It’s almost time for those red kettles to go up in front of grocery stores across America, and all across America, people get all rosy cheeked just thinking about doing good… forgetting about all the organizations that do as much good without making such a big show about it… without thinking about where the money that goes into the red kettle really goes to.
Among other things, the money people give to the Salvation Army goes to pay the salaries of lobbyists in Washington D.C. What, oh what, do those Salvation Army lobbyists lobby for? The Salvation Army lobbies in favor of the political agenda of the Religious Right.
There’s the time, for example, when the Salvation Army leaders met behind closed doors with the Bush White House to come up with a strategy for passing a law that would allow government-funded groups to fire people for refusing to join the religions of their bosses. Convert and praise Jesus or lose your job, the Salvation Army law said. That was a practice that the Salvation Army was already engaging in, giving religious tests to employees and telling them to take a hike if the responses were not theologically correct, taking government money all the while. The Salvation Army spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of red kettle money on that political project alone.
What else does your red kettle donation pay for? Political organizing against same-sex marriage, for one thing. The Salvation Army uses its organization to promote opposition to equal marriage rights for same sex-sex couples. The web site of the Salvation Army states, “The Salvation Army believes, therefore, that Christians whose sexual orientation is primarily or exclusively same-sex are called upon to embrace celibacy as a way of life. There is no scriptural support for same-sex unions as equal to, or as an alternative to, heterosexual marriage.” Catch that other part too – the only good homosexual is a homosexual who decides not to have sex for the rest of his or her life.
There’s also the Salvation Army’s history of rescinding benefits to same-sex domestic partners. Said the Human Rights Campaign, “We’re talking about health care, about providing health benefits, and what the Salvation Army has decided to do is prevent certain families from getting health care, and that’s just mean.” Salvation Army supporters responded to Portland’s request that it adhere to the city’s ordinance requiring organizations receiving money from the city government to provide benefits to same-sex domestic partners by sending hate mail with messages such as “You are a sick person who doesn’t deserve to be mayor.” Compassion?
Still want to put that money in the red kettle?
Consider the Salvation Army’s decision to put its religion ahead of the needs of homeless people in Wisconsin. When the Janesville City Council asked the Salvation Army to stop trying to convert people to evangelical Christianity with government money provided through the city government, the Salvation Army said no. The Salvation Army decided that it was more important to keep trying to convert people to Christianity than to help people in need, so it decided to stop work on a homeless shelter until the local government relented and allowed proselytization with government funds. A spokesman said that stopping its religious activities as part of government-funded programs that it administrates would stop the Salvation Army from fulfilling its mission “to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ”. The Salvation Army would let the homeless freeze outside in the Wisconsin winter weather rather than just stop telling people to worship Jesus.
Yes, government funds. The Salvation Army gets a huge amount of praise for helping people in need, but the truth is that a huge amount of the money that the Salvation Army spends comes directly from federal, state, and local government. We, the taxpayers of America, make the sacrifice, but the Salvation Army gets the credit with none of the oversight and accountability that ordinarily goes along with government programs. In 2005, for example, 95 percent of the Salvation Army’s budget for children services came from the federal government, and was used, among other things, to conduct an anti-gay witch hunt in which employees were told to look for signs of homosexual activity in their colleagues, and to expose those colleagues so that they could be fired.
The plain fact is that the Salvation Army would only conduct a tiny fraction of its charitable works if it did not receive billions of dollars of government money. Much of the red kettle money goes toward building and maintaining Salvation Army churches, like the ones Wrangell, Alaska; Griffin, Georgia; Thomasville, North Carolina; Gilroy, California; Kalispell, Montana; Fort Lauderdale, Florida and countless other places across the USA. When you throw your money into the red kettle, are you thinking about helping people in need or about maintaining the temple in Rochester, New York?
I’m not denying that the Salvation Army does some good things with its own resources, but most of the good work it does is with government resources that could just as easily go to other programs that don’t discriminate, don’t lobby the government, and don’t mix religion with social services. Let the Salvation Army support itself, and rely purely on private donations. If the Salvation Army wants to keep preaching a right wing agenda, then it’s long past time that it get off the government dole.
i wood love to tell you a storie about the horrabel thing thay did to my uncul stilling tons of mony from him living his sister homeless the selavation army is bad
If you want to know about more unsavoury acts that the Salvation Army have a direct hand in, then why not look at what they’re doing right now to tenants of the All-Woman’s Building in Gramercy Park South (New York), that they own and run.
They recently decided to sell the building – and gave hundreds of women thirty day eviction notices, with only vague prior warnings that they’d be made to move out half a year down the line.
Not only this, but the way they actually went about doing it wasn’t particularly friendly, or graceful. They banged on the doors of all the rooms, then waved a camcorder and eviction notice in their faces.
Apparently they’re entirely within they’re rights to leave hundreds of women homeless (many of whom have been living there for upwards of forty years), even though the building was donated to them for the express purpose of housing women on a moderate income, because the Salvation Army are allegedly a non profit organisation. Even though they’re making major stacks from selling the building to be knocked down.
Not the sympathetic touch you’d expect from a charitable organisation. Hey, maybe they’ll use this money to publish more anti-homosexual propaganda. We all love that!
Here’s the link to an article about that;
http://www.nydailynews.com/01-19-2007/news/story/490064p-412756c.html
Hello,
Well writen. I am homeless and want off the streets. I am only give the chance to chase my tail by the Salvation Army and other organiztions around here.
