphans in Africa, teaching English to untold numbers of students who are seeking a better life, teaching people in the Middle East basic hygiene to improve public health, and a host of other good works.

Regarding your statement "While not a Christian organization, the founders of this organization are Christians" I have to express a pet peeve of mine. IMHO only people can be Christians because Christ died for people, not organizations. There is no such thing as a Christian organization. I don't think it's just a matter of semantics either when you really think about it.

Texan: Although the saying is historically innacurate, it does have a more universal truth to it, "Mussolini made the trains run on time." The USSR built hospitals, roads, schools and other infrastructure, but does that legitimize the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979? Missionaries have a centuries-long history of manipulating, exploiting and even killing their generally dark-skinned and poor victims. The US corporate system has a financial interest in keeping Uganda and the region stable to keep profits high. Invisible Children is playing its part by taking the situation in Uganda which really is "gang of thugs" versus "gang of thugs" and distorting it into a "good versus evil" narrative. IC talks a lot about their programs in Uganda, some of which may actually do some good, and they do not advocate US military action (which would be too overtly imperialist and illegal). They DO advocate giving more guns (useful to the US military-industrial complex) to the Ugandan army, which is not any better than Kony, et al., with the exception that the Ugandan government is more amenable to US imperialist prerogatives.

I meant to include this before, but there's been a *damning* response from, y'know, actual Africans against Invisible Children. Remember, IC advocates INCREASING the number of guns in Uganda, that is their so-called "peaceful" solution. A sample from

http://www.boingboing.net/2012/03/08/african-voices-respond-to-hype.html

At National Geographic, a guest essay by Anywar Ricky Richard, a former child soldier of the Lord’s Resistance Army, and director of the northern Ugandan organization Friends of Orphans. Richard writes of perceptions of Invisible Children in northern Uganda, where the group has had a presence for some years, "They are not known as a peace building organization and I do not think they have experience with peace building and conflict resolution methods. I totally disagree with their approach of military action as a means to end this conflict."

TMS Ruge, the Ugandan-born co-founder of Project Diaspora is pissed. He says he wants to "bang my head against my desk" to "make the dumb-a**ery stop." writes, "It is a slap in the face to so many of us who want to rise from the ashes of our tumultuous past and the noose of benevolent, paternalistic, aid-driven development memes.

Calvin: There is a big difference between your examples of the good provided by Mussolini and the former Soviet Union and the examples of the good provided by missionaries I have cited: while the hospitals and rail services that the Soviets and Mussolini provided did help the public at large, they were primarily done for the ultimate purpose of serving the State. Both were totalitarian systems in which the state was the ultimate power and authority, and individuals were mere ants, mere servants of the state. Christian missionaries, on the other hand, are motivated primarily by obedience to a transcendent God, who stands above and beyond the state, and who is a God of Love. Furthermore, Christian missionaries are motivated by the belief that all people are created in the image of God, which means each person is of infinite value, a very different conception from the totalitarian view of humans.

Hi friends. I am a christian from Uganda. I have read and heard a lot about the IC and Kony2012. I can only say that we in Uganda only get to be reminded by the video that we are not yet done with Kony though he has not been in the country for over six years and there is relative peace in Northern Uganda. But the video seems to intentionally avoid the fact that times are not the same, there are no night commuters any more. There is very significant activity going on in Northern Uganda to restore the lives of the families affected by the war by churches. There also seems to be a general consensus by many people who work in the region that more militarization will not help. Well we do appreciate the work of missionaries, but usually they get entangled politically. This would explain why there is no reference to the role the government also played in the conflict. I really think that we need to pray for christians who leave their homes to serve; for God to show them exactly what to do and to help them to stay spiritually mature while they are at it. Above all not all missionaries who come to Africa understand the cultural expectations here and so sometimes in trying to help, they sound like grand children of David Livingstone, sharing the word on the other hand but beaconing the support for their governments for solutions they only recommend for situations that are quite complex. What we actually need is restoration of lives, forgiveness by the pple of Northern Uganda to Kony and the Uganda government for the roles they played. We need the core message of christ to go out and not more advocates for war. What if an army of prayer warriors spent time with God and spoke to him according to his word? wouldn't this end. Suppose christian missionaries went on ground with an open mind and worked with the leaders and partners from the local perspective, but without a blueprint they travelled with from the west. Please pple above all missionaries are human beings we see them coming to Uganda, some leading a very luxurious life, others being very down to earth, some have been accused of spreading homosexuality propaganda and or being involved in related acts. Its the world we live in; but we must always remember that its not and was never about us, but about God in US and how we present ourselves to the world will also have its implications on other belivers. Finally I hope your are praying for this young man Russel, read about him being hospitalised etc. I hope he is surrounded by genuinely good christians who cannot only counsel him but bring him to accountability. If he hasn't seen that nothing is wrong with the video there is a problem, however if he has realised from the feedback. He can always create a better video and then lets see how it goes. Otherwise we see him as pawn to facilitate the US interests in the region like Oil in Uganda, Mineral Wealth in DRC and the 'war on Terror' in Somalia. You guys need to understand that president Museveni has been in Power since 1986 and is one of the longest serving presidents in the region. Why does the US ignore issues of flawed elections in our country, why does it fund Uganda to have its soldiers in Somalia. Why can't we have the american troupes in Somalia... or is it because the experience in 1991 where to scary for an american audience to accept and so its better for US to send Africans to fight fellow Africans and in the process protect its own citizens. We are now the people paying the prices. The Al- shabab have done some serious havoc in Kenya and Uganda. I lost a friend to the bombings in Kampala and when I hear of a young man, a christian who has been in Uganda recommending militarisation, I think he is undermining the issues in the country and the gains of the peace talks. Please people you need to pray for Jason Russell and the many other people who have taken his story as much as you should pray for Uganda. God has given us Oil, but it must bring glory to his name and not result into more bloodshed. Complex, but I know God is in control!