An Auckland woman was shocked when a Salvation Army volunteer told her the charity shop did not stock Buddha statues and would throw them away if they were donated.
A spokesman for the Salvation Army church has admitted that stocking religious statues went against their mission - and could include Catholic symbols.
The woman, who did not wish to be named, approached the Birkenhead Salvation Army store on Monday for a secondhand statue of Buddha as a present for her mother.
She claims she was told the store did not sell them and if they did then they would throw them out.
"I asked why and she said 'Because we are a Christian organisation'."
The woman says she phoned the store later and was told that any Buddhist statue that was donated to the store would be thrown out.
She said she frequently went into the store but wouldn't go back there.
"They deal with Jews, with Muslims and with Buddhists customers in the store.
"I can imagine how hurt someone who is Buddhist would feel.
"They have a right to sell what they want but it would be amazing if they could re-donate those items instead of putting them in the trash.
"They are throwing away something that could make them money."
A Salvation Army representative Joel Supeck said: "As a Christian organisation it is our position that it would be inappropriate for us to sell items or artifacts of other religions."
"We, like any company, have mission and values that we try to uphold and try to do so consistently.
"The policy tends to be that we would try to dispose of those things in appropriate ways if they would be unsellable in one of our stores."
He said the staff member claims he did not say the store would put a donated statue in the bin.
Supeck conceded that meant some stores might also refuse to sell Catholic statues and ornaments.
"We're getting into grey lines and areas."
The Salvation Army of New Zealand describes itself as a church whose beliefs closely follow orthodox Protestantism.
Another store contacted by the Herald said they did not sell Buddhist or Catholic ornaments.
Supeck said other things not accepted included alcohol-branded material, which generally went against many of the anti-addiction programmes run by the church, and pornographic material.
"We don't stock R-rated videos. We're not alone in having policies about upholding our values."
Supeck said he hoped people who donated religious items could be discouraged from doing so and given alternative options.
If a store found itself in possession of religious items they should be dealt with in an appropriately respectful way, he said.
Pasqual Chandra, President of the Auckland Theravada Buddhist association, questioned whether the kind of statues that might be donated were really religious in nature.
"If it is kept in a garden then it is a garden ornament."
Chandra said people sometimes left statues outside the monastery, and if they were broken or simply ornaments then they were generally disposed of.
But if a statue was large or appeared to be religious in nature, a place could generally be found for it on their 25ha grounds.