Hot Dogs for breakfast,lunch and dinner.
Sack lunches consist of Vienna sausages and 6 month old
pastries and yogurt. (Everyday..all donated)
The Salvation Army does not give homeless clothing…the other agencies do…once and only once a month…ussually nothing you can wear to interview. And nowhere to store it but in the hallways or in the bushes…always gets stolen.
You must be in by 10:00 and leaze by 6:00…no matter what the temp.
At the Salvation Army you must shower every night. which is good…but they give you a half bar of small soap and a peice of a cut up WOOL BLANKET to dry with.That’s right WOOL. Other organizations give you nothing. Often you half to find your own soap, and use the clothes on your back to dry.
Ussually sleaping on a dirty mat or floor.
Ussually using a toilet that hasn’t been properly cleaned in months in a bathroom that smells worse than a dirty gas station bathroom. While their(the employees) bathrooms are kept spotless by those in ‘the program’. You can only imagine what that is.
You ask the social worker for help finding a job or transportation…they look at you like you have lobsters crawling out of your ears.
Where, is all this money going!!!Not to the homeless.
I’ll stop ranting this could go on for pages.
One less side note, it was 24 degrees outside, a person came in with a Pagan t-shirt in…which is a rock band…he was put out in the cold because he would’nt remove the shirt.
get off your lazy ass and work for your meals. you set and bitch about not having anything yet you will not help the army clean the free home they offer. it smells like that because you to lazy to clean up after yourself. lazy bastards like you should freeze.
Howard,
Thank you for showing the kind of attitude that’s really behind the Salvation Army. Judgmental, negative, and angry at people in need.
It’s “you sit and bitch” you dumbass- not “you set and bitch”
What area are you in? Here in the western division we do not have facility’s that are that way! We have a few translational shelters that are always keep clean and we have our own janitor that cleans the staffs bathroom. This is something that needs to be brought up to the divisional head courtiers in your territory. If you could let me know I would see that this is taken care of!
Thank you
Heather
Salvation Army Treasure Valley Advisory Bord Member
hello I am in Wisconsin u.s.a and my uncle has died and left the salivation army 6 hundred thousand dollars what is sad here is William has a sister Mabel how took care of him for 50 years he was 85 wane he died William was as he thought posest by demons at the age of 12 yeas he stats something bad happened to him and he needed and exseszem he lived alone never Evan had a date all are x mass presents came from the garbage we never thought nothing of it it was uncle he lived out of the garbage cans and was vary deprest and wanted to kill him self William had no idea he had this money but this Jackie Jensen became his friend and got him to give a gift of a 2hundred and 80 thousand dollar gift and that I believe harass him and influents him into sinning his will over to them the salivation army that is my mother is 75 years old and has lost 2 husbands and was homeless for 6 months we are seeking 1hundred and fifty thousand dollars out of this will but we have been threatened and we are scared my mom was not even aloud to have her brothers body it is a sad and hart full thing can you help us in any way to resolve this we don’t want all the money as it soughed be all my mothers but god case greed is the root to all evil thank you my phone is what about the mony thay still from mentally ill people
hello nice to talk to you I pray you will help me my uncle died may 28th 2006 he was vary mentally ill he was harassed until he had to sine him money over to the salivation army I agree this is not a totally bad thing but for him not to live the family nothing and for the salivation army to threaten my mother is a bad thing my uncle was vary ill to the point he thought he was possest by demons this is real hard on all of us in the family my mother doesn’t want all this money but she soughed have enough to live out her life and for once not be afraid of not having the money to pay bills please call me please there has to be and answer to this mess Diana
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I just wanted to let you know that while I agree that its wrong that the Salvationist church is bigoted and anti-gay, I want to point out that most religions have something negative to say about gays. Furthermore, I am gay and I am also the case worker at a Salvation Army Welfare Services unit- during November and December I am the kettle coordinator. Since our unit is not run by a corps. (its a service extension) 100% of the money donated to the Red Kettle funds our social services programs- not a cent supports the Salvationist Church, and our service unit is VERY liberal and open minded, our mission is “serving human needs without discrimination”. I also feel comfortable being openly gay and working for the Salvation Army
aw you deleted my comment.
Kevin, sorry, I thought that was an actual Nigerian spam and didn’t pick up on the i-ron-ee.
I don’t understand this.
I live in the UK and the Salvation Army here is very pro-gay.
They even have gay officers and I know of one SA officer who is living with a same-sex partner
and not even in a civil partnership.
London is the home of the SA and it should know better than to throw stones at people
when their own house is not in order.
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I am a solider in the salvation army and I am gay my pastor new tnis before I became a solider I have been a,solider for 5 years now I originally came from the bell shelter where I did voulunteer work an to here that hate that come saying we wont help the gays is just wrong doesent God love all people,no matter what,and who are they to judge for God is the only judge when I wear my uniform an go out an do ministry I dont walk up to a person and say,wait are you gay? Oh you are and walk away.no! There are two s.s. That means, save to serve and means all people. Jesus did not die on the cross for some people he died for all people and all means everybody and if that is the case where they wont open there arms to all I will burn my uniform and another thing the founder of the salvation army was founded by willam booth if he new what was going on today he would be rolling around in his grave
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