So are you now ok with not patronizing the kettles in front of stores, as long as you can contribute to this Angel Tree (and what a cloyingly obnoxious name that is)?
Are families with 2 gay parents welcome to participate as a needy family in this program, assuming they are as needy as the next family? Are we taking bets?
I simply want to support a charity that helps a lot of people with a wide variety of programs.
I support other charities besides SA. There are a lot of groups out there making people’s lives better. Toys for Tots is a wonderful program that I also support.
My focus is on helping people and doing what I can to make a small difference. Even it it’s only making sure a kid has a present to open on Christmas.
Sure, and now you know more about the organization, so instead of being upset with Belk, maybe you can understand there can be many reasons to not let them be out front anymore.
You could give gifts through Toys for Tots, seeing as how the Marine Corps is more supportive of civil rights than the Salvation Army.
Except for the killing. The Marines are much better at that; but I’m excluding that from my definition of civil rights.
I don’t particularly like the Salvation Army, and I don’t give to them, but it appears that the line in the Wikipedia article is not exactly accurate. According to the blog post linked in the Wikipedia article,
and the Wikipedia article on Jennifer Gale quotes an aide to a city council member retracting her earlier comments blaming her death on the SA, by saying that the SA does not turn transgender people away but when the shelter is full, people are assigned according to their anatomy. Apparently, when they are not full, they can provide more privacy. Housing transgender people is an issue that goes beyond the Salvation Army’s religious beliefs.
Well, here’s a first-hand account of a man who was told he’d have to break up with his boyfriend to receive help/ The article mostly talks about how the Salvation Army uses donations for push anti-gay political agenda (which makes AcePlace’s ‘not talking politics’ position a bit odd, since they’re an anti-gay lobbying organization), but does include:
Also, while it’s not exactly turning away an individual, I think actions like threatening to close all shelters if they’re required to comply with anti-discrimination laws is the same sort of thing, and from the same article:
Here’s a first hand accounts from a Dan Savage reader:
And some more from a link in that article:
Here’s how they treat trans people in spite of laws specifying exactly what they should do: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2017/07/salvation-army-busted-discriminating-transgender-people/
11/11/why_you_shouldnt_donate_to_the_salvation_army_bell.php
You should explain that to this dude:
Me, I’m happy donating toys to kids that need them, and sending regular money to food banks. Given the multiple charities working these niches, it’s trivially easy to find one that doesn’t discriminate. I also won’t donate to Neo-Nazi food banks, even if they somehow manage to pass out the rice and mayonnaise to people.
There are several charities operating in my small city through which we often adopt a poor family and provide for them. Sally Ann isn’t the only game in any town, as far as I know.
No one is saying you can’t support the homophobes if you don’t care about such things. But slagging people who do care about the mistreatment of others, especially by a ‘Christian’ charity, as haters is entirely and transparently disingenuous.
Pretty sure you draw the line, based on your politics, in your lack of support for other organizations such as Planned Parenthood, despite the good works they also do. So why is it wrong for others to do the same.
They had a good run, dressed in their Santa suits, in front of every store, a ubiquitous part of people’s Christmas tradition and giving. But now times have changed, people are more informed of the true nature of their organization.
It’s not hating, it’s living the values you espouse.
I donate to Oxfam. They’re a terrific world-wide charity that fights poverty & hunger. I also give to Heifer International, another global program that supports growth in communities in need. I support Child’s Play, which provides toys & books to childrens’ hospitals worldwide. And I support the Nature Conservancy, for environmental causes. I also support the World Wildlife Fund, because I can’t go around and apologize to each elephant personally. Alas.
If I had more money, I’d probably donate to Planned Parenthood, Head Start, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Habit for Humanity and the Girl Scouts.
The point is, there’s lots of excellent international charities doing good & important work. There are undoubtedly shelters and food pantries in every local community, as well, which could desperately need community support. There’s just no reason to go on supporting a charity with as many problematic outcomes as The Salvation Army. They may have done good work over the last century, but they simply aren’t equipped to go on doing good work for the future.
As for the bellringers - I wish stores would ban everyone who wants to solicit outside their stores.
Some times there is nothing wrong with hating, even if we hate the sin, not the sinner. In this case the sin would be intolerance, not love.
That’s because the cookies aren’t obscenely over priced, like the nasty sugar encrusted popcorn sold by other organizations.
AA doesn’t provide residential programs that I know of.
And that’s why I would never give to Toys for Tots.
Good for Belk.
I don’t give to cults and I hate the sound of ringing bells.
Hey, it wasn’t us who started the hate; it was the Salvation Army.
Yes, the SA does a lot to help the poor. But, they do it with a healthy does of moralizing and discrimination, based on their conservative Christian views.
What the SA also is very good at is PR. They play up their support services to the general public, while downplaying their moral stance. As you’ve seen here, many people aren’t aware of their discriminatory views and practices – and I strongly suspect that many people who give to the SA (particularly in the Christmas buckets) aren’t even aware that it’s a church.
If, once you’re aware of these things, you still feel that giving to the SA is the best way to support the needy in your area, that’s your choice. But, it’s very likely that there are other charities in your area which also do good, important work for the needy in your community, without that level of baggage.
Thanks for clarifying that, my reading comprehension was a fail on his post.
Nobody is preventing you from supporting SA, but they are declining to let you delude yourself about what that support means about you.
There are hundreds or thousands of other charities that do their good works without discriminating against innocent identity groups. Here is a resource for finding some of them, based on immediate help for people in the direst need.
Full disclosure: if you didn’t know or guess, I am an American gay man, and I have lived from the superficially sweet but vile beneath the surface 50s to the present day where much of that vileness has been eradicated or is on the decline. SA to me crystalizes that vileness perfectly.
That’s right. A lot of the money gets pooled- some goes directly to the troop, but a lot of it goes to the parent organization to help support troops that don’t have the money to buy tons of cookies or charge dues. It also goes to pay for camps and to provide scholarships to those camps.
Those distributions are transparent and every troop knows about where the money is going. In fact, we teach math skills by discussing percentages and how much we get per box. Then we teach compassion by showing how we help less fortunate troops.
If SA is one of your favorite charities, what is keeping you (and anyone else) from sending them a check, donating through the website, or going to one of their facilities and giving them money? Also, how does this detract from Belk’s ability to serve you? It’s not the store’s job to make it easy for you to donate to a specific charity.
It’s also worth noting that SA is *not *a charity. That is, they are not an organization constituted specifically to provide charity. They are a church that *also *provides charitable services. SA is a specific Christian denomination with its own interpretation of the Bible, and its members are adherents of SA doctrine. Because they are a church and not a registered charitable organization, they don’t have to disclose information, such as annual reports and 990 forms, that charitable organizations do.
H4H *is *a charity. Its mission and purpose are informed by its leaders’ Christian faith, but H4H is not its own denomination. They accept volunteers of all faiths (or no faith at all).
Belk’s is a secular business with nationwide presence. It doesn’t surprise me that they prefer to partner with an actual charity that imposes no religious requirement on its members or on the people who use its services, rather than with a church.
That’s what I came to say. I won’t donate to a charity that’s anti-gay.
Fuck Salvation Army. The Wounded Warrior Project can suck a bag of assholes, too.